Heater malfunction caused a sad day.

[wadewc]

I just came home and found both of my discus dead in one of my aquariums due to a heater malfunction. Thermometer read over 140. I received these discus in Kenny’s June shipment. I asked Kenny if he could get me two 5” white discus for June order and he found these beautiful white crosses for me. I was so proud of them. Pics of fish are in this http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=72711 post.
They laid legs last week but unfortunately the HOB sucked them up. I know with this hobby things are going to happen that is out our control but this sucks. Is there something I can do or buy that will help this from happening again. The heater that went bad was a Stealth 200 watt. I have a 75 gallon with two heaters one Stealth and looks like it says Theohydar with no problems.


Thanks,
Wade

[Disgirl]

I am so sorry to hear this Wade. What a terrible shock that must have been for you. Others here have said that the Stealth heaters are not reliable. I have used Ebo Jaeger heaters for years and they have been good. Now I have a Rena Smart heater in my discus tank and it stays within .5 degrees of where I have it set, always. Mine is a 300 watt for my 75 gal tank. Best of luck with a new heater and some new fish. We have all had our fish disasters for sure...
Barb

[Scribbles]

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. You would think that by now companies could make a reliable heater. I've heard that temp controllers and in lline heaters are pretty reliable but I haven't used either yet.

Chris

[Eddie]

I just came home and found both of my discus dead in one of my aquariums due to a heater malfunction. Thermometer read over 140. I received these discus in Kenny’s June shipment. I asked Kenny if he could get me two 5” white discus for June order and he found these beautiful white crosses for me. I was so proud of them. Pics of fish are in this http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=72711 post.
They laid legs last week but unfortunately the HOB sucked them up. I know with this hobby things are going to happen that is out our control but this sucks. Is there something I can do or buy that will help this from happening again. The heater that went bad was a Stealth 200 watt. I have a 75 gallon with two heaters one Stealth and looks like it says Theohydar with no problems.


Thanks,
Wade

I am so sorry to hear Wade, I frequently bad talk stealth heaters and many people will argue that they are reliable. I think it is safe to say, they are junk.

Get an Eheim Jager or I have heard good things about the Rena smart heaters.

Sorry my friend,

Eddie

[ifixoldhouses]

Dam, every heater I have is a stealth, more money more money...

[Eddie]

Maybe not, if you have alot of them, maybe a temperature controller from Jehmco can help. I do not know how they work but maybe they can be helpful.

http://www.jehmco.com/html/temperature_controller.html

[wadewc]

I am so sorry to hear this Wade. What a terrible shock that must have been for you. Others here have said that the Stealth heaters are not reliable. I have used Ebo Jaeger heaters for years and they have been good. Now I have a Rena Smart heater in my discus tank and it stays within .5 degrees of where I have it set, always. Mine is a 300 watt for my 75 gal tank. Best of luck with a new heater and some new fish. We have all had our fish disasters for sure...
Barb

Thanks Barb, I understand i'm sure this won't be my last fish disaster.

Thanks,
Wade

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. You would think that by now companies could make a reliable heater. I've heard that temp controllers and in lline heaters are pretty reliable but I haven't used either yet.

Chris

Thanks Chris, you would think they would make a more reliable heater. There is so much technology out there.

Thanks,
Wade

I am so sorry to hear Wade, I frequently bad talk stealth heaters and many people will argue that they are reliable. I think it is safe to say, they are junk.

Get an Eheim Jager or I have heard good things about the Rena smart heaters.

Sorry my friend,

Eddie

Thanks Eddie, I would agree. I am ready to buy heaters for all my tanks. I just want to get a good heater. It would seam there is some type of controller that could sense the water temp and shut off the heater. Have you heard of anything like that?

Thanks
Wade

[blkrob]

Really sorry for your lost. I to cooked an entire tank once. Thank goodness it was when I was preparing for discus. I took the heater back to the store and they offered to replace it. I went with store credit instead of another heater. I switched to 2 hydor 300w inlines. Have not had an issue since then. They are always when in 2 degrees of the setting.

[wadewc]

Dam, every heater I have is a stealth, more money more money...

I have an old stealth and no problem yet. The one that went out of control was less than three months old. Trust me the more you get addicted the more it is going to cost. But i really injoy it.

Thanks,
Wade

Maybe not, if you have alot of them, maybe a temperature controller from Jehmco can help. I do not know how they work but maybe they can be helpful.

http://www.jehmco.com/html/temperature_controller.html

That is perty cool Eddie Thanks. I want to do some more reading but that looks like what i was asking about. I guess i better start looking around where to buy some new heaters first.

Thanks Eddie, You are always there ready to help and i thank you for that.
Wade

Really sorry for your lost. I to cooked an entire tank once. Thank goodness it was when I was preparing for discus. I took the heater back to the store and they offered to replace it. I went with store credit instead of another heater. I switched to 2 hydor 300w inlines. Have not had an issue since then. They are always when in 2 degrees of the setting.

Thanks, That is what i am worried about. I have the same heater in another tank getting it ready for some more fish. The one that went bad on me was about three months old. Of course i threw away the reciept.

Thanks,
Wade

[mmorris]

I think it is safe to say, they are junk.

I'm so sorry to hear, Wade. That must have been a terrible shock. I researched heaters a few years ago and every brand had it's supporters and also those who thought them `junk'. I've used only stealth since then on all of my tanks and I have never had one that overheated. When one goes bad it tends to stop heating. Obviously for you, they can overheat, but rather than blame stealth heaters, you might want to chalk it up to an awful, unavoidable accident. IMO it could have been any brand of heater. I've heard good things about the controllers.

[Eddie]

I'm so sorry to hear, Wade. That must have been a terrible shock. I researched heaters a few years ago and every brand had it's supporters and also those who thought them `junk'. I've used only stealth since then on all of my tanks and I have never had one that overheated. When one goes bad it tends to stop heating. Obviously for you, they can overheat, but rather than blame stealth heaters, you might want to chalk it up to an awful, unavoidable accident. IMO it could have been any brand of heater. I've heard good things about the controllers.

And how old is your oldest heater Martha?

[mmorris]

I started buying them about three years ago because they were the most highly recommended.

[Jhhnn]

Sorry for your loss.

I'll second Eddie's recommendation of the ranco temp controller from Jehmco, if you're willing to go the $. I have one on my 120 setup, controlling two 250W Jagers that I also got from Jehmco. Works great. Can't beat the price or the service, either.

Once the jagers were calibrated, I set them to ~88F, waited to be sure they were working right. Then I plugged 'em into the controller, set it for 85F, and it hasn't budged since. It holds the setting even when unplugged overnight, too... didn't take that test any further. If the controller fails on, then the internal heater thermostats should theoretically take over. Unlikely, but I do have a backup temp control, never a bad thing...

If you or anybody else is interested, send me some failed heaters of different brands so I can take 'em apart, determine if the old trick of making up a series wired outlet box will work on them... It's actually pretty easy if you're mechanically inclined, at all, and was a preferred method years ago. PM me, and I'll give you the address. It'd make an interesting pictorial for my fellow SD'ers...

I had a few failed stealths in my possession but pitched 'em in a cleanup frenzy... hadn't considered the series wiring thing at the time...

[Eddie]

I started buying them about three years ago because they were the most highly recommended.

Three years is still young, and there is a reason why they have a lifetime warranty, when one fails and kills are the fish, you get a new one to replace the faulty one, not to replace the fish.

Eddie

[wadewc]

I'm so sorry to hear, Wade. That must have been a terrible shock. I researched heaters a few years ago and every brand had it's supporters and also those who thought them `junk'. I've used only stealth since then on all of my tanks and I have never had one that overheated. When one goes bad it tends to stop heating. Obviously for you, they can overheat, but rather than blame stealth heaters, you might want to chalk it up to an awful, unavoidable accident. IMO it could have been any brand of heater. I've heard good things about the controllers.

Thanks Martha, Your right maybe i should not be so judge amental. I have lost others in the past due to my error but these were special. I new getting into this hobby there was going to be good and bad times. I am getting ready on making a order but i am a little nervous know. I am still reading on the controllers.

Thanks again,
Wade