View Full Version : Over Temp Problems
MUFC1
06/24/2009, 06:39 AM
:( After the storms in the Mid West last week I thought all was well until I returned home on Monday evening after work and found the temp of the tank water at 96 degrees. The thermostat on the 250 watt heater had failed and the heater was on all the time. I have/had hard and soft corals in the tank and seem to have lost all the hard corals. I also have Pumping Zenia mushrooms and toadstools which are not looking too good.
My question is, does anyone think that the soft corals can come back from that kind of temps or should I simply remove them from the tank to stop any problems with the chemistry of the water?
Also what about the live rock and sand, will this also have been affected by the heat?
der_wille_zur_macht
06/24/2009, 06:59 AM
I would not worry about the rock and sand.
For the surviving corals, I'd just play it by ear. Some softies can "come back" from very bad conditions, even when they look like they've melted away. However, if they are clearly dead or decaying, defintely remove them.
And sorry for your disaster. Hopefully this will prod other aquarists to use a commercial-quality controller on their heaters instead of relying on the built-in thermostat.
I have seen weird things with softies, so like der said, just keep an eye on it and if things appear to be going south remove. As for the controller, it is a great idea and I am getting one soon. My problem was exactly the opposite of yours. We had a power surge which reset the internal thermostat on my chiller. Dropped my tank water to just below 70 degrees. Although i didn't loose anything it was only because I happen to notice that the chiller was reading 84 f (it never gets that high). So I dropped some glass thermometers in the tank 69F. So, lesson is... don't trust those thermostats. Sorry for your losses. i am sure we have all lost our fair share of corals due to things like this. Hope you can get it set up again.
der_wille_zur_macht
06/24/2009, 08:15 AM
A RANCO ETC-111000 is about $50 and would prevent either of these problems. Use of a device like this is probably not as prevalent as it should be, unfortunately. It's sorta like a GFCI - you don't think about how much you need one until something goes terribly wrong.
Another alternative (though some purists may debate this) is a cheap aquarium controller. You can get ready-to-go models for around $100 that'll control your heater (or chiller) and turn your lights on and off, etc. If you're already buying a controller for your heaters, plus a handful of timers for your lights, you're almost at the $100 price point anyways.
MUFC1
06/24/2009, 09:04 AM
Yeh, after the recent loss and costs of the thermostat failure, I am looking at a controller and I see there is a new one due out from Neptune Systems called the Apex but I am having difficulty finding out information on how this controls circuits such as plugged in devices such as the heater. Does anyone have info on this type of controller.
der_wille_zur_macht
06/24/2009, 09:48 AM
Most reef controllers have special power strips with outlets on them. You plug your devices into the strips, and then program the unit so it "knows" which plug is for which of your devices. Then, you program it to turn the device on and off for certain functions.
For instance, if you had a heater plugged into outlet #1 and your lights plugged into outlet #2, you might program the unit as such:
1) Turn #1 off if the temp gets above 80
2) Turn #2 on at 10 AM and off at 8 PM
The Apex looks like a great controller but IMHO might be overkill for many folks. If all you need is temperature control, timers for lights, and maybe pH to control a Ca reactor, you can get a unit for $100 - $200 that'll do all that.
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