Heater issues: caused fish issues

**JillC25** · 10-31-2012, 05:34 PM

I really love this hobby, but it is a lot more intensive than I first anticipated! Just when I finally got my parameters perfect, my heater decided it was time to malfunction. At least this is what I am assuming what happened since I have not touched it in weeks. All fish were fine, then next AM temp up past 90 degrees and 4 neons dead and all other fish acting very distressed. Slowly brought temp back down to 80 degrees and turned up the bubbles to get some O2 back into water.

So I have left 2 mollies and 4 neons :( The female molly is still acting very distressed. Her tail has curved into an S shape and she is very docile. This happened 4 days ago, so I have been monitoring the water and the fish. Some days she seems better, but today she's struggling. Is there anything I can do for her?

Also, the faulty heater came with my Marineland 20 gallon kit.

**pjaldave** · 10-31-2012, 06:18 PM

I would call the company if the heater is new, it might be in warranty.

As for the molly, all you can do is monitor her and your water parameters and make sure there's nothing wrong with it. Good luck.

**steeler1** · 10-31-2012, 06:46 PM

Just love those heaters they can't just stop working but have to overheat and boil everything. I had this happen twice this year in seperate tanks. Cought the one and everybody survived. The other one went out and killed the new fish I'd just put in but all the old stock survived.

**JillC25** · 10-31-2012, 10:26 PM

sucks. Thanks for the replies-

**Dennis Bissett** · 11-01-2012, 09:10 AM

Thank god I live in the tropics and dont need to rely on heaters!

**Westbeef** · 11-01-2012, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by Dennis Bissett

Thank god I live in the tropics and dont need to rely on heaters!

I'd be waking up to a layer of ice on the top of mine in the winter :D.

**vinodjbhatia** · 11-01-2012, 11:00 AM

I dont have the requirement of a heater as I too come from the tropics.

However for those who do, I would think it to be a better idea to go for 2 smaller sized heaters rather than 1 single heater. Lets say 2x150 watts instead of a single 300 watts. When functioning normally, they would still keep the temperature stable. However if one of them does malfunction the other takes over as a stabilising unit.

If one over heats, the other would shut down, keeping the temperature more bearable. And since each heater is only half the strength they wouldnt be able to heat up as much as a single full strength one.

On the other hand, if one just stops working then the other would atleast heat up to a certain level, hopefully keeping the water warm enough.

**Lady Hobbs** · 11-01-2012, 12:02 PM

Get a heater that actually has a setting on it and make sure if it says it has to be calibrated, to do so. Don't get one of those that has nothing but a low, med, and high setting. Get one you can actually dial the number to.

If your heater was set incorrectly, it may take a couple days to bring it to the correct temp. Perhaps it was not set correctly since it's new? Due to faulty heaters in the past, I stick my fingers in the water every morning to test it.

**Cermet** · 11-01-2012, 12:23 PM

Sorry for the fish loss.

Companies sell devices that shut a heater off in the event of failure - not cheap. maybe better to buy a high end heater.

**imma24** · 11-01-2012, 12:37 PM

There have been many people in the past who have asked whether to get a kit or buy things individually - even if you're going to end up spending more in the end, better to buy equipment that is considered reliable than wonder what kind of quality it is. I agree with pjaldave that you should contact the manufacturer - it sounds like it is adjustable or did you remove the heater to get the temp down?