Cobalt Aquatics Neo Therm Heaters

[Cameron A]

I woke up this morning to an unusual smell in my room. Not thinking too much about it I got up and showered to get to work on time. When I came back the smell was more directly related to a dead rotting fish smell. I at first thought wow thats a shame one of my fish must have jumped out of my tank. To my disappointment not only were my fish dead beyond belief, all of my acros were 100% gone(hw,scop,wd,beach bum,rr tropic thunder,and a few others not nearly as expensive), like 50% of my mushrooms were fried(eclectus,jb, red devil, gumdrops, half of my sunkist bounce mushrooms, all of my neptunes bounce mushrooms), and all other corals were 100% gone( hallucinations, rainbow incinerators, white zombies, butt munchers, pink hippos, halle berries, bowsers, jelly bean chalice, rainbow crush chalice, my miami, watermelon chalice, and some other lps not really worth much). Basically all that is alive barely is my og and jersey bounce. All within 6-8 hours of apparently my heater malfunctioning(second one ive had from this company) and getting the tank to just over 100 degrees. I strongly, strongly advise against ever dealing with this heater as this is my second tank crash due to this heater and has cost me about 10 grand in total now for a really over priced unit which apparently malfunctions with a years use regularly. Any advice for other heaters that have proven to work for over a year would be much appreciated since now my journey has to start again over due to what I thought was the most expensive and supposedly reliable heater on the market.

 

[Red_Beard]

the eheim jaegers have always been good to me. i still have one on a freshwater tank that has been going for 6 years. Got one on all my other tanks too.

 

[Dragon52]

I had the same problem with one of those heaters but managed to catch it at 85 degrees. Now I use JBJ with controller.

 

[Cameron A]

Ya i might try out the jbj ive had eheims do similar usually just crack and put current in the tank not as bad as this though.

 

[Scurvy]

Sorry. My neotherm did the same. Tank hit 102.

Ive been happy with my finnex titanium 300’s but any can/will fail. An add on controller of some sort behind it is always preferable.

 

[samnaz]

The only “reliable heater” on the market is two heaters of any brand connected to a controller that automatically shuts off when the tank temp gets too high or low.

 

[NPD_289]

My first and hopefully only tank crash occurred two years ago with a NeoTherm which stuck in the on position while I was on vacation. Cooked the entire tank.

 

[samnaz]

How’s this for irony... I noticed my cobalt neotherm stuck at 94 degrees yesterday morning. My tank had been evaporating twice the norm for days and I thought nothing of it. I check the temp of my $4 thermometer almost never. Who knows how long the tank was overheating... meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, I am purchasing a second heater and controller for my upgrade build in progress.

It’s not a matter of IF a heater fails, it’s WHEN.

 

[Dvanlier05]

Same thing happened to me. Luckily it only got up to 86 and didn't loose anything. I switched to eheim jager

 

[vetteguy53081]

It appears Cobalt needs to recall these potential Fire Hazards or step up and investigate a now known field issue as I believe many of us have read of many defective units over the last few months.

 

[Cameron A]

Ya a controller will be a must this time round. Just cant believe this happened while I was sleeping cant really avoid the destruction of a heater when it only takes 6-8 hours to completely kill everything. Checked everything before i went to bed as i usually do everyday before i leave and when i get back and before i go to bed. At least my conch is still alive lol. I fricken love my tiger conch had it for 7 years now.

 

[Dvanlier05]

Should have noted, one of the three failed and they were 2 to 3 years old. No signs of damage, probably just didn't get hot enough yet

 

[Cameron A]

This was before everything happened will be devastated if i loose it.

 

[Zach W]

Man that sucks, I am sorry to hear that! Why not use a temperature controller to try and buffer against this? I have the same heater and am using an inkbird controller and it’s been great. It’s been running for almost 2 years with no issue.

 

[WhiteTailFish]

The only “reliable heater” on the market is two heaters of any brand connected to a controller that automatically shuts off when the tank temp gets too high or low.

and this only a $40 prevention!

 

[MikeYasin]

The only “reliable heater” on the market is two heaters of any brand connected to a controller that automatically shuts off when the tank temp gets too high or low.

So sorry this happened to the OP.

Amen. Mine is plugged into a temp control unit, and that is plugged into heater on Apex which is controlled by the Apex temp probe.

Too much $ is spent on this hobby already.

 

[Quietman]

So sorry this happened to the OP.

Amen. Mine is plugged into a temp control unit, and that is plugged into heater on Apex which is controlled by the Apex temp probe.

Too much $ is spent on this hobby already.

First of all...just makes me sick thinking about the OP.

I'm just not convinced about those Neo Therms - slick looking heaters - heard small ones are very reliable but still....

Went with two Jagers neither of which can over heat tank on their own - plugged into heater controller, plugged into "fail safe" AutoAqua Smart temp. Overkill? Not in the least little bit.

 

[Cameron A]

Ya I guess I will have to start upgrading the equipment before i can really restart. Thanks for listening to me complain lol

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

What size heater were you using? Was it on a third party controller?
I am sorry for your loss,

 

[reefiniteasy]

Went with two Jagers neither of which can over heat tank on their own - plugged into heater controller, plugged into "fail safe" AutoAqua Smart temp. Overkill? Not in the least little bit.

Do you like the AutoAqua Smart Temp? Have you had it trigger an alert? I’m trying to figure out how well it works, but it’s one of those things that you won’t know until you need it.