Temperature 94 degrees!!!!!

[MysticBlue]

Hey guys so my 20 gallon long reef tanks heater shorted and raised the temp to 94!!!!!!! It usually sits at 81. The corals haven’t shown signs yet due to night but how do I approach this in the morning?! I have a new heater in the water set at 82. How can I help everyone? Lps and softies mix.

 

[Yates273]

If everything looks fine don’t panic. You can do a water change to get it to come down. Luckily it’s only 20 gallons.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

my favorite trick is rodi ice cubes that I put in the overflow. Has plenty of time to not be too cold before it goes back into the dt

 

[Ben.QLD2]

I would probably let the temperature drop slowly, don't go throwing ice blocks in or anything. If you speed it up with a water change, maybe just aim for a few degrees drop instead of taking it right back down immediately.

 

[bushdoc]

You basically created Persian Gulf environment.
For the future, I suggest temp controller, like Ink Bird, set it up to desired temp and your heater, 2-3 deg higher. Controller will adjust temp and if it fails, thermostat in a heater should prevent disaster. It is very unlikely for both to fail at the same time.

 

[o2manyfish]

Having played with outdoor aquariums for 20+ years I have seen temps get high like that. Unfortunately everything may look okay for 5 days or so but then you will probably see some losses. Changing the temp back down quickly or slowly won't matter at this point. Your LPS are more susceptible than the softies.

If everything looks great tomorrow, don't get excited that you cleared the hurdle. Wait about 10 days before you celebrate.

Dave B

 

[Tamberav]

Hey guys so my 20 gallon long reef tanks heater shorted and raised the temp to 94!!!!!!! It usually sits at 81. The corals haven’t shown signs yet due to night but how do I approach this in the morning?! I have a new heater in the water set at 82. How can I help everyone? Lps and softies mix.

I had the central air fail in my apartment and my tank peaked at 93 and was hot for a week while it was fixed.

I lost no fish, lost maybe 2 LPS out of many, lost no softies and I lost almost all SPS. Keep in mind that mine was super hot for a week! Still almost everything survived.

Personally I would just let it drop naturally.

 

[SPR1968]

I think as already said, I would let the temperature fall back slowly.

Ive been up to around 86f (30c) before in my S650 during summer without any issues

Fingers crossed, and hopefully all will be fine, and maybe get a temperature controller for the heater.