Heater for Discus Tank !!

[tomahawk]

Has anyone ever come across a situation when the heater in the Discus tank generates mild electricity in the water. I know it sounds odd, but I always get this mild tingling feeling when I immerse my fingers in the water. It generally happens when I do it for the first time in the day, and doing it subsequently after that seems to be feeling ok.

I have closely followed the behavior pattern of my fishes but they are as cool and peaceful as they generally are, which shouldn't have been the case if the heater was releasing electricity in the water. Can it be so, that my skin is very sensitive to the electrical pulse in the water and feeling it when I dip my fingers for the first time ?

Its a Tetra brand heater, which obviously is of very good quality, and there is no reason why it should be giving out mild electrical charges..

[ILLUSN]

GET A NEW HEATER!!!!!

you are earthed, electricity flows through you to the ground, the fish are NOT!!!!!!!

if you dont replace it theres a good chance you could kill yourself.

Tetra heaters arn't that great, I'd rate them as high as tronics by hagen which almost killed me a few years back.

[DIY]

Double check your pump / powerhead / canister as well.

I have had a dangerous powerhead and on another occasion a dangerous submersible pump, each time I've come home to power off in the house and the safety switch tripped. first time took me a while to narrow down the problem, turned out the black epoxy/sealeant type coating that covers the elctrics inside the pump/powerhead had a fine crack exposing 240v into the water :shock:

Safety switch at my place has kept me safe a few times now I reckon

[revkev]

Turn off the heater pull out the plug from the power switch it sounds like it has an power leak .
If you have any other powered equipment in the tank water unplug them as well and get them checked for faults better to be safe then sorry. :shock:

[Hollowman]

BIN IT QUICK......... today your fish........tomorrow it's you. :shock:

Check all your powered equipment. Take no risks with electricity.

Hollowman

[tomahawk]

Thanks guys, I shall get the electricity flow checked through one of those screw drivers that electricians use which blinks a red light when its tip senses electricity..

If it seems as you say, I will immidietly replace the heater..what is the best brand of heater ? Should I go for a Sera ? I have dodged bullets, so I would not like to get killed by an aquarium heater.

Another small question, whats the safest minimum temp that Discus can be kept at. Would 27 degree C be allright ?

[ILLUSN]

i wouldn't personally go lower than 28, any lower mine always seemed to get hex or othrt infection.

i like jagar heaters, but i've just had a fault with 1 (wont heat up tank) mind you i run 21 and this was the first to ever have any problem.

IMO stay away from tronics and the no name chinease stuff

[DIY]

I'll be the odd one out here, Since I posted before I've tried to remember all my failed equipment

1 x powerhead, had been running 24x7 for about 2 years before tripping safety switch

1 x submersible pump, had been running 24x7 for about 3 years

1 x large submersible pump used to fill from water aging barrel only used 2-3 times a week for about 10 minutes each time, lasted just over 12 months before tripping safety :roll:

1 x canister filter, used on QT tank probably about 6 months of 24x7 over 3 year period

1 x heater, used in sump, cheapy that failed spectacularly when the glass cracked in the middle of a waterchange creating a spot of localised bubbling water and steam and an awful hissing noise, thankfully it was in my sump and not near to my fish - scared the absolulte c#$p out of me when it happened.

I've actually only had 1 failed heater that I can remember but 2 failed pumps, 1 failed powerhead and 1 failed canister. All of my heaters are the el-cheapo chinese ones some of them the normal glass style but admittedly most of them are the stainless steel electronic ones.

I guess I'm pointing out, don't risk your health by assuming it's the heater just because it may or may not be a "quality" brand. You might be putting yourself in danger if you don't get the rest of the equipment checked properly. No offence but I wouldn't risk my health on a simple light tester.

From my experience I can strongly recommend you look at installing an RCD (Residual Current Device) in your home if possible. It is a requirement for one to be installed in all new homes here in Asutralia but I'm not sure how commonplace they are where you are.

IMO any brand of aquarium electrical equipment "can" fail and is likely to do so without warning, potentially exposing the water in your aqaurium to mains voltage :cry:

[tomahawk]

Thanks again guys, do you think running 2 heaters in place of 1 would lower the risk of heaters failing ? Maybe 1 gets more stressed !! I am using a 300 watt on my 4 ft tank. I think i should get 2 x 150 ? Any brand recommendation as yet ? No ?

[pink66]

after a major disaster in my african with others tank where the heater had failed but I had been busy with things and had not checked the temp for a few days. Poor little things almost froze to death.. (middle of a melbourne winter)and some did not feel so good for a while after that.

As a standard rule now in my 4ft tank I always use two 200w heaters just incase. I also find that they are not working as hard to keep the temp correct. I do not know if they are classified as good but I currently use Fluval heaters (they turn off if exposed out of water as I too had the @#$* scared out of me with a cheaper heater cracking in the centre during a water change in my discus tank. I dont know who was more surprised me or Finn. You have no idea how fast I was reaching for the power supply all I could think about was him frying before I could save him.. lucky for me he is fine) You live and learn :shock: :shock:

[pappyy3]

Agree with all the comments made.

Regardless of what type of heater you use, it's a good idea to utilise 2 heaters to a tank as a "fail safe" for when one of then decides to stop.

I've been pretty lucky though. In the 30 years of fish-keeping, I've only had 1 heater fail (a Rena) and that was because the rubber sealing had worn.

Although I haven't used these yet, I read some good reviews about the stailess steel and titanium heaters that are currently on the market.

Am considering one of these the next time one of my heaters decides to stop working.

Anyone had any expoerience with these??

[BigDaddyAdo]

A simple portable RCD available from any hardware store or electrical wholesaler could save your life.


Ado

[DIY]

Although I haven't used these yet, I read some good reviews about the stailess steel and titanium heaters that are currently on the market.

Am considering one of these the next time one of my heaters decides to stop working.

Anyone had any expoerience with these??

I have tried several brands of the stainless steel heaters (sometimes labelled titanium but I serioulsy doubt there's much titanium in the mix :roll: ) all of the ones I have tried have remote elctronic control and a temp sensor remote to the actual heater.

Advantages: Eletronic temperature control with sensor placed a distance away from heater = very stable temps usually within 0.1-0.2 degrees. Steel heater is almost indestructable no more cracking glass!, most on the market are actually inexpensive ($20-$50) and adjusting the temp couldn't be easier, just turn the dial on controller, no wet hands, suction cups coming off, stressing fish etc

Disadvantages: I have had several stainless steel heaters fail, overall a fairly high failure rate. I was able to fix most of them using a 50c jaycar part (NTC thermistor) but not everyone would be willing or able to do this I guess.

For me personally, I can't see myself ever buying a glass heater again, if I need a heater IN the aquarium then I'd buy a stainless steel unit but I am confortable fixing the electronics if I need to. My preference though is the hydor external units, the full electronic control seems to be quality and are also easy to adjust using a simple dial. I've had one running 3 years flawlessly and another running about 18months. temps are very stable and the best thing is the clean look it gives the aquarium with no ugly heaters visible. That's just a personal preference though :wink:

[tomahawk]

That seems pretty cool, having a "external" heater. Can you give me more info or a link to the companies website ?

[DIY]

http://www.hydor.it/en/products/show/9

[DIY]

Some reviews from another forum (Mod's if this is inappropriate please remove :wink: )

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews/view_product_review.php?id=1131

I know at least one of our sponsors here in Aus sells them as thats where I got my last one - see here

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=3236

[Hollowman]

I use 2 x 300w AquaOne heaters. in a 4ft tank, never(touch wood) had a problem.
And I strongly believe that below 27degrees, you will see more health problems in your fish as Illusn has said. 30 degrees is about the best temp for happy fish.

H