TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
I have had two heater malfunctions which cost me. The fiirst boiled two wild discus and a turned the rummny nose tetras to mush. The L450s hunkered down in their caves and survived, They spawned a few weeks layer. The tank was at 104F when I discovered it. The second time was even worse. My breeder tanks of RB line 236 went up to 120F- everything was dead including about 30 fry.
I have also lost fish due to the opposite- the water got too cold. But in the case here there is, if I am understanding it correctly, that the daytime tempd will always get a lot warmer than the overnight temp. In my case the cold nights also meant colder days. And that meant there was little or no help from the ambient temperature to help much. Bear in mind that I keep fish that are happy in the low 80sF and when I have to run a dry/rainy season to get them to spawn I will end up with the tank temp over 90F (32C+).
I actually have a fish space for pleco tanks. I had to install an air conditioner. The tanks radiate hear into the room which gets too hot from the tanks. I have the heating ducts blocked even in winter when it is freezing outside.
As Byron said, heaters are probably yhe least reliable piece of equipment we use. I have and do use multiple brands and have had every brand fail at least onece. When they stick full one is the worst but if they quit and the tank temps drop, it can kill fish depending upon the species.
One last note on heaters. I use multiples because they have to work less to achieve the desired result. Think of it this way, how warm would your home be if the heat only came on in one room and had to spread from there? Ideally, having multiple heaters creates more even heating and makes it easier to maintain a temp thoughout the tank. It also protects somewhat against heater failure where it stops working. There is no protection against that. At least a controller can protect against the opposite where a heater gets stuck full on.
I have also lost fish due to the opposite- the water got too cold. But in the case here there is, if I am understanding it correctly, that the daytime tempd will always get a lot warmer than the overnight temp. In my case the cold nights also meant colder days. And that meant there was little or no help from the ambient temperature to help much. Bear in mind that I keep fish that are happy in the low 80sF and when I have to run a dry/rainy season to get them to spawn I will end up with the tank temp over 90F (32C+).
I actually have a fish space for pleco tanks. I had to install an air conditioner. The tanks radiate hear into the room which gets too hot from the tanks. I have the heating ducts blocked even in winter when it is freezing outside.
As Byron said, heaters are probably yhe least reliable piece of equipment we use. I have and do use multiple brands and have had every brand fail at least onece. When they stick full one is the worst but if they quit and the tank temps drop, it can kill fish depending upon the species.
One last note on heaters. I use multiples because they have to work less to achieve the desired result. Think of it this way, how warm would your home be if the heat only came on in one room and had to spread from there? Ideally, having multiple heaters creates more even heating and makes it easier to maintain a temp thoughout the tank. It also protects somewhat against heater failure where it stops working. There is no protection against that. At least a controller can protect against the opposite where a heater gets stuck full on.
