Need encouragement after heater failure

[KWT]

Give it time, your coral may not come around as quickly as you want. I have the titanium heaters in 2 out of 3 tanks, and the third will get one as soon as it is delivered. Back ups are a great thing, in a few more days things should be back to normal, good luck.

 

[Indytraveler83]

I only use finnex and ViaAqua brands. Finnex is my first choice

I will have to research and figure out the best heaters for this system, with those brands being in the lead. I won't trust my glass ones for too long, and I'd rather they become backups in a few months. Maybe a pair of 200W Finnex will go on sale for Black Friday...

 

[GoVols]

I appreciate it. Coral is so unforgiving. One small mistake can wipe out hundreds of dollars in coral, even if immediately corrected. I love this hobby, but it's hard loosing money then having to throw in more money to fix it, and end up with a fixed system with less coral. Not for the faint of heart...

Understand.
Another good option is to push two heaters that can maintain your reef on their own.

Set one heater to your desired temp and the other a couple of degrees lower. If your backup never needs to turn on, then toss out the main one every year and rotate your backup as your main heater, and replace your backup with a brand new heater.

Just tossing that option on the table.

 

[NatureHold]

How long did you have your heater in service for? I'm fairly new, but from what I can tell you are supposed to replace them yearly.

 

[Indytraveler83]

Understand.
Another good option is to push two heaters that can maintain your reef on their own.

Set one heater to your desired temp and the other a couple of degrees lower. If your backup never needs to turn on, then toss out the main one every year and rotate your backup as your main heater, and replace your backup with a brand new heater.

Just tossing that option on the table.

My only concern with that is in the case of an "on" failure which I have so far avoided, but I've seen can be even more catastrophic.

My thinking, is I really "need" 300W from what I understand. By running parallel 200W heaters, a failure "on" with either heater wouldn't be enough to raise the temp as the 200W isn't capable of pushing this system high on its own. A failure "off" by one would cause the temp to slowly drop, but with the Inkbird I should get an alarm and be able to throw the backup on before too much of a drop has occured.

 

[Indytraveler83]

How long did you have your heater in service for? I'm fairly new, but from what I can tell you are supposed to replace them yearly.

It was new in February. Lesson learned about off brand heaters...

 

[Weasel1960]

I saw a thread somewhere that suggested three heaters, presumably for larger tanks. It basically worked out that any 2 supplied sufficient heat and they had staggered on off settings for gradual temperature changes. The third could supply enough in the event one or both primaries failed and was set lower so it only came on if needed.

 

[Indytraveler83]

I saw a thread somewhere that suggested three heaters, presumably for larger tanks. It basically worked out that any 2 supplied sufficient heat and they had staggered on off settings for gradual temperature changes. The third could supply enough in the event one or both primaries failed and was set lower so it only came on if needed.

That's actually an interesting thought. I could run 2 on the Inkbird, and keep a backup set at a lower temp that likely wouldn't need to come on.

 

[NatureHold]

It was new in February. Lesson learned about off brand heaters...

What brand was it, if you dont mind me asking?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

This is best case scenario for a heater failure. Other options are the heater exploding, electrifying the tank and contaminating it with heavy metals, or the heater sticking on and cooking everything.

 

[Indytraveler83]

What brand was it, if you dont mind me asking?

"Popetpop" was the brand. It's just a deluxe looking off brand heater on Amazon. I've done very well with "black boxes" and off brand equipment until now.

 

[Indytraveler83]

This is best case scenario for a heater failure. Other options are the heater exploding, electrifying the tank and contaminating it with heavy metals, or the heater sticking on and cooking everything.

This is true. It could have been far worse.

 

[MnFish1]

An Apex is well above the budget for this system. I'm a "poor" reefer. Although if anyone has suggestions for a low cost monitor/controller I would certainly look into that.

I would check EBAY - for example - a used - APEX classic (the model before the current one) - probably doesnt cost that much.

 

[MnFish1]

I will have to research and figure out the best heaters for this system, with those brands being in the lead. I won't trust my glass ones for too long, and I'd rather they become backups in a few months. Maybe a pair of 200W Finnex will go on sale for Black Friday...

BTW - I meant to mention - Finnex heaters have never failed me - despite years of use (others probably have had different experiences) - I was also going to say - keep the faith - often corals that look 'dead' - recover days, weeks, months later. If you look at my build thread - after a problem with a supplement - the GSP in the pictures - was closed for 3 months - algae growing all over it - I took it out - and brushed it off with a toothbrush - its now fine - as shown in the video.

 

[Indytraveler83]

I would check EBAY - for example - a used - APEX classic (the model before the current one) - probably doesnt cost that much.

So for those advocating an Apex... What are we really looking at it doing? I guess I've never fully understood. At the moment my system is a low budget, low tech system with fairly stable parameters (except phosphate, but that's another story).

 

[MnFish1]

So for those advocating an Apex... What are we really looking at it doing? I guess I've never fully understood. At the moment my system is a low budget, low tech system with fairly stable parameters (except phosphate, but that's another story).

SO - I use my apex - ONLY to monitor pH - and use it to turn stuff off and on - when doing maintenance (without having to unplug - or shut off different surge suppressors) - with a heater - you can set your heater for xx.xx degrees - and then plug your heater into your apex - and set that plug as a 'heater' - and say if the temperature goes above yy.yy or below zz.zz it will send you an alert - so at least you know whats going on. If the temperature is too high- it will automatically turn the heater off

 

[Indytraveler83]

Well, all in all, while my natural reaction is to try and replace the livestock lost/being lost, I think it's time to step back and re-examine my system and the hardware. The next few months may be more about systematically replacing underperforming or high-risk items to prevent failures and problems in the future.

My cleaner shrimp couple would like to thank you all for your concern, and let you know that they are at least doing well!