Using these heaters should be illegal

[arvind]

I had this Cobalt Neo Therm 200W heater and have been using it for almost a year. Two days ago I smelt something funny coming from the fish tank area. I turned off everything connected to the fish tank and couldn't find a thing. I did not suspect the heater since green LED light was on and I assumed it must be something else. I stepped away to work and came back after about four hours to see the tank and the first thing I noticed my prized purple tang stuck to the power head. I turned off the PH to release him and he fell flat to the bottom. I frantically started looking for other fish and horrified to find them either dying or dead under the live rock. Two clown fish that I have seem to be doing fine. The scene literally pushed me to the edge. This is the third time I am losing a tank full of fish,.last two times due to velvet.

I assumed the worst and decided to pull the dead fish out. Since many of the fish I have are large my immediate concern ammonia outbreak. As I pulled each fish I noticed even though they appeared to be dead if I looked close enough I could see their hard breathing pattern. I decided to give them another shot.

I had a 30g fresh water in storage. Quickly mixed salt and replaced one third of the water from the tank. Packed two reactors with carbon and let it run. Luckily I had all of these on hand. I actually had zero confidence that any of these will work as I have seen worse. My wife and daughter insisted I do something. After few hours I was able to save four out of ten fish. The four I saved are the largest of the lot but the ones I lost were more expensive wrasses.

Long story short, stop using these heaters.

Here is the picture of cracked heater and plastic melt coming out of the crack.

 

[Reefing102]

So was it leaking an unknown substance into the tank or just frying the fish by overheating the tank?

 

[Cell]

These heaters are known for this. I can't believe they are still on the market.

 

[Pickle_soup]

I am sorry about your loss. Glad you were able to save some fish. I need to invest in an old-school Ehaim Jager heater and stop playing with these new "fancy" heaters. I don't really trust them.

 

[brandon429]

I believe that was known in 2012 one sec checking

Cobalt neotherm heater just blew up!!! - Reef Central Online Community

Cobalt neotherm heater just blew up!!! Lighting, Filtration & Other Equipment

www.reefcentral.com

 

[brandon429]

that's why a cobalt neotherm 200 running a red sea gen 1 tank built on a custom stand is the ford pinto of reefing, it's a combo destined for sadness

I never heard of any 50 watters breaking but I had to preemptively remove the 50 from my pico reef out of concern for the brand itself.

 

[arvind]

So was it leaking an unknown substance into the tank or just frying the fish by overheating the tank?

It's the former. I have the heater on apex so there no way it could have overheated the tank. I also had another 200W heater (Eheim Jager) as redundancy so it was not a case overloading either.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had this Cobalt Neo Therm 200W heater and have been using it for almost a year. Two days ago I smelt something funny coming from the fish tank area. I turned off everything connected to the fish tank and couldn't find a thing. I did not suspect the heater since green LED light was on and I assumed it must be something else. I stepped away to work and came back after about four hours to see the tank and the first thing I noticed my prized purple tang stuck to the power head. I turned off the PH to release him and he fell flat to the bottom. I frantically started looking for other fish and horrified to find them either dying or dead under the live rock. Two clown fish that I have seem to be doing fine. The scene literally pushed me to the edge. This is the third time I am losing a tank full of fish,.last two times due to velvet.

I assumed the worst and decided to pull the dead fish out. Since many of the fish I have are large my immediate concern ammonia outbreak. As I pulled each fish I noticed even though they appeared to be dead if I looked close enough I could see their hard breathing pattern. I decided to give them another shot.

I had a 30g fresh water in storage. Quickly mixed salt and replaced one third of the water from the tank. Packed two reactors with carbon and let it run. Luckily I had all of these on hand. I actually had zero confidence that any of these will work as I have seen worse. My wife and daughter insisted I do something. After few hours I was able to save four out of ten fish. The four I saved are the largest of the lot but the ones I lost were more expensive wrasses.

Long story short, stop using these heaters.

Here is the picture of cracked heater and plastic melt coming out of the crack.

Ongoing issue for 4 years and needs to be reported to consumer safety commission as its going to get the wrong person one day whether it be shock, fire or other safety issue

 

[Pistondog]

Sorry for the loss for sure. Maybe change your title to include neotherm to warn others. Someone should sue for lost livestock, obviously something defective with those heaters, and they are still selling them.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I had this Cobalt Neo Therm 200W heater and have been using it for almost a year. Two days ago I smelt something funny coming from the fish tank area. I turned off everything connected to the fish tank and couldn't find a thing. I did not suspect the heater since green LED light was on and I assumed it must be something else. I stepped away to work and came back after about four hours to see the tank and the first thing I noticed my prized purple tang stuck to the power head. I turned off the PH to release him and he fell flat to the bottom. I frantically started looking for other fish and horrified to find them either dying or dead under the live rock. Two clown fish that I have seem to be doing fine. The scene literally pushed me to the edge. This is the third time I am losing a tank full of fish,.last two times due to velvet.

I assumed the worst and decided to pull the dead fish out. Since many of the fish I have are large my immediate concern ammonia outbreak. As I pulled each fish I noticed even though they appeared to be dead if I looked close enough I could see their hard breathing pattern. I decided to give them another shot.

I had a 30g fresh water in storage. Quickly mixed salt and replaced one third of the water from the tank. Packed two reactors with carbon and let it run. Luckily I had all of these on hand. I actually had zero confidence that any of these will work as I have seen worse. My wife and daughter insisted I do something. After few hours I was able to save four out of ten fish. The four I saved are the largest of the lot but the ones I lost were more expensive wrasses.

Long story short, stop using these heaters.

Here is the picture of cracked heater and plastic melt coming out of the crack.

You should report it to whichever agency handles electrical product safety in your area, as this is potentially an electrical safety issue. Here, this type of product issue would be subject to a mandatory supplier recall and refund.