Kim&Dan Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 That's what happens when you think you got yourself a bargain! Had setup our third tank (...did someone say MTS? :lol:) about a week ago and it was cycling away nicely. When I checked the temperature on it today it wasn't showing a reading (am using one of those stick-on-the-glass thermometers)... I put my hand in the water and got a shock :roll: The water was really hot! The thermometer reads up to 34C and I would estimate the water to have been around 38C degrees when I put my hand in there - if not more :evil: The 200W heater we had gotten with the tank (600x310x310) at cash converters had worked since I first setup this tank (about a week ago). I reckon that the thermostat in it is broken now and I will get a new one first thing tomorrow. (Right after that I'll be heading to cash converters!!! :lol:) We're glad that this didn't happen with fish in there. Just another reason for why cycling is so important - it gives you a chance to test the equipment thoroughly. Luckily both the plants and the snails haven't been affected by this at all. Now I'm not sure about what to do about the whole cycling progress though... Would the hot water have killed off the bacteria (we put Stress Zyme in there at the beginning) or are they fine like the snails? Should I change the water? Do I have to start from scratch? Any help and advice will as always be greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Bugger - I would change about 20 percent of the water and it will help it cool a bit quicker - I reckon the temp would have gone up slowly and gradually which should have allowed the bacteria to accustom - So hopefully not much damage and anyway your cycling so... Good thing no fish in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 It should be ok but just do a water test before you add any fish, if you don't have a test kit ask your LSF to test the water for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&Dan Posted January 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Thanks for the advice! It has cooled down to 23C degrees over night and I will be buying the new heater this afternoon. And I will definitely test the water before putting fish in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 One of the reasons we suggest you run a tank empty for a week or so - to make sure the heaterstat stabilises. Not sure how you will get on with cash converters. You said the heater went for 1 week after you got it. Do they have a warranty on 2nd hand goods? Luck of the draw with things like heaterstats. Even brand new ones can do that on occasion but with them you have a warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Good to hear of an occasion where everything was done right and resulted in no fish casulties. It is very tempting to hurry the process and most of the time it is okay but the one time something goes wrong......it's nice to know no fish off to fishy heaven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Hi Kim & Dan, Glad you didn't lose any fishies! We DREAD heaters breaking and have "Marina Aqua-Minders" on all the tanks. These have a high/low temp alarm and let us know when the water temps are going off (if someone is home to hear it). Just a thought, but at $30+ a pop it's an expensive investment if your fish are easily replaced. Now, as for cycling. This is your third tank and you're still using stress-zyme? Wow, I can't believe no one has told you this before. When setting up an addtional tank don't bother with the store-bought chemicals if you have a properly cycled tank already. Simply transfer some filter media and gravel and your bacteria should establish itself within a matter of days. Another thing I should mention is that the bacteria doesn't do well if it doesn't have Ammonia to work with. This counts for both your bacteria and store-bought stuff. Always good to add one or two fish to start the cycling and add more fish gradually until you have the tank filled. Good luck with the thermometer and buy new next time. PetPlanet has great prices on new heaters if you're looking for a deal. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 I did suggest on the forum a while back, to have a back up thermostat in line with the heater, especially to overcome this problem. I only had two replies about them so didn't bother going any further and obtaining any. These will work if your deaf or away. Cheap insurance in anyones books. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Very true, but does that work for both high/low? I was at the local "grow shop" and saw an in-line thermo, but it was $100+. Is there a cheaper solution? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 We DREAD heaters breaking and have "Marina Aqua-Minders" on all the tanks. These have a high/low temp alarm and let us know when the water temps are going off (if someone is home to hear it). Just a thought, but at $30+ a pop it's an expensive investment if your fish are easily replaced. Hi Blue, Where do you buy these? At only $30, it's worth adding to my tank for sure. For me $30 is really cheap insurance with 17 adult discus to replace if disaster strikes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Where do you buy these? At only $30, it's worth adding to my tank for sure. For me $30 is really cheap insurance with 17 adult discus to replace if disaster strikes... I prefer the idea of many smaller heaters - a sort or RAID of heaters. That way one sticking on will have a slower rate of overheating, and one dying will have a slower rate of cooling. I have 1 200 and 2 100s in the tank rather then a 350 which I think was the calculated wattage I needed. I have gone to the effort of pulling 2 power circuits to my tropical tank so when the *(^&*(^(*ing RCDs pop for no good reason only half the heaters go off, meaning so long as it stays warm inside (which it should) I will most likly never dip below 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&Dan Posted January 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Ok, everything is back to normal now and thanks for all the helpful input First thing this morning, I went to purchase a new one (at Pet Planet, which we have found to be a fantastic shop too, Blue!) and put it in. After that I brought the faulty one back to cash converters and surprisingly enough they swapped it with one they had in the tank combos there - they didn't even ask for the receipt, even though I had managed to find it. The one we got is actually even better than the one we had - looks brand new, is nicer looking and seems to be a pricey model! Caryl, they have a 30 days warranty with proof of purchase on the goods purchased there. Always good to know Regarding the Stress Zyme: I know that putting gravel and filter media from a cycled tank in the new tank is the way to go and that's what we did, but I thought putting in the Stress Zyme additionally wouldn't do any harm? Thanks for the advice, Blue Do snails contribute to the ammonia level? I think I'll wait another few days and then I'll add a couple of fish. I had never thought about the dangers of a heater breaking down (because so far it hadn't happened to us...) but after this occasion, I think I might want to do something for the fishies' safety and our peace of mind... Alan: How exactly would a back up thermostat work and how much would it cost? If $100+ I think it'd be a little too steep for our 'small' tanks... especially because you probably have to get one for each tank, right? Blue: I'll definitely look into those Marina Aqua-Minders. Thanks for all the advices richms: As we have two heaters now, I'll stick them both in the tank for now, so they can back each other up... However, this is obviously only a precaution for preventing the temperature to drop too low - with the heater we had it wouldn't have made a difference... I like the idea of two separate circuit boards! Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Yep snails do produce waste and therefore ammonia, they will be cycling the tank. Trade-me has a aqua-minder on there at the moment bid was at $29 when I looked yesterday. I you are going to spend money on electric's I stongly suggest that you put in an RCD (if your house doesn't already have them in the mains board) before worrying about getting a seecond circuit added (althrough doing both would be best). I tripped out my RCD twice last weekend both times I was under the tank sitting in the same water that had just flooded out of my tank on the power boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Kim&Dan said: Alan: How exactly would a back up thermostat work and how much would it cost? If $100+ I think it'd be a little too steep for our 'small' tanks... especially because you probably have to get one for each tank, right? For a start, the ones I am talking about are less than a third of that. OK?? They are the same set up as a heater thermostat, but without the heating coil. It is set at say 28oC, while the main heater stat is set at 22oC. Therefore, if the heater is jammed on, then the thermostat will start operating, when you see that it is working, cause the light will be going on and off, which will then warn you that the heating setup has failed.. The only way a tank goes cold is if the heating coil failed, this doesn't protect you from this, but fish can live in reasonably cold water, but die when they are boiled. Oh!! Another reason for the heater to fail to work is when the missus unplugs the heater to do the vaccumming or similar, and of course not being interested in the fish, fails to plug the heater back in. "Al ducks from flying shoes" Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 I you are going to spend money on electric's I stongly suggest that you put in an RCD (if your house doesn't already have them in the mains board) before worrying about getting a seecond circuit added (althrough doing both would be best). I tripped out my RCD twice last weekend both times I was under the tank sitting in the same water that had just flooded out of my tank on the power boxes. The problem is that most electricians are cheap and put a single 40 amp RCD upstream of all the breakers for the house except the range and the hot water. The better ones are the RCBOs which are an RCD and circuit breaker in one and protect a single circuit only. We used to have 3 RCBOs here on the 2 bathrooms and one other recently installed circuit, but when we had a sparky upgrade the supply to the kitchen he took them out and put a single 40 amp one in (how 40 amps is enough for a whole house escapes me) - anyway the thing tripped all the damn time for no reason since it was a 30ma trip one running a whole house - duh. anyway, talking to another electrician ended up that we didnt need to RCD everything, just the new circuits so we put the rest of the house back on no rcd and put the RCBOs back in on the circuits that needed them. I have one plug at each tank on each bathroom circuit since they are rarely loaded to 20 amps unlike the kitchen circuit. Dont bother with the cheap way of doing it, you will only get fed up with the nusuance trips of the main RCD and theres a much higher chance of the tank losing power. RCBOs are only about $80 a piece from a wholesaler with a discount. If I was to do it again I may just get the RCD power points, but still the idea of having them under a tank is a little sketchy since they may get wet there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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