Heater malfunction! Lost all my fry!

[Eva32181]

I came in to check on my Borellii babies and the water was nearly 70 degrees! My heater had stopped working during the night, and the tank was freezing. I played with the dial a bit, saw some blue flashes in there, and then the heat came back on. So far it is still working. It is made by Hagen, a 50 Watt thermal pre-set. Only about 6 months old. Grrrr....

The worst part is that all the little Borellii fry are gone. Mom is okay, and so is the one older (half inch) juvenile that I left in the tank, but the little guys didn't make it. Normally I keep my tanks at 81 F so a drop to 70 F is pretty disasterous.

So is it normal for a heater to conk out like this? What heaters have you guys found most reliable? I thought Hagen was a good brand. . .

 

[Scooter]

Sorry to hear about the fry. That sucks. Unfortunately, I don't believe any heater is infallible. I use both Ebo Jagers and Rena Cal Excel. I'm pretty partial to the EJs but I've had them fail before. I haven't used the Tronics, but I've heard good and bad. I think you'll find that EJs get the nod by most aquarists.

 

[Neil]

I agree with Scooter. Any heater is suseptable to failure, but i think that you have a much safer chance with EJ or Rena. The problem that is usually the worst is the heater sticking on and frying the fish. That just happened to me with a breeding pair of transvestitus. Poor fish! The borellii fry might have been eaten by the female as the temp dropped. Kind of a energy saving move for the female when the environment started to deteriorate. It is entirely possible that they (even that young of fry) could have handled that slow drop. Borellii are able to handle the coldest temps of any apisto.
Your tank(s) must be in a very cold room for them to drop to 70 overnight in summer!
At a certain point, depending on the amount of tanks you have, it becomes more cost efficient to heat a room that the tanks are in than to heat a bunch of individual tanks. My wife and kids like going in the fishroom to hang out in the winter, because it is so much warmer than the rest of the house. Me too. I don't mind water changes in the winter nearly as much as in the summer.
Neil

 

[Eva32181]

My tanks are right under an A/C vent, and are currently uncoverd. They are getting moved to the dining area (where there's no carpet to soak) very soon (when that friend builds that cabinet) and they won't be open or under a vent then.

They don't call Gainesville "the swamp" for nothing. It gets really, really hot here in the summer. So we crank the A/C. I don't pay the utility bill, either. All I need now is a nice set of metal halides. . .

 

[cmoreash]

Sorry about what happened..I use ebojager and acura heaters. I have found the ebojagers to be a bit more consistant, and more sturdy.

MH, eh? heh I am considering that for a future reef tank...PC lighting is good enough for my FW tanks :wink:

 

[aspen]

sorry about your fry!! by bitter experience, i use ebo-jager's only for my discus. i haven't chanced any other heater on them, since i had a similar bad exp.

rick