Busted heater!

[clownsnchihuahuas]

Hello R2R!

Newbie here. I have a stock Evo 13.5 with cascade 75w heater sitting in pump chamber. During a water change, either temperature or being exposed for too long caused the glass to break.

I have two clowns, a couple GSPs, and an army of a cleaning crew due to a recent GHA outbreak. Tank is about 3 months old. Temp sitting at 74.5 de

My LFS doesn’t open until tomorrow and I plan to go get a new heater mid day. Is there anything I need to do in the meantime?

 

[Dragon52]

If you have anything that you can put warm water in that wont leak like plastic bottles you can keep the Temp up that way

 

[Retro Reefer]

Your not going to want it getting much lower.. Wrapping the tank with old blankets will help keep the heat in.

 

[champyeti]

Did you leave the heater plugged in/turned on during the water change?

Second wrapping the tank with blankets to keep heat in.

 

[Evan28395950]

Just throwing an idea out here, but what about taping a hand warmer packet onto the side of the tank?

 

[Fishnut]

Keep your room temp up until tomorrow. My fish were fine when I lost power for a few days. Tank temperature dropped below 70 degrees.

 

[clownsnchihuahuas]

Did you leave the heater plugged in/turned on during the water change?

Second wrapping the tank with blankets to keep heat in.

Yes - never really thought about it bc it’s a small tank and the change happens quick (<5 min). Potentially a dumb question - but does everyone kill the heater during changes?

 

[35ppt]

Yes - never really thought about it bc it’s a small tank and the change happens quick (<5 min). Potentially a dumb question - but does everyone kill the heater during changes?

Best practice would be to keep it in a chamber that does not fluctuate, but if that's not an option, definitely unplug it during WC. But then you have to remember to plug it back it. Safest to just keep it somewhere it's always submerged.

 

[Sailingeric]

Pick up a couple heaters tomorrow, have one as a spare. Better yet, keep 2 in the sump in case one fails and a spare as a back up.

 

[Slim64684]

My heater is tied in with my ato so it turns off during a water change. I did however have my furnace go out when outside temps were in single digits. Tank is in my bedroom so I moved a space heater in there and kept door closed. I've also used blankets before.

 

[Casket_Case]

I’ve thought about the hot hands before. I keep several packs on hand since it gets chilly where I live and we’ve had lots of power outages before
-_-