Heater breakage during water change?

[discusalex]

Hey all,

I've kept discus on and off for over a decade. For eons, I've used Ebo Jager heaters and never had a problem. Recently, I tried switching over Marineland's Visi-therm heater (the one with the glass tubes). The glass on three of them broke during water changes.

I called Marineland, and was told the breakage was due to not unplugging the heater during the water change. I never unplugged the Jagers during water changes, and never had a problem.

Do most of you unplug your heaters during water changes?

Alex

[Greenheinie]

I would unplug it if it's placed vertically in the tank, which would expose the heater. If it's submersed horizontally, then I change the water up to the point where the heater is just under water...which in my case is 50% WC.

There have been plenty of times where I forgot to unplug the heater, but never had a cracked/broken heater from it.

Then there was the time in winter I forgot to plug the heater back in after a WC (not in my discus tank) which resulted in a bunch of dead cardinals. Oops!

[csarkar001]

if you mount the heaters horizontally at the bottom of the tank, you can avoid the problem. otherwise, you should turn off the heaters a few minutes before you do a water change.

[discusalex]

I have them in at a 45 degree angle. Never had this problem before, and the guy I spoke with at Marineland made it seem like I was a doof for not unplugging the heater.

Either way, I'm off Marineland heaters. Any suggestions for another brand/model?

[LizStreithorst]

The Ebos can handle time out of water. The glass is thick. Look at the thin glass on the Visitherms. Of course they blow up. I've tried the Visitherms (both the Stealth and glass). I've had it with both. Ebos aren't perfect but they are by far the best. JMO from my own experience.

[Frankr409]

Hey all,

I've kept discus on and off for over a decade. For eons, I've used Ebo Jager heaters and never had a problem. Recently, I tried switching over Marineland's Visi-therm heater (the one with the glass tubes). The glass on three of them broke during water changes.

I called Marineland, and was told the breakage was due to not unplugging the heater during the water change. I never unplugged the Jagers during water changes, and never had a problem.

Do most of you unplug your heaters during water changes?

Alex

If the heater will be exposed at any point during the water change it probably would be recommended by the mfg to turn off the heater, Jagers probably have the same recommendation...

[Eddie]

Hey all,

I've kept discus on and off for over a decade. For eons, I've used Ebo Jager heaters and never had a problem. Recently, I tried switching over Marineland's Visi-therm heater (the one with the glass tubes). The glass on three of them broke during water changes.

I called Marineland, and was told the breakage was due to not unplugging the heater during the water change. I never unplugged the Jagers during water changes, and never had a problem.

Do most of you unplug your heaters during water changes?

Alex


Go back to Jagers, my experience with visi-therms has been the same. Cheap and glass breaks easy. Yes, always unplug heaters anytime you do aquarium maintenance or water changes.

Eddie

[discusalex]

That's the thing, the heaters (both the Jagers and Visi-therms) were always submerged,even during the water changes. Guy on the phone said they broke because of the change in water temperature.

I don't know about anyone else, but my tanks are set up on racks with the outlets in the back, so it's a pain in the neck to have to unplug heaters every time I do a water change.

Alex

[Eddie]

That's the thing, the heaters (both the Jagers and Visi-therms) were always submerged,even during the water changes. Guy on the phone said they broke because of the change in water temperature.

I don't know about anyone else, but my tanks are set up on racks with the outlets in the back, so it's a pain in the neck to have to unplug heaters every time I do a water change.

Alex


I guess its how you approach it, I unplug over a dozen heaters every day and love doing it. ;)

[LizStreithorst]

That's the thing, the heaters (both the Jagers and Visi-therms) were always submerged,even during the water changes. Guy on the phone said they broke because of the change in water temperature.

I don't know about anyone else, but my tanks are set up on racks with the outlets in the back, so it's a pain in the neck to have to unplug heaters every time I do a water change.

Alex

I think that the Visi-Therm man was saying an untruth. The difference in water temp during WC should never have caused this. Surely you don't change water with water out of the freezer:D

Do as I did. Suck it up and replace them with Ebos. I have some mounted vertically. The Ebo's don't care.

[ZX10R]

I bought a 150 watt vis-therm a month ago and I have it turned all the way up to 89 and it won't get my 30 gallon tank any higher then 83. I just bought and I am trying one of those titanium heaters with temp. probe so far I really like it seems to be working great. But yes I always unlpug my heaters when doing a WC. The one time I forgot to before I got done doing the WC I smelled something burning then I realized the heater was still plug in.

[Wahter]

I have my heaters and hang-on power filters hooked up to a powerstrip - when I do water changes, I flip the switch off. After refilling the tank with water, I flip the switch back on. Easy as pie.



Walter

[nc0gnet0]

If your saying the heater stayed completly submerged during a water change, then the marineland rep is full of chit. No way they should have broken under those conditions. Now, it became exposed, thats a different story.

marineland's heater reputation is down the tubes anyways, I wouldn't trust one with a ten foot pool, ever since they moved thier supplier from Italy to China........

[Jhhnn]

I use jagers exclusively, mounted at an angle so that they stay below the water line during normal water changes. Never an issue. They were the best I could find 20 years ago, so so that's what I bought when I came back to fishkeeping a year ago. They're only turned off for serious cleaning. I use AmericanDJ switched power strips from Amazon.com so I don't have to fuss with plugs... There are other brands and styles out there, too...

I think maybe there was some sort of failure to communicate between you and the marineland guy. If, as you say, the heaters were below the water line during the water changes, there shouldn't have been any problems, and he should know that.

Nice price on Jagers from Kensfish. I tried him because he's a sponsor, and keep going back because he's given me good service.

Bob Garside of Upper Canada Discus has offered that Sera heaters are also good, and I believe him. The only US vendor I know of is Aquacave...

[Eddie]

I use jagers exclusively, mounted at an angle so that they stay below the water line during normal water changes. Never an issue. They were the best I could find 20 years ago, so so that's what I bought when I came back to fishkeeping a year ago. They're only turned off for serious cleaning. I use AmericanDJ switched power strips from Amazon.com so I don't have to fuss with plugs... There are other brands and styles out there, too...

I think maybe there was some sort of failure to communicate between you and the marineland guy. If, as you say, the heaters were below the water line during the water changes, there shouldn't have been any problems, and he should know that.

Nice price on Jagers from Kensfish. I tried him because he's a sponsor, and keep going back because he's given me good service.

Bob Garside of Upper Canada Discus has offered that Sera heaters are also good, and I believe him. The only US vendor I know of is Aquacave...


I do in fact own 1 Sera heater and so far so good. Since buying that heater, I've still bought several more jagers as they seem more durable.

[nc0gnet0]

I have a finnex 500 watt titanium heater, so far so good.....have not heard much about the brand though.

[scottishbloke]

I have been using Via Aqua glass heaters so far due to low $$$ and they have been fine, even with me once forgetting to unplug one and partly melting the plastic holder as a result. But I got paid last week- and the 2 new Jagers I finally ordered from Kensfish should arrive tomorrow :D:D:D They will be calibrated if needed first, then positioned horizontally very close to the bottom on opposite sides of the tank and both connected to a power strip for easy turning off during W/Cs. I understand hooking them up to a controller would be even better still, but that will have to wait for another time and more $.

Colin

[jeff@zina.com]

The Stealth heaters will turn off if the water level drops below a certain point. It means they need to be anywhere from a 45 degree angle to vertical and not horizontal, so they may not be ideal for everyone.

Personally, my heaters are horizontal at the bottom of the tank. It would take a 95% water change to expose one. Over the years I've broken more heaters than I care to admit and zapped myself a few times as well... :)

Jeff

[jaykne]

I had at one time all Marineland stealth heater claim to turn off when out of water, but never took the chance would keep them horizontally near the bottom of the tank but had 2 stop working and another 2 temp went way to high after only a couple months 1 was at 95F, so switched to Jagers, they work great and keep temp perfect once calibrated. Will never use Marineland in a discus tank again just use for storage bins.

[Foxfire]

I have a ViaAqua titanium heater (300 watts). They are submeraged and lie hor. just above the gravel so turning them off for a WC is not an issue - still, metal heaters will never crack/break from low water any way. These cost little more than glass heaters so why not change? Also, the ViaAqua have a remote temp sensor for better tank temp and a control head that mounts outside the tank. Temps can go up to 93+ so it allows for high temp treatments when needed - all around the best heater for its price (around $34 for 300 watt.)
Might add, never had to calibrate, the scale on the remote control always seems to very closely agree with the tank (+/- 1 F). This might have to do with the remote temp sensor.

[Jhhnn]

I have a ViaAqua titanium heater (300 watts). They are submeraged and lie hor. just above the gravel so turning them off for a WC is not an issue - still, metal heaters will never crack/break from low water any way. These cost little more than glass heaters so why not change? Also, the ViaAqua have a remote temp sensor for better tank temp and a control head that mounts outside the tank. Temps can go up to 93+ so it allows for high temp treatments when needed - all around the best heater for its price (around $34 for 300 watt.)
Might add, never had to calibrate, the scale on the remote control always seems to very closely agree with the tank (+/- 1 F). This might have to do with the remote temp sensor.

Seems to be some mixed results with the titanium heaters- some people have good luck, and swear by 'em, other people not so much.

Just for future reference, the blue Eheim Jagers have 2mm thick glass, and really are pretty tough. Seems like it'd take extreme carelessness or some fluke happening to actually break one...

[keef]

I've been using rena smartheaters for about a year now and never had a problem. They can stand hours on and out of the water. I don't like having heaters horizontal stuck to the bottom because food/debris tends to accumilate under them. So vertical & at an angle is the way to go for me. Hence before I discovered these heaters I'll go through a few blown up glass heaters!

The only slight problem with the Renas is that they can tend to suck up a bit of tank debris into the inner core so have to be shaken out during w/c. Other than that they are awesome. They can also take a beating. I have a couple of 300w's in my water aging barrels and these get knocked about A LOT. Still working fine after a year.

[Eddie]

Just for future reference, the blue Eheim Jagers have 2mm thick glass, and really are pretty tough. Seems like it'd take extreme carelessness or some fluke happening to actually break one...


Serious carelessness John, like jackhammer craziness! Yesterday I dropped one of mine from higher than 3 feet and it hit directly on the concrete floor HARD. So hard that I knew it had shattered or cracked. To my wild surprise, it didn't even scratch the glass! CRAZY!

[Dan]

video says it all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbDFbcd8kA0

[Eddie]

video says it all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbDFbcd8kA0


Thats a wicked video!

[Foxfire]

Seems to be some mixed results with the titanium heaters- some people have good luck, and swear by 'em, other people not so much.

Just for future reference, the blue Eheim Jagers have 2mm thick glass, and really are pretty tough. Seems like it'd take extreme carelessness or some fluke happening to actually break one...

Really? Now I am concerned - what problem? Temp control or run away issues? :confused:

[Jhhnn]

Really? Now I am concerned - what problem? Temp control or run away issues? :confused:

I don't remember specifically- I was just recalling some of the older heater threads...

Not trying to be an alarmist or anything...

[Discus master]

I use an 200 watt aqueon and honestly its pretty thinck glass I have never had an issue with them breaking. I keep mine near the bottom at a 45degree angle and when I do a WC I take it to just where the thing is still submerged and never had an issue not once I hear a lot of people stand behind their Jag's but honestly for my if it aint broke why fix it? I use three of these things on my three tanks and never had an issue.

[Dan]

I use an 200 watt aqueon and honestly its pretty thinck glass I have never had an issue with them breaking. I keep mine near the bottom at a 45degree angle and when I do a WC I take it to just where the thing is still submerged and never had an issue not once I hear a lot of people stand behind their Jag's but honestly for my if it aint broke why fix it? I use three of these things on my three tanks and never had an issue.

i've used the aqueon heaters as well, although every single one, including replacements from aqueon, gave out and stopped working within a few weeks.

[mathao]

i use the hydor theo heaters, i have no problems with them, when i do water changes i don,t even unplug it, and the are pretty much idiot proof.

[kitykatfunkiehat]

That video is horrifying