jamesbuf November 8, 2009 November 8, 2009 Well while I was at work yesterday, my GFI tripped and my folks called me saying that my water alarm was going off. They would hit the reset button, and it would turn right back off. I was busy at work, so I couldn't make it home to fix the issue, so I had them unplug the GFI ( http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...;Category_Code= ) and plug everything directly in the wall outlet. Well I went to move a frag around this morning and got the shock of my life. Systematically unplugged everything and it turned out to be one of the heaters. Now the lights are one, and all of my remaining SPS are melting away. Most of my LPS don't look too hot either. Even a few of my Anemones aren't very happy. Can corals recover from something like this??
lanman November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 What are they recovering from? Electrocution? I'm not sure of the dynamics... when you touched the water, you made a path to ground; current went through you. I don't know where the current would be trying to flow without a path to ground. It would probably be more like sticking a single-pole worm prod into the ground; the current just kind of spreads out in the general area, but not much of a current. Hopefully that was more of an annoyance to the corals than a killing shock. The worms don't die... Glad you're alright - electricity can be dangerous! bob
extreme_tooth_decay November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 Another broken heater. Sorry to hear about it, sounds nasty man. What brand heater was it?
Boret November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 Maybe we need to do a group buy of these inline heaters (I think Justin posted about them): James, did anything get out of whack to provoke the melting of the corals? Temp?
DDiver November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 Another broken heater. Sorry to hear about it, sounds nasty man. What brand heater was it? Whatever brand it was, I bet it wasn't a stealth..
jamesbuf November 9, 2009 Author November 9, 2009 Whatever brand it was, I bet it wasn't a stealth.. Hit the nail on the head. I've never had any issues with them before. I've recommended them to others actually. I liked the idea of having a plastic outside that couldn't break like glass. I know without a doubt that this was causing the stray current. Its only about 3 years old, and I can't really say for sure what happened to it. Just ordered an Eheim-Jager from premiumaquatics.
lanman November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 Corals looking any better, now that you've stopped zapping them?? bob
DJBoy98 November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 Sorry to burst your bubble but I just threw away a stealth when I got a shock in the water after moving the heater around. I got the EJ's and have one running right now. Hopefully, they work better.
Kevin Garrison November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 Don't get me wrong, I think stealth heaters are definitely the best option, but they are not unbreakable. When we moved from Southern, VA up to Chantilly and I set the 75g back up I got a lovely surprise. I put the heater in the water and noticed bubbles and upon closer inspection I found that the plastic had split. I quickly pulled the heater out and contacted the manufacturer. They replaced the heater after verifying some information off the heater. Good product, good customer service, yet one more reason to be hooked on stealth heaters.
jamesbuf November 9, 2009 Author November 9, 2009 Corals looking any better, now that you've stopped zapping them?? bob The LPS looked pretty good last night before I went to bed. So did all the anemones. I think I'm gonna lose all but two sps though.
Boret November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 The LPS looked pretty good last night before I went to bed. So did all the anemones. I think I'm gonna lose all but two sps though. but why?? Heavy metals poisoning? Temp swings? Electrocution?
Origami November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 James, I wonder if the heater released copper into your system? Do you have a poly-filter that you could install to capture any heavy metals? Right now, I run stealths and Via Aqua titanium's on my system. Both are under the control of my AC-III but I'm thinking about going back to a Ranco controller for temperature control for improved reliability (I used to use one but moved to the AC-III last winter). Most of the failures that I've read about (where people actually call out the specific failure mode) seems to center on two different, and possibly related, failures. First, there's a physical failure of the casing whether it's glass plastic (the glass heaters seem to have more problems with this). The other failure mode is thermostat failure either leaving the heater stuck on or off. The first reason is why I favor using plastic (stealth) and titanium heaters, while the second failure mode is why I'll probably move back to the proven reliability of a Ranco controller.
extreme_tooth_decay November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 I've heard several people talking about stealths failing (albeit not by shattering). I think EJ are the best heaters going. They are unbreakable-enough (I have them in my mantis tanks), and seem to be the most reliable. I have heard a story (which may or may not be true) about a LFS salesman taking out a Jager heater and thwacking it very hard on the counter and it not breaking.
ctenophore November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 In the interest of keeping a piece of failure-prone 120v equipment out of a tank, has anyone tried using a heat lamp over their sump as a heater? Just plug it into a ranco/ac3/etc. This would be in addition to a MH fuge light; both could be put on the controller. A few hours on, few off wouldn't hurt algae growing in a sump/fuge.
ctenophore November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 I've heard several people talking about stealths failing (albeit not by shattering). I think EJ are the best heaters going. They are unbreakable-enough (I have them in my mantis tanks), and seem to be the most reliable. I have heard a story (which may or may not be true) about a LFS salesman taking out a Jager heater and thwacking it very hard on the counter and it not breaking. I spoke with Roger at Tunze about EJ heaters when I asked him why Tunze doesn't make a heater that we can rely on. Apparantly Mr. Tunze and Mr. Jager are good friends, but when Jager's company was sold to Eheim, quality went way down. EJ heaters are still pretty good, but nowhere near as good as they used to be. Roger mentioned Schego as a good reliable brand, but they aren't sold in the US. Too expensive to import and remain competitive with cheap Chinese heaters that everyone seems to want to buy.
mogurnda November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 In the interest of keeping a piece of failure-prone 120v equipment out of a tank, has anyone tried using a heat lamp over their sump as a heater? Just plug it into a ranco/ac3/etc. This would be in addition to a MH fuge light; both could be put on the controller. A few hours on, few off wouldn't hurt algae growing in a sump/fuge. That's a nice idea. I have been struggling to come up with a way of boosting my heating in the winter without a heater in the display, and this might do it. Plus I can use it to keep food warm.
Sikryd November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 James - sorry to hear this!!! I feel your pain - believe me! I just lost about $6k in SPS, everything died. Not to mention all my clams, a Flame Wrasse and a few other things. My tank looks as sweet as ever now that I did 2 x 80g water changes, ran poly's for a week, and changed carbon out 2x. Good luck with it. I'm still looking for a good heater....
CHUBAKAH November 9, 2009 November 9, 2009 I used to be a Stealth guy but had two go bad the last year. I am now using the Blue Line controller with a BlueLine Biotherm 500 watt Titanium Heating Element. While I do not think the temp controller is set perfect, it does seem to work great. Not to hi jack, but has anyone had any issues with this set up? Just trying to be proactive.
Boret November 10, 2009 November 10, 2009 James, I wonder if the heater released copper into your system? Do you have a poly-filter that you could install to capture any heavy metals? Right now, I run stealths and Via Aqua titanium's on my system. Both are under the control of my AC-III but I'm thinking about going back to a Ranco controller for temperature control for improved reliability (I used to use one but moved to the AC-III last winter). Most of the failures that I've read about (where people actually call out the specific failure mode) seems to center on two different, and possibly related, failures. First, there's a physical failure of the casing whether it's glass plastic (the glass heaters seem to have more problems with this). The other failure mode is thermostat failure either leaving the heater stuck on or off. The first reason is why I favor using plastic (stealth) and titanium heaters, while the second failure mode is why I'll probably move back to the proven reliability of a Ranco controller. I have the exact same setup as you! The Via titanium the primary and the stealth the secondary.
davelin315 November 10, 2009 November 10, 2009 You guys have it all wrong. Just enclose your tank in a small room and get leave the chiller and a few 400W HQI ballasts in the room with it - I guarantee you won't need a heater even if you have the room on the slab of your floor in the middle of winter... As far as the lamp over the water, I'd be wary of this. I have had a bulb break on a turtle tank before because it got splashed with water. That's a tough thing to clean up if the glass shatters over a sump or a tank, especially in high flow like we have. I can imagine problems with shattered glass getting sucked into a pump and shredded.
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