My smelly water was caused by a Cobalt neo-therm heater that shorted out or something. The water smells just like the heater. I have done a water change and running lots of carbon.Is there anything else I can do to save my reef?
Heater contaminated water
- Thread starter mike007
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OP
OP
This Is on my 100. Lost a sailfin so far corals seem to be okay. I have done a 20%water change and making more water as of now. Can't believe this heater failed It was not that old. Be the last time I buy one of them.
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I would do water changes the next couple of days and test parameters. Keep an eye on inverts. They typically don't do well when this happens. Also, change out the carbon in about 3 days.
OP
OP
This really sucks. I have lost my blue tang which was over 12 years old also. I was reading on some other forums where others were having Issues like mine with these Neo-therm heaters. I have only had them for about a year and I will never put one back in my tank. Its a shame Cobalt new there was issues and didn't alert customers. Years of nurturing my reef and now it may compromised.
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Aww. I'm so sorry to hear that Mike.
Man that's such a bummer, sorry to hear 
Unfortunately heaters are the most evil piece of equipment IME. Here's some additional info on protecting our reefs from heaters. I have dozens of NeoTherms in use throughout my office and clients tanks, haven't had any issues at this point but that's neither here nor there.
I would implement a few extra water changes in the near future as you're planning on, coupled with changing out carbon every couple days and GFO if you're using it.
Unfortunately heaters are the most evil piece of equipment IME. Here's some additional info on protecting our reefs from heaters. I have dozens of NeoTherms in use throughout my office and clients tanks, haven't had any issues at this point but that's neither here nor there.I would implement a few extra water changes in the near future as you're planning on, coupled with changing out carbon every couple days and GFO if you're using it.
OP
OP
After doing more research I found that most of the Cobalt neo-therm heaters that have exploded were produced in 2013. The date is on the tag on the cord. If you have these please check the date. I would get it out of tank if it was made in 2013. There are lots of reports of these failures.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Sorry. I've had heaters fail too, although I never lost anything.
The smell is possibly burnt plastic. If so, GAC and possible other organic binders are best.
The bigger concern as far as corals are concerned is if copper was exposed and dissolving. A Boyd Polyfilter or Seachem Cuprisorb might be appropriate treatments for that.
The smell is possibly burnt plastic. If so, GAC and possible other organic binders are best.
The bigger concern as far as corals are concerned is if copper was exposed and dissolving. A Boyd Polyfilter or Seachem Cuprisorb might be appropriate treatments for that.
There's a few threads on Rc about this. I think you actually have it easy compared to others. This has been going on for awhile. Every one should throw them away and get a jager
I just began phasing out my heaters with aqueon. They shut off if not submerged, and even show a green light if they are not actively heating which I like. But my biggest reason for the choice, is that you have to be able to trust a product with a life time guarantee.
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Sorry to hear this mike I have been hearing cases like this often now which blows my mind cause it can be dangerous to us. With water changes and carbon I think you will be ok, it don't hurt to do what randy said as a precaution just in case any copper is present.
OP
OP
Well I have changed out 50% of my water In the last two days.Water is smelling better still have some fish struggling to survive. House still smells like burnt plastic. New heaters have been ordered. This has been a terrible experience.
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I wonder what specifically is getting the fish???
Inverts still seem OK?
Inverts still seem OK?
OP
OP
Corals seem to be okay. I don't know what Is Inside these heaters. From what i have read Is they split open and release some epoxy and some say it releases a plume of smoke that rises out of water. That explains the smell in the house. I have used glass heaters for years without any issues. No more plastic heaters for this guy.
saltyphish
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I have mine plugged into a temp controller so it hardly has power going to it, but still think I am going to get a different heater anyways sorry for the loss
I wonder what's actually happening with NeoTherms from that era. For a long while they [Cobalt] touted the release of larger units, which never came to fruition. I spoke with one of the head guys (his name escapes me now) of Cobalt at an after party post Reefapalooza and he mentioned something regarding the heater coils not effectively holding temps within the larger units, which is why they were never released.
Still no matter what heater you end up with I feel that using two undersized heaters controlled by an independent unit (not an Apex, they'll tell you it's only for monitoring if you ask) is your best bet. This is talked about in the article I linked above. I've noticed that running a system this way greatly decreases power consumption and heaters just don't run for long periods of time (no power to them unless controller turns them on) which also decreases chances of major issues. Of course the AquaLogic industrial heaters are a clear winner in this category (IMO), however they're incredibly pricey for most modest sized systems.
Best of luck with the recovery, Mike!
Still no matter what heater you end up with I feel that using two undersized heaters controlled by an independent unit (not an Apex, they'll tell you it's only for monitoring if you ask) is your best bet. This is talked about in the article I linked above. I've noticed that running a system this way greatly decreases power consumption and heaters just don't run for long periods of time (no power to them unless controller turns them on) which also decreases chances of major issues. Of course the AquaLogic industrial heaters are a clear winner in this category (IMO), however they're incredibly pricey for most modest sized systems.
Best of luck with the recovery, Mike!
