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I came home tonight to discover that someone or something moved my heater to 100 degrees. The tank water, which I check every single day was at its normal 80 degrees yesterday.

All of my tetras are dead.

My angels and clowns miraculously survived.

Out of panic I removed about 1/3 of the water and replaced it with 80 degree water to try to reduce the temp.

I also increased aeration.

Did I do the wrong thing? Will my angels and clowns now get sick?

This has been an incredibly stable tank for almost two years now. It is a 65g hexagon.

HELP!!

I am crying my eyes out right now and absolutely SICK

If the heater was tampered with that is not funny at all. If it was a faulty heater toss it out.

After close to 40 years experience that is exactly what I would have done as long as the temp drop was slowly not pouring in the new water too fast. I would also add some fresh Bacteria starter as the heat "could" have effected them as well.

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Keith

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Just the reason to use "ONLY" "submersible" heaters set it and not worry about the hands of stupid people

It WAS a submersible heater. I believe somehow it malfunctioned. The angels and clowns appear to be okay now, but I fear for them for the next week or so while the tank tries to get back to normal.

What would cause a heater to do this? The water level was not too low and I have done everything I am "supposed" to do with it. Thank God we were not on vacation or we would have lost ALL the fish.

I am still sick over the sight of those tetras.

Some heaters just aren't well made, some get old... Something you might want to consider is getting two smaller heaters because if one malfunctions (generally the thermosstat getting stuck) it wouldn't be powerful enough to overheat your whole tank, the thermostat on the other one would turn it off so you'd only have half the heat going in if you did have a problem like that. That, or you could invest in one really reliable heater.

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The same thing happened to me, i had two guppy fry, and they were doing very nice together, i also had two small ottos. I came home one day, and found them all boiled with brown holes in their stomach.

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Heaters are the only thing you don't want overkill(sorry about the pun it is important to get only as much as you need and not a lot more.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

I'm really sorry to hear about that Mary!
My guess is that if there is any damage to the other fish, the injuries are most likely burns/damage to tissues and may unfortunately be irreversible. But not necessarily. Be careful with the rapid temperature change. I myself wouldn't do any more until the temp stabilizes a bit and give the fish enough time to adjust. Good luck!

"I am a believer in punctuality, though it makes me very lonely" EV Lucas

The biggest problem with overheating is that the water can't hold much oxygen and the fish suffocate. They will become stressed and some parasites may grow better in overheated conditions, so it would be a good idea to watch very carefully for signs of disease after this.

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Yes, I'd plump for the "two heaters of half capacity" route in any aquarium that contained particularly valuable stock.

I'd also invest in a decent digital thermometer.

Sadly, the one I use and which has served me well (from the Maplins electronics catalogue range) might not be available to you in the States, but if you CAN get Maplins kit over there, get one. Mine monitors to within 0.1°C over a range from -30°C to +70°C (way more than will be needed for any aquarium) and lets me know in plenty of time if anything strange is happening. Indeed, it allows me to plot the heater cycle in my aquarium (the temperature will fluctuate over time as the heater alternates between on and off, and as the temperature in the room changes between day and night, unless you're in a house that has very stable temperature control for the rooms).

I'd also try and get heaters that have something approximating to digital temperature control. They'll cost more but are worth it in the long run. These tend to be solid state units and more reliable. Tetra now make heaters that are fairly expensive, but superb quality pieces of kit. Hunt them down (and their specs) on Tetra's website.

If you can find a heater with true electronic temperature control (a good deal more expensive than the old bimetallic strip versions, but virtually bomb proof in engineering terms) then get one. It'll cost a lot, but it'll outlast you, and probably your children as well!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002