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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Help! heater broken? Alternatives?
hey
i think my heater may have broke, i noticed that the temp was very cold..aprox 60F! I tried to jack up the heat by cranking it all the way to the + side, left it over night but to my dismay nothing has changed! althought i know all my fish should be kept at later 70s the one im really worried about it the brislenose pleco. the neons and platies look normal but the bn looks like he has had some colour change to a lighter colour in some areas. i want/hope that the heater will still kick in but im not sure what to do right now as i dont want by bn to die. any sugestions? i would like to go to the store and buy a new heater but i dont have that option for another little while unfortunatly. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks
tom | 
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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Hi Tom,
besides getting a new heater I dont think there's anything you could do | |
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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Sure there is! Fill up some water bottles with some hot water, make sure the outside is clean of contaminants and float them in the water. Alternatively, ziploc bags may be used, but make sure they don't leak because mixing the hot water as opposed to floating it will cause the temp to rise too quickly, which can also be fatal to your fish. I wouldn't count on the heater fixing itself, I would get to a pet store asap!
Im assuming your tank is the 20 gal from your aquarium info, so be careful with raising the temp too quickly as it is fairly small. I would suggest removing some water first too as the bags or bottles will cause the water level to raise significantly by displacement in a tank that size.
The temp raising too fast can cause shock, stress, and the water parameters to change rapidly, good luck! | |
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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaner014  Sure there is! Fill up some water bottles with some hot water, make sure the outside is clean of contaminants and float them in the water. Alternatively, ziploc bags may be used, but make sure they don't leak because mixing the hot water as opposed to floating it will cause the temp to rise too quickly, which can also be fatal to your fish. I wouldn't count on the heater fixing itself, I would get to a pet store asap!
Im assuming your tank is the 20 gal from your aquarium info, so be careful with raising the temp too quickly as it is fairly small. I would suggest removing some water first too as the bags or bottles will cause the water level to raise significantly by displacement in a tank that size.
The temp raising too fast can cause shock, stress, and the water parameters to change rapidly, good luck! | wow, i learn something new everyday ... who said u cant teach an old dog new tricks | |
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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| You might want to drape an old blanket over the tank to help retain the heat | |
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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| doing a very slow water change would work too, adding water that is up to temperature over the course of an hour or so | |
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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| hey...i borrowed some money from someone and grabbed a heater, thanks for the sugestions though....i just didnt want the little guy to die | |
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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Make sure you keep the receipt encase it also fails.
Incidentally what was the wattage size brand of heater that failed and the wattage size / brand heater you are buying?
Last edited by CWO4GUNNER; April 14th, 2009 at 05:25 PM.
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April 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| the one that failed was 100w ..maybe Listed, it came with the set up as a kit. the one i just got is a 75 w made with marineland (sheath), says its guaranteed for life, and i already have the reciept stapled onto the warenty. the weird thing is on the reciept it doesnt say what i bought just a price, transaction # terminal id merch id and batch...i think thats a little sketchy since it doent say it was actually for the heater. Anyone agree? ive bought stuff at that store before and it was the same type of reciept but this time it could actually matter im thinking... | |
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April 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Yeah they always use those weird code words and numbers now. I think some boardroom accountant probubly graft the latest profit figures showing that misleading receipts account for 10% of net earnings due to non-returned items. | |
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April 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Do any of you replace a heater aftera certian amount of time whether it needs it or not? You know.....so you dont get stuck in this situation?
Like replace belts and hoses on cars before they break.
Just curious... | |
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April 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| No, but its not a bad idea to have a spare on the other side set to the same temp. The thermostat's in each will still keep the set temp without using any more power. But if one dies you wont have a surprise bunch of cold fish 3 days later with Ick. You can even use a backup 50% smaller if that is all you have on hand as its better then nothing. You can also use two heaters cumulatively if your size aquarium requires a 200W, two 100W will do the same job actually better as far as heat distribution.
Last edited by CWO4GUNNER; April 15th, 2009 at 05:11 PM.
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April 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| If you are worried about the receipt/warranty, cut out the UPC code from the box the heater came in and keep that too. Can't hurt. | |
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April 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| haha, i actually stapled the reciept to the whole freeking thing. but if i ever need to free up some space, ill do that forsure, thanks | |
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