Heaters

[rabidric]

Recently in our 400l tank we noticed one of the heaters was turning brown inside. We kept an eye on it and it was still working, well the light in it came on anyway. Over the weekend I decided to take a closer look and found that it was broken and full of rust but it was still lit and the water temp was ok. It's never been run dry, dropped or damaged that we know of. It's a RENA that came with the tank so maybe it was cracked in transit and we didn't notice. Do you reckon it could have harmed the fish? That's the electricity and the rusty water.

Cheers

R

 

[Rooster]

If theres ANY doubt, then BIN IT and get a new one pronto.... Heaters of a certain age or quality sometimes suffer from condensation problems - it may well be that it is still sealed, but why take a risk for a few quid ?
As for harming fish, its highly unlikly that even if the water "saw" any electricity - the fish wouldnt "know" about it.... more likely to be YOU when you put your hands in.... swap it PLEASE

 

[SkiFletch]

Agreed. Heater's are too cheap to risk the lives of you or your livestock...

 

[rabidric]

Should have said that we swapped it out as soon as we realised. Wouldn't risk the fish for a couple of quids worth of heater!! Just wondered whether the electric or dirty water could have harmed the fish.

R

 

[raptorrex]

Should have said that we swapped it out as soon as we realised. Wouldn't risk the fish for a couple of quids worth of heater!! Just wondered whether the electric or dirty water could have harmed the fish.

R

No i think that is highly unlikley. you acted too quickly for that.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, you'd know by now. Remember, having the tank at an elevated potential (voltage) is often not bad for the fish. It's when that potential has a path to ground that current flows and current is what is lethal to vertebrate organisms...

You can hold a Van De Graff generator which creates well over 10,000 volts and be just fine. You're only zapped when you touch ground and the microamp of current flows through your fingertips.