Heater going out

[Aquavaj]

Checked on my tank early this morning before heading out and noticed the temp was at 76.6. I have my Apex kick the heater on at 77.5 so it's never dipped below that. My alarm is at 75 so that didn't trip yet. I reached in the sump to touch the heater (dumb now that I thought about it) and it was just slightly warm. In some stroke of luck I happened to order a new heater to heat batches of new SW and it came in yesterday but I just didn't have time to swap it in before leaving the house. It was hanging steady at 76.7 to 77 so I thought it should be fine too.

I've been monitoring here at work and it's still steady but the heater is practically on constantly just to maintain that temp. Should I raise the house temp a little to help out and give the heater a little rest? I have a wifi thermostat so I can do it remotely. I think the heater going out completely would not be good.

 

[Crabs McJones]

If the heater is on the way out, I would raise the house temp to keep it from running constantly and dieing out completely. Having some heat is better that none

 

[davocean]

What's tank size and watts of heater?
Possibly just undersized and now dealing w/ lower ambient temps.

Personally I like to run 2 heaters that are both a little more than half of what I think I need, slower change should one fail, gives more time to catch it and deal w/ it.

 

[Aquavaj]

I've upped the house temp to a toasty 78 so the tank is sitting at around there now. Heater is still going but I'll be home in a few hours so I think everything will be ok. Fortunately I'm out west so it's not too cold yet.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

This is why you should always have a spare heater or two on hand. I replace mine every year as I don't like the idea of risking the thousands of dollars in livestock to a $60 heater failing on me and not having a spare lying around. I then have several spare heaters I can use to heat my mix water jugs prior to water changes.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

I've upped the house temp to a toasty 78 so the tank is sitting at around there now. Heater is still going but I'll be home in a few hours so I think everything will be ok. Fortunately I'm out west so it's not too cold yet.

Obviously, stability is key in this hobby but colder water is better than warmer water.

 

[Saveafish]

Obviously, stability is key in this hobby but colder water is better than warmer water.

Way lucky. Heaters stick or fail on the on position more than the off. All heaters will fail its a matter of when. Its better to have it 72deg vs 90.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You can test heater in a bucket of cool water and see how it responds to thermostat. While considering that =- I highly suggest to go buy a heater today and a GOOD one ( I prefer titanium units as well as Neotherm by Cobalt)
Especially during the winter season- Have a spare available as in your case. Seems heaters go out on Sunday evening when pet stores are closed

 

[Aquavaj]

The one that I ordered is a 300w eheim jager and seems to be doing ok heating the tank right now. But it's ridiculously long so I have it in the DT for now. If I go dual heaters is it better to go with 2 smaller ones or 2 big ones (ex 200w x 2 VS 400w x 2)? With the latter I can set it to only come on if the temp continues to drop.

 

[Reefinmike]

This is why you should always have a spare heater or two on hand. I replace mine every year as I don't like the idea of risking the thousands of dollars in livestock to a $60 heater failing on me and not having a spare lying around. I then have several spare heaters I can use to heat my mix water jugs prior to water changes.

Agreed. Heat and water movement are vital to our reefs. Even a few hours without either is enough to completely nuke a heavily loaded tank. Having a spare heater and return pump on hand isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. You also need a plan of action in case one were to fail. Raise your apex temp alert such that you’ll be notified when the tank is half a degree under the temp you want your heater to kick on. No sense in allowing it to drop to 75 before taking action. Power monitoring is an extremely valuable safety measure on the new apex to sense heater and return pump failures. Personally I run dual redundant heaters, power monitoring and two temp probes on my apex. I would like to have dual return pumps but my system and space wont make that easy. Instead I have an identical pump on my saltwater mixing can. Should my return ever fail i can swap it out in a few minutes.

Some people run two full strength heaters(400w x2 in your example) with one being a primary and the other only turning on if the primary fails. I pefer to run two half strength heaters both with the same temp settings. If somehow my apex sticks one on, it wont immediately cook the tank. If one heater fails off, the temp would take a long time to drop

Lastly you need to be prepared for power outages. My neighborhood rarely ever loses power-hardly more than ten minutes a year. I want a generator but I can’t justify it. If power is out for more than 30 minutes I have Styrofoam panels that I can wrap around the tank to trap heat. I can run an extension cord to my car’s inverter to power my return, skimmer(oxygen) and a 200w heater. I can simply set an alarm to remote start my car every so often and it’ll shut off after ten minutes. Easy peasy.

 

[BZOFIQ]

The one that I ordered is a 300w eheim jager and seems to be doing ok heating the tank right now. But it's ridiculously long so I have it in the DT for now. If I go dual heaters is it better to go with 2 smaller ones or 2 big ones (ex 200w x 2 VS 400w x 2)? With the latter I can set it to only come on if the temp continues to drop.

2 x 200W in staggered configuration if you use apex.