Sikryd October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 (edited) Just a reminder to check your heaters every month or so. I finally found out what has been taking out all my SPS, plus a bunch of other stuff, including a Flame Wrasse. I put a brand new glass heater in the tank about a 2 months ago to supplement the stealth I had in it since it was only 200w. I had been losing some SPS and figured it had to be from an alk spike. Nope, heater was blown and I only found out this morning since I was doing a water change and the wire wiggled to the heater and blew the gfci. So much for having a bunch of nice coral :( You don't even want to see the carnage of corals that is on my deck now. ~ 100-150 pieces. Guess I'll have an LPS tank for a while (whatever is left of it) - no mas dinero for new stuff with the baby coming :( Sometimes I HATE this hobby! Edited October 30, 2009 by Sikryd
Coral Hind October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 Dude, sorry for the loss! So did they die because of the tank being cold or because the water was electrified? If you make it over this way you are welcome to some corals from the frag tank. I gotta take care of my 4401st Recon brother.
extreme_tooth_decay October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 I'm confused as to what happened, can you explain? Was the heater overheating you tank, causing your corals to die? (doesn't seem like this is what you are saying) Was the heater shorted, causing electricity in your tank, causing your corals to die? (wouldn't your GFCI or even your breaker catch this?) (wouldn't it sizzle and bubble very obviously? wouldn't you die putting you hand in the water?)
El Camaron October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 that sucks man, i have some tubbs birds nest i could cut a frag of as well as tricolor valida, let me know man.
Sikryd October 30, 2009 Author October 30, 2009 (edited) Dude, sorry for the loss! So did they die because of the tank being cold or because the water was electrified? If you make it over this way you are welcome to some corals from the frag tank. I gotta take care of my 4401st Recon brother. Thanks - lol - I assume from the copper, and electrifying it slightly. I didn't get shocked at all though. I have been in the tank the last couple of days and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. I'm confused as to what happened, can you explain? Was the heater overheating you tank, causing your corals to die? (doesn't seem like this is what you are saying) Was the heater shorted, causing electricity in your tank, causing your corals to die? (wouldn't your GFCI or even your breaker catch this?) (wouldn't it sizzle and bubble very obviously? wouldn't you die putting you hand in the water?) It must have been making the circuit till the wire was wiggled, then it blew the gfci. Electricity is a cool thing, it acts very unusual in all kinds of different circumstances. The deaths were from the copper/heavy metals from the element being exposed. Edited October 30, 2009 by Sikryd
steveoutlaw October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 Chad- I have about 20 SPS frags that I can give you. Just let me know the next time you travel down the woodbridge way. Thanks, Steve
rocko918 October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 when you set back up let me know as well. I can frag back everything we traded.
khalid October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 Sorry to hear about your loss bro. :( Sucks when things like this happen!
extreme_tooth_decay October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 Real sorry to hear about your loss man, I've been there and it sucks. Did you test your tank for copper? It is hard to believe there was enough leaching from a blown heater to nuke your tank? There probably was almost no flow over the element itself.
Sikryd October 30, 2009 Author October 30, 2009 Thanks guys - I'll probably hit you guys up sometime down the road. The glass was broke long enough, it was white and could tell that it had been sitting in salt water. There was all kinds of flow over it. It was in my skimmer section broke wide open. Time for a nap - too bumbed to do anything else! I'll see if things turn around later today, hopefully they will. I changed ~ 85 gallons, put new carbon, and put in another poly filter (I've had a couple in there the last couple of days when I noticed things were a little "off" by the looks of the corals - I do it as a preventative for things like this)
ctenophore October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 Sorry to hear about that, Chad. Is the poly filter turning blue? If the sps died from copper poisoning, then unfortunately the rest of your corals may not be far behind. Somebody really needs to make a quality heater. Not glass, not those titanium crappy ones from finnex or won brothers. Something engineered for continuous marine duty. I wonder why more chiller mfgs don't make little heat pump versions of their chillers, just add a reversing valve and a dual stage thermostat. Sure it would cost more, but they are ridiculously efficient and far safer than electrical heaters.
ctenophore October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 Also, did a copper test kit register anything in the water? I wonder if the rocks might have absorbed it too. Sorry to sound so negative but trying to point out possibilities that might cause trouble later.
Jon Lazar October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 Somebody really needs to make a quality heater. Not glass, not those titanium crappy ones from finnex or won brothers. Something engineered for continuous marine duty. I wonder why more chiller mfgs don't make little heat pump versions of their chillers, just add a reversing valve and a dual stage thermostat. Sure it would cost more, but they are ridiculously efficient and far safer than electrical heaters. This really is one area where the hobby is weak. We have crazy heavy duty skimmers, lighting, and pumps, but a $25 dollar heater can ruin everything. Many of us use multiple small heaters, separate heater controllers, and tank controllers with multiple tiers of failsafes, but all this is because the heaters are poorly engineered and prone to failure. And it still doesn't always work. Jon
Sikryd October 30, 2009 Author October 30, 2009 I'm not using the white poly - I have some other ones - forget the name though, so can't tell from the color. I'm going to test it later today for copper. I'm assuming it was whatever heavy metals are in the element part, possibly copper as well due to the wires. I'd pay 3x more for a better heater. I should have known better to not use it even for temporary...
ctenophore October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...ry_Code=Hydor-h Hydor tends to make pretty good stuff. This looks like a good design overall, depends on how well it is made inside though.
Kevin Garrison October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 Chad I'm very sorry to hear about your loss, it strikes way to close to home after my disaster back in August. I hope your system bounces back fast, and I completely agree with you on your sentiment "Sometimes I really HATE this hobby".
Sikryd October 30, 2009 Author October 30, 2009 Thanks Kevin - yeah it sucks sometimes. Tank looks pretty crappy still. Loosing some blastos, some chalice mouths are gaping. I'll see what kind of damage to the rest of the this stuff in the next couple days. I'm not sure what glass heater it was (brand) - they're all crappy as far as I am concerned. I won't even waste my money on one to heat my water change water.
lanman October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 (edited) Sorry to hear about that, Chad. Is the poly filter turning blue? If the sps died from copper poisoning, then unfortunately the rest of your corals may not be far behind. Somebody really needs to make a quality heater. Not glass, not those titanium crappy ones from finnex or won brothers. Something engineered for continuous marine duty. I wonder why more chiller mfgs don't make little heat pump versions of their chillers, just add a reversing valve and a dual stage thermostat. Sure it would cost more, but they are ridiculously efficient and far safer than electrical heaters. You make a very good point. I have a controller for the heaters in my display, plus each of them is adjusted to regulate themselves if the controller doesn't work, plus my lights shut off if the temp gets too high, etc... But that can all be wrecked by one heater coming apart like that, or multiple failures - which is NOT out of the question, given the poor quality of the hardware. Somebody must make something... I'm sure I can dig up some frags for you when your tank is ready for them. bob Edited October 30, 2009 by lanman
zygote2k October 30, 2009 October 30, 2009 Sorry to hear about your losses. Let me know if you'd like a frag of that Pink Limeade that you traded to me awhile back. It's a slow grower, but I can probably break off a small branch. As far as heaters go , do a google search on 'immersion heaters' and check those out. Very heavy duty commercial apps.
lhcorals October 31, 2009 October 31, 2009 We had a problem with a heater a long time ago when we had the 75 Gal set up. It cracked but i caught it in time. Now i use the Titanium Heater with Ranco controller. I just had to replace it today after three years. I never had a problem out of it. I was told 3 years out of a heater is pretty good. I am really sorry this happened to you, your tank was kick a$$.
Sikryd October 31, 2009 Author October 31, 2009 Thanks guys I really appreciate it. I'm still surveying the damage. The copper test came back negative. Some of the zoa/paly's opened back up. Lost 2 more chalices, and a couple other corals. I'll take a look at those heaters for sure. This is the 3rd heater that has broke (all different brands). The one that I use for my water change stuff is a broken stealth that is stuff "on". I had fail-safes in place for stuck on, stuck off, but no broken glass and not tripping the GFCI. I haven't had such good reefing luck this year :( Hopefully things will look up tomorrow.
lanman October 31, 2009 October 31, 2009 I haven't had such good reefing luck this year :( Hopefully things will look up tomorrow. I know THAT feeling... bob
treesprite October 31, 2009 October 31, 2009 I'm sorry to hear about your losses. People need to check their heaters very closely out of the water for hairline cracks. A couple decades ago, an nearly invisible hairline crack led to the electrocution deaths of everything in a tank I had.
GaryL October 31, 2009 October 31, 2009 This really is one area where the hobby is weak. We have crazy heavy duty skimmers, lighting, and pumps, but a $25 dollar heater can ruin everything. Many of us use multiple small heaters, separate heater controllers, and tank controllers with multiple tiers of failsafes, but all this is because the heaters are poorly engineered and prone to failure. And it still doesn't always work. Jon yay planned obsolescence strikes again. sorry to hear chad.
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