Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / March 2004

Wow. That's too bad. Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I bet a troll broke
into your home and jinxed you.

Hi All,

Last night I fed the very hungry fish, and after a couple of hours, shut
the lights off.

This morning was horror! Tang, damsel, goby dead. 75% of cleaner crew
dead. Couple of crabs out of their rocks (still seem shocked), and a
whole bunch of very tiny  shrimp and stars, that apparently inhabited
the live rock, floating around.

At first I thought poisoning from my wife using Pledge (wood cleaner.)
But she is careful in using it, and it's usually away from the tank.
Plus, she's used it before without a problem. I thought of other things...

Then, when I realize it's time to get over it and remove the dead marine
life, I realize the water is rather warm. The thermometer was reading 95
F. The heater was on, despite it being set for 75.

So, I take care of my fish by using RO/DI water, measure parameters
frequently, change the MH bulbs every 6 months, et cetera; and a friggin
heater goes haywire on me and poaches the fish.

OK, my corals don't seem to be opening, so I assume they are toast as
well. My questions are:

Is heater malfunction like this a common thing? I'm sure they must sell
alarms et cetera to warn regarding high temp.

I'm measuring the ammonia et cetera very closely, but so far zero.
Should I expect an ammonia/nitrate/nitrite spike within the next days? I
 imagine from all the dead marine life I haven't been able to take out,
some spike may occur?

Is my dead rock/sand toast? Or should I just wait it out, make some
water changes, then after a week or so, add a damsel and see what
happens, providing parameters are good?

I still can't believe this happened to me.

Suffice it to say that I was so shocked, that I couldn't even think
straight at work today. Thank God I didn't have expensive stock in a
very large tank; my tank is only 29 gallons.

TIA,

Rich
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Dum spiro, spero. (Cicero)     As long as I breathe, I hope.

I would expect an ammonia spike. Personally, I'd wait it out, and monitor
the parms and see if the LR recycles the tank. If it does, then you can
begin restocking.

Can heaters stick in the ON position and cause a failure?  Yes!  Is it common?
Not so much, but it does happen and I see posts about it on RC every so often.

Regarding alarms, there are alarms like the Big Temp thermometer.  It allows you
to see a low point and a high point, and if it ever swings out of range it will
make noise.  Others opt to buy expensive controllers, and have it control their
heaters, lights, chiller etc.... just to protect their livestock and their
investment.

I watch my tanks very closely, and if you've read my personal log from this week
you'll see my heater was (possibly) adding to some unusual heat issues my 55g
was developing.

The other risk is when the glass heater breaks, it can cause some disastrous
results.  I've read a few guys that have sworn off glass and switched to
titanium.

One more option that is probably the easiest and cheapest way to go is to figure
out exactly how much wattage you need to heat your tank's water volume.  Divide
that by half, and buy two heaters at the half wattage (or have both heaters add
up to the total needed wattage).  That way, if a heater fails and sticks on, it
doesn't have the strength  to cook your tank.  And if one breaks, the other one
is still there to attempt to keep your tank warm enough until you notice.

I'm truly sorry to hear your bad news.

I'd keep testing your water for the next week, and perhaps plan for a water
change next weekend.  Your LR will probably rebound, and perhaps some livestock
will survive.  95F is really hot, so I don't want to get your hopes up.

Marc

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