Heater Tip!!!!!

[brewmaster15]

heater tip....

If you are using a heater that is attached by suction cups , you may want to remove the suction cups and let it dangle freely. Many a good discus has been grilled by getting stuck between the glass and heater!

hth,
al

[daninthesand]

That's a good tip Al.

I've started using the white plastic packaging piece that fits on the glass end of the Ebo's to keep the glass heater off the bottom. Those suction cups seem to wear out pretty quick (IE lose their flexibility and don't stick) and I end up with the heater just dangling eventually anyway.

The packaging holder keeps the heater form banging on the glass.

[EthanCote.com]

Hey Al, on the bright side, that is a great way to weep out dumb Discus


Cheers,

Chi.

[joanr]

Speaking of dumb discus, is it true that they wouldn't feel the pain of being burned by a heater until it got pretty bad? Read that somewhere a long time ago. These new titaniums pose a threat also. They are held very closely to the glass by the cups. An adult couldn't get in there but a small juvie could get stuck........

JR

[brewmaster15]

Hi Joan,,
never thought about that but I would guess yes. There are different kinds of receptor for pressure, pain, hot and cold, etc. Discus being of tropical origin where the water is generally a stable temperature, would have less of a need for hot-cold receptors . I guess also that getting burned is probably not commonplace to any fish species, which is probably why they just sit there instead of backing away!
-al

[Francisco_Borrero]

I lost a beautiful large blue wild, who somehow got wedged between the glass and the heater. Bummer!
Since, no suction cups for my tanks. The heaters just hang, and it is a lot easier to keep them and the back walls clean.
I guess the tip of using the white plastic protector that comes with Ebo's is good, although I am not doing it now...it is one more thing to clean, with lots of weird surfaces for bacteria films to attach.
Cheers, Francisco.

[BlueTurquoise]

Great Tip guys! will remove the thinsg tonight!!! ;D

Chong

[engineguy129]

Thanx for the tip, will remove mine as well!

Rob ;D

[allan_mark76]

I had the same problem with a pleco in the past...man he was fried like a KFC hot wing....

Anyways take out the suction cups as I'd rather fry a $2 fish versus a $60+ discus

Look at the whole picture and you would understand.

A-

[jeep]

I don't like the heater dangling on the bottom, but I did remove one of the suction cups and left the other near the control. It moves pretty freely...

I had heard of the burn victims before. :'(

[markstr]

I've been using Hydor "External" heaters for some time now.
Simple set & forget and doesn't take up any room in the tank..
Extremely accurate.. Of course, this is primarily for Canister Filter arrangements..

[Polar_Bear]

My solution is the same as Mark's mainly. I take the heater out of my discus tanks, whether by using Hydor ETH's or heaters in a sump. The main purpose is not so much for fear of burns, I've kept literally 1000's of discus and never had that problem (I can certainly see it happening though) but for me it is the ease of cleaning. Anything I can take out of the tank and so don't have to clean, or clean around, is a good thing to me (but I'm basically lazy).

[poconogal]

My solution is the same as Mark's mainly. I take the heater out of my discus tanks, whether by using Hydor ETH's or heaters in a sump. The main purpose is not so much for fear of burns, I've kept literally 1000's of discus and never had that problem (I can certainly see it happening though) but for me it is the ease of cleaning. Anything I can take out of the tank and so don't have to clean, or clean around, is a good thing to me (but I'm basically lazy).

Polar Bear talked me into getting the Hydor ETH for my new 75. I did and I love it. Like he says, easier for maintenance. Also, one less thing to be seen in the tank, and no chance of crispy fish.

[GrillMaster]

I have mine layin on the bottom, but when doin the WC's they lay all over it. Guess its a piece of structure for em. You would think they would hide behind the sponges instead.

I have a neighbor who has a huge oscar, an he is always layin on the heater gettin grilled. I told him maybe you should put the heater towards the top of the tank so when he gets all lazy at night he aint leanin on it.

[Cosmo]

Good points all, depending on the heater though wouldn't there be the possibility of broken glass if hung freely? Think Ebo's would be safe, as would the plastic stealths, but not sure of some of the other brands ? A temporarily crazed discus could hit the free swinging heater pretty hard causing it to crash against either the glass, or a rock if you have them in your tank (I don't).

Suction cups suck anyway, well, actually they don't for very long Like pointed out above, after a period of time the heaters are pretty much swinning freely anyway

I had thought of using the plastic rings that the Ebo's put around them to hold the wires inside the packaging as bumbers... isn't the bottom plug styro? Don't remember since I haven't bought any Ebo's for awhile but I'm not sure styro would be good considering it's composition and toxicity to some species.

Big wattage titaniums area a huge danger, cause they DO get hot. Stopped using those because I prefer a heater with an internal thermostat to act as a fail safe to the heater controllers you need with the big watt titaniums. Besides, my fish always wanted to lay eggs on the titanium heaters and that certainly didn't work out too well

Jim