nicole

I'm running to 300w heaters in my 75g I have one turned down and one set at the temp I want.I noticed a few days back the tank temp was low,kept checking the heaters were on . Since yesterday I have lost 5 tetras and 2 bristlenoses,I noticed one of the heaters has marks on the inside of it like it has or is burnt out.I have unplugged the heater but was wandering if it was possible for the fish to be getting electrocuted or something like that.

Chief_waterchanger

If the heater looks scorched on inside take it out immediately and throw it away. If you put your hand in the tank water and the heater has a short in contact with the water you can fry yourself. Try to replace it with a better quality heater, such as visitherm or ebu jager. A little more expense will get you plastic or metal heaters, which take abuse better than glass heaters.


Good luck with the remaining fish.

sirdarksol

I'm with chief waterchanger. Get that heater out and throw it away. Heaters are one of the few things in life that I don't believe should be fixed. There's too much chance for fish or yourself to get electrocuted or for your fish to be boiled.
If it looks scorched, the heating element probably went out. Was there any point where it was running when water wasn't covering it? That can damage a heater quite a bit.

nicole

Thanks for your replys,I took heater out yesterday when I posted this thread and replaced it with a spare I had.Water had found its way inside the heater...I'll be replacing these ones with a more exspensive brand I think they retail from $60 upwards...but money well spent as you have both mentioned

Isabella

You have two 300W heaters in a 75 gallon tank? Meaning a total of 600W? I have two 150W heaters in my 75 gallon tank ... 300W is enough for a 75 gallon tank, unless your room is very cold and you need strong heaters to keep your tank at a constant 75 - 80 F (or whatever the temperature you need to have in your tank).

Do you have your two 300W heaters turned on at once? Or just one turned on? If you keep just one turned on, that's still OK as it is 300W which is enough for a 75 gallon tank. If one of them seems to be broken, why not turn on the other 300W heater? (It works, right?)

I don't know if it's possible for the fish to get electrocuted ... but if a human being can get electrocuted from a faulty heater in a tank, I guess so can fish. Be careful putting your hands into the tank with a faulty heater! Turn the heater off before you put your hands inside the tank.

P.S. You don't need to spend as much as $60 for a heater! You can get a GREAT heater for half or even 1/3 of that $60 online

jsalemi

Electricity and water can be a deadly combination. Safety first is a motto I've come to respect through experience:

1) whenever possible, turn off all the electric items in the tank before you ever stick your hand in there.
2) have your power strip plugged into some kind of GFCI. Electical codes require GFCI outlets anywhere near water (ie, the bathroom and kitchen), because they work -- they keep you from getting electrocuted. If it's not possible to plug the tank into a GFCI outlet (sometimes you can't change the wall outlet because its in the middle of a circuit, and not the end), there are in-line GFCI devices available from most big hardware stores (and Drs. F&S carry a couple types as well). It's well worth the investment.

nicole

Thanks all for your replies and advice,its all appreciated. Yep I am running 2 300w one at each end of tank.I have them both turned on at have once, keep my tank at 29-30 and have both heaters set on 28..Just one of these heaters will not keep my tank at the right temp even if I turn it right up..and I find using the both is less strain or work for the heaters themselves as they are not constantly heating...Yeah I realise they are cheaper online but I needed a new one asap as my temp went down to 26 with just the one heater running..but I will do that as I'm going to replace all the other heaters I have with better ones.
I purchased a 300w steel from petstock set me back $69
again thanks all
Nicole~