Just In Time!

[eggzackary]

I got home from work today and started my usual ritual of turning the lights on in all my tanks. When I turned on the light to my 55gal Mbuna tank the first thing I noticed was my Polit male dead in front of the rocks. Then I noticed all the fish were hiding which is unusual (normally they are at the front of the tank begging for food). So I spot one of my Hajomaylandi's under a rock breathing really heavy along with all the other hiding fish. So I fetch a net to get the male Polit out of the tank but when I open the lid to tank I feel a burst of warm air rush by my hand. Now I check the thermometer and see its at 100 degrees:shocked: The heater was stuck ON! I quick unplug it and run down stairs to the freezer and throw a bunch of ice into ziplock bags to float in the tank. I grab a siphon and take out about 15 gal of water and start filling up a bucket with cooler water to trickle back into the tank. I didn't want to just dump a bunch of cold water in for fear of putting the fish into shock but bring the temp down gradually. After the small water change and an hour and a half of floating bags of ice, I got the temp down to about 86 degrees and the fish came out of hiding and not breathing heavy.
Now a few hours later all the rest of the fish seem to be back to normal, minus the three casualties: 1 Polit male and female and 1 Sand Senga sub dom male. It could've been ALOT worse. If I got home any later I'm sure I would've had a TOTAL loss in the tank and that would've been devastating. Fortunately I've got some nice Polits growing out and I still have my dom. Sand Senga:). One thing for certain. I will no longer use a Penn-Plax heater no matter how much of a deal I can get one for.

[fischfan13]

Jim, sorry about the loss....better one fish than the entire tank.
I am not a fan of Penn Plax at all.

As usual with anything like this, drop the water level and let the water become enriched with even more O2 as it hits the water.

[eggzackary]

I did that and added an airstone.

[Obi]

I'm sorry to hear about the losses. Strange thing though, I went in to feed the fish tonight and one of the Ruby Red females was dead. As I fished her out, the water felt really warm. A quick check with a digital thermometer said 93.1 degrees. I've pulled the plug on the heater, and replaced some water, and it's now below 90 degrees and everyone else looks fine.

What a strange coincidence though, that we would both have that happen the same day. This is one of two tanks that I don't have a stealth heater in. Guess I'm getting one tomorrow.

[eggzackary]

That is strange. I've got 2 other heaters that I'm going to switch to stealths. Tonight made me realize I've got too much invested into these tanks to rely on a cheapo heater. You hear other peoples terrible stories of faulty equipment, but it doesn't hit home until it happens to you. You live and learn I guess...

[phillyofish]

Sorry to hear, can;t go wrong with Stealths. I use them in all my tanks and never had a problem. The bad things that happen just make us smarter for the future. Simply life lessons.

[DNICE]

i've used all-glass aquarium heaters the past few years w/ no problems.

[joe_jaskot]

Heaters, like all mechanical devices will eventually fail. Try to size the heater to the tank so that it will not raise the temperature to lethal levels.

[DNICE]

great advice. a heater in one of my 55g is too big. i have to swap it out before i run into a problem with itHeaters, like all mechanical devices will eventually fail. Try to size the heater to the tank so that it will not raise the temperature to lethal levels.