Heater Problem - Brown discoloration on outside

[seanus]

Hello,

I have a 30-gallon hex tank with a Penn-Plex Therma Flow PC heater that has worked fine with fish in the tank for about a year.

I am now starting it up again...during the final few months of having the tank running with fish, a light-brown deposit started to build up on the outside of the glass near the coils. It didn't seem to be a problem.

I let the water cool for a few weeks, turned it back up and it reached 80 degrees F.
I then turned the heater back on at full power, and after it being on for a few days, it has only reached 72 degrees and capped out.

Should I replace this heater? If so, how much should I spend & what's the best one to go with?

Thanks

 

[freddyk]

If the heater isn't running properly I'd say it's done for. When it comes to heaters I don't take any risks - it only takes boiling fish once to never cheap out again. Spend as much as it takes to get a high quality heater that won't break on you, and I wouldn't get one without a thermostat.

 

[freddyk]

Ebo Jagr and Visi-Therm are both very good products.

 

[bully]

Ebo Jagr and Visi-Therm are both very good products.

I agree. At my store we have 100 tanks running Visi-therm heaters for 1 year with no problems whatsoever.

 

[seanus]

Thanks to you both. I will be going with a Visi-therm.

Much appreciated

 

[boxman]

Please don't double post threads - I spent ages replying to the first in the hardware section only to find this in the beginners section.

It's better to post a thread in one section at a time - if you get no response (which I've never had) then post it somewhere else.

Edit: Also, not being funny but it would have been an idea to find out what power thermostat was being run and a recommendation of the correct wattage to buy - if you're running a 50w in a 30g tank it's going to be working alot more than if it were a 150w - that could be why the thermostat has problems in the first place - possibly not but worth making sure - just my 2p's worth.