MaddieLynn

When we got home from church today, I noticed that my fish were acting listless, so I immediately began checking for a cause.

I checked the temperature.

It was at 88 Fahrenheit.

I turned the heater WAY down, and then unplugged it incase it kicks on when I'm at choir later today. I stuck a note on the tank to remind me to turn it back on after the temperature gets to a suitable level.

I have no idea what caused it to do that! Thankfully, there were no casualties.

AlyeskaGirl

Not sure how fast the temp will drop, just hope it wont drop too fast or go too low while you are away causing more stress on the fish. You may want to pickup a new heater.

I hope everything turns out well for you and your fish.

agabr123

what kind of heater do you have? did you forget to unplug it during a water change?

mare2009

sometimes the water height will do that if its not a submersiable one?

MaddieLynn

I'd sort of like to get one of those that automatically keeps the water at 78 degrees, but then I wouldn't be able to turn it up a couple of degrees in case of ICH or something like that.

MaddieLynn

Not sure what brand it is - I can tell that it's older, though. It's the kind you hang on the back and the glass tube sticks in the water. I haven't done a water change in the past few days and the temp has been fine.

Red1313

If it's an older heater then it might just be dying on you. I'd look into a new one.

MeGustaUnaPez926

Agreed. The one I have is set to 78* like you want, but you can adjust it. Its called a Penn Plax Cascade Heater, I think they're pretty common, I'm really happy with it.

Dozey

I can’t say enough good things about my Marineland Stealth Shatter Proof Heater.

As the name implies it is shatter proof, a nice level of security. It is dead accurate and has a life time warranty.

It is also fully submersible allowing it to be mounted low and horizontally in my aquarium making it easy to hide. Not all submersible heaters can be mounted horizontally. Also, by mounting it low in the aquarium there is never any need to worry about unplugging it during water changes.

I’ve highlighted my heater in the picture or you might not notice it.

heater.jpg

aquarist48

I agree with Dozey. I have 2 stealth heaters in my tank. They work GREAT.

agabr123

i've got a marineland stealth and i love it! the lifetime guarantee is definitely a dealbreaker for me, i'm hoping to never actually have to replace it for some time but we'll see how that goes

MaddieLynn

@Dozey (and everyone else who recommended it) I'll try to look for that next time I'm at a fish store.

seedy

Hi maddielynn
Alot of heaters stay in the ON position when the thermostat fails . This might be what happened to yours .

Steve420

I definitely agree...go with a Stealth. I found a 50W Stealth (brand new) for 15 bucks shipped on ebay. Considering they are like 25+ dollars around me, I thought it was a great deal.

Don't be fooled by those heaters that claim to keep your water at 78. I had the same thoughts that this would be a cost effective, low maintenence solutions.
So, I bought a submersible Tetra heater from Walmart (15 bucks also) and it never raised my temp past 76. And I followed all the directions to a "T"...i.e how long to let it sit in water prior to plugging in, etc.. Plus it seemed like it ran ALL the time. I got sick of seeing that little red light lit up in my corner.
After my Stealth arrived, I just returned that Tetra "junk" to Wally World.