Realizing that the water in your tank is boiling can be a terrifying moment. It usually starts out innocently enough, maybe there is just one fish gasping at water’s surface or perhaps it looks like a cloud of bubbles suddeny erupts from the filter. There is a specific kind of dread when you realize your heater has gone bad in the worst possible manner.
And it isn’t something subtle. Thermal shock kills quickly. It kills far more quickly then nearly anything else wrong with your tank, so it is time to act now.
Thermostats are designed to be simple devices. They’re simple, however, because the simplicity masks an all important flaw, but understanding how it works help you act quickly to save your livestock. When the thermostat fail, the heater’s element stays on…all the time.
The water temperature rise gradually and removes oxygen from the water while stressing everything in its path. You can’t just sit there waiting for someone to get back to you or make a service call. If you want to save your livestock, you need to be quick and understand what’s happening.
How To Handle A Stuck Aquarium Heater
Recognizing Signs of a Broken Heater
It’s a quiet one, really, so it’s all too easy to miss it till it’s too late. Gasping on the surface is a giveaway. Warm water contain much less dissolved oxygen than cool water, and fish will fight for their lives for some air.
The tank that was calm an hour before may suddeny be full of swimmers fighting for breath. Check the water temperature right away if you spot this happening. Do NOT turn the dial up if it’s already warmer than what you set it.
Immediate Actions to Cool the Tank
Assume that your heater is dead, and yank the plug. Most heaters (Eheim and Fluval are popular choices) uses some type of sensing mechanism such as a wax pellet or bimetallic strip that responds to temperature fluctuations. As minerals and other deposits accumulate in your tank over time, they can affects this system.
The bimetallic strip gets stuck because it thinks it is much cooler than it actualy is. The heater runs and draws power. A tiny mechanical problem lead to a huge biological disaster.
It’s not pretty. And it doesn’t take long. Coldwater fish…
Such as koi and goldfish; will be hardest hit. Their oxygen absorption rate decrease while their metabolism increases. Unable to process waste effectively, they’ll struggle to survive.
Though tropical fish don’t respond to heat quite so dramatically, too much heat isn’t good for them either. Most aquarium species begins to die when water exceeds eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit. Bacterial colonies in the filter can crash.
Enzymes denature. Within hours, the whole ecosystem come crashing down. Forget about the digits and do something physically now.
Unplug the heater. Don’t wait for the heater to blink on and off. Pull out the plug.
Even better if you can get it out of the tank completely. That removes the power source. Now slowly reduce the temp.
Every couple minutes drain ten percent of the tank and refill with cool tap water. Don’t just drop ice cubes into the tank. Quickly dropping the temp causes a thermal shock that’s just as deadly as the high temperature.
Preventing Heater Failures with Thermometers
Prevention is the only long term solution. And that means using an external digital thermometer. That’s still no guarantee but it’s the best option available.
Relying on the internal thermostat of the heater as your sole indication of heat is dangerous. Cheap analog thermometers are often inaccurate. Using a digital one with a separate probe that you can leave in gives you the ability to track trends.
You’ll see a gradual increase over days and will be able to swap out the heater before it causes a disaster. Heater controllers are another consideration that you may want to install. These little boxes plug into the wall between the power and your heater.
Maintaining Heater Sensors and Controllers
This give you an extra way to shut the system off if the water gets too hot. The controller shuts down the power when the water hits the max safe temp. This not only saves lives, but it also prevents the heater from breaking; only the water is affected.
Perform regular maintenance. More so than perhaps anything else. Keep your heater clean.
Take it out when doing a water change. Wipe off any white scale. This type of scale insulates the heater and keeps the sensor from accurately measuring the actual water temperature.
A clean heater will read correctly. A dirty heater lag and that’s where trouble begins. All heaters will eventually fail.
It is a matter of when, not if. How ready are you for that to happen? If you keep up on your equipment and monitor your temps separately then what could of been a disaster becomes a doable fix.
Have a spare heater in case something does go wrong. Check it out ahead of time. Don’t wait until needed.
Not only is the equipment important but so is your attention to it. Fish rely on both. Taking care of fish is an adventure in attention to detail.
Peace of mind comes from knowing they’re swimming peacefully. It takes work. A stuck heater remind us how nature needs to be tended.
Chaos versus comfort. You stand between them. Be vigilant.
Monitor the numbers. Keep the water stable. The tank’s a living thing.
Show it respect. Do right by it.
