Heater failure during vacation... of course.

wtdenk · Jul 30, 2022

Left Thursday afternoon. Just checked inkbird app and saw 10 hours after my plane departed my heater must have quit. My tank has been at 71-72.8 for 36 hours now. From my webcam I can see my zoas open and the torch open. The clownfish seems to be ok but more inactive than usual. I have a friend headed to my house within the next few hours to fix it.

How much damage have I already done? SPS doomed?

Jeffcb · Jul 30, 2022

wtdenk said:
Left Thursday afternoon. Just checked inkbird app and saw 10 hours after my plane departed my heater must have quit. My tank has been at 71-72.8 for 36 hours now. From my webcam I can see my zoas open and the torch open. The clownfish seems to be ok but more inactive than usual. I have a friend headed to my house within the next few hours to fix it.

How much damage have I already done? SPS doomed?

Low 70 should be ok. I hit 68 during a power outage a couple of years ago and all was well.

bnord · Jul 30, 2022

agree - be happy it chose the right direction to fail in....

Dav2996 · Jul 30, 2022

wtdenk said:
Left Thursday afternoon. Just checked inkbird app and saw 10 hours after my plane departed my heater must have quit. My tank has been at 71-72.8 for 36 hours now. From my webcam I can see my zoas open and the torch open. The clownfish seems to be ok but more inactive than usual. I have a friend headed to my house within the next few hours to fix it.

How much damage have I already done? SPS doomed?

I can”t keep SPS alive I don”t buy it. Haha . Longest time I had Sps was 5 months.

davidcalgary29 · Jul 30, 2022

I run three of my tanks without heaters, and I'm in northern Alberta. My two RSM250s have closed canopies, and it's difficult to get them below 27C during the summer. The third is an Evo, and I find that its small surface area (relative to volume) allows it to retain sufficient heat from ambient temperature and equipment operation that no extra heating source is required.

All additional equipment on my RSM250s (skimmer, MP40, and the two return pumps) add 2C to the ambient room temperature, which is about 25C during the day. Does anyone have a tank that just operates at ambient environmental temperatures given heat waste generated by operating equipment?