MAJOR Heater Accident!!

[NYReef]

I am posting this for anyone who may use the WonBros heaters with the separate temperature sensor. I went down to my tank this morning to check how things were, which corals had fallen or were rearranged, when I noticed things didn't look good. I had done my usual water change yesterday and figured something might have been off or I used too much of the Kent additives. I decided to change another 5 gallons to see if that would help when I noticed the temp sensor had flipped out of the tank and the temp wasnt the 79 degrees that was on the digital display, but 91 degrees!! I grabbed a fan and changed 5 of the 30 gallons out, then submersed a bag of ice into the water to reduce the temp. I am waiting to see if any of the SPS I have recovers, or the Lobo and Blasto's. I feel sick. I checked the tank last night so I'm not sure how long this was going on, it can be 12 hours max. I hope I have something left alive in the tank, the poor corals and fish must be super stressed, I just want to warn anyone not aware of this potential problem to take extra care with that probe and either use cleaning magnets to hold it, or tie-wrap to lash it onto an intake tube or powerhead wire. The suction cup is not a good enough holder......

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Hey

Wish you luck

All I can say is there were so many bad products out there making this relaxing hobby into a stressful hobby.

 

[Dmitry]

I've had issues with WonBro heaters also, although in my case it was an actual heater failure.

One other solution to consider is a temp controller. The Ranco I have has a huge sensor probe; no way to miss that falling out of the sump!

I hope your livestock recovers!

 

[Quang]

Good luck NYreef.
I usually unplug my heater in the summertime.

 

[regal]

We have seen it over and over again. Sorry about what happened. Heaters should really be unplugged when there is no need for them in the summer. Something bad always seems to happen to them. Murphy's law.

 

[cali_reef]

You should zip tie a piece of rock to the sensor, I do that with Ranco controllers too.

 

[NYReef]

Thanks for the kind words, and I did zip-tie the probe to the heater cord in the tank now, albeit too late. I will also unplug the heater in the summer, too bad I didn't think of that earlier. That's why I am posting this because if you use a remote sensor you need to double check that your hookup is secure. My oversight will cost the lives of some precious corals, I feel awful I let them down.

 

[barebucta]

not sure but I'm think NYPDfrogman had the same problem a couple of weeks ago with the same brand of heater. Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

 

[cali_reef]

Frank's heater rusted into a few pieces.

 

[inline6]

Jeeze makes me glad I purchased one of those plastic heaters.

Sorry about any losses, sigh this is a tough hobby sometimes.

 

[NYReef]

Temp is down to 84, which is normal for the summer here, and I put the lights back on, only time will tell now what makes it. It looks like the blasto's and SPS frags took it the hardest, the fish are OK and even the Lobo is perking up, so maybe this won't be as bad as it could have been. I just hope my large montipora pieces bounce back. I'll just hope for the best now, and realize how so many others felt when "bad things" happened to their tanks......

 

[NYReef]

I'm as careful as can be and still got burned, literally. I lost two SPS frags which were growing so nicely and I was very fond of. The blasto's look like hell also, the skeletons are exposed and although I haven't given up yet, I'm not optimistic. On the bright side, three fish have reappeared and look well, my 4 line wrasse is missing but hopefully OK too. The Lobo is holding its own, no improvement over yesterday, and the Monti's look OK but I'll wait to see the polyps today. A beautiful fox coral looks gone, but the ricordia and acan's seem to be fine. I am still pretty upset over the loss of life, I really dropped the ball on this one........

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I'm as careful as can be and still got burned, literally. I lost two SPS frags which were growing so nicely and I was very fond of. The blasto's look like hell also, the skeletons are exposed and although I haven't given up yet, I'm not optimistic. On the bright side, three fish have reappeared and look well, my 4 line wrasse is missing but hopefully OK too. The Lobo is holding its own, no improvement over yesterday, and the Monti's look OK but I'll wait to see the polyps today. A beautiful fox coral looks gone, but the ricordia and acan's seem to be fine. I am still pretty upset over the loss of life, I really dropped the ball on this one........

Sorry to hear the losses. But as you said-don't give up.

 

[heuerfan]

Hey

Wish you luck

All I can say is there were so many bad products out there making this relaxing hobby into a stressful hobby.

I don't think NYREEF problem has anything to do with the heater being bad. The temp sensor unfortuntely came loose and that is why he had a problem. All suction cups don't work very well with time. I personally own a Proheat II and never had a problem or even heard of a problem with them. I know people who had problems with the Proheat I, the non digital version thats about it.

 

[kimoyo]

Frank's heater rusted into a few pieces.

What? Is there a thread? What heaters do you use cali?

 

[Noodus]

same thing happened to me, same product. i wish you luck.

 

[kimoyo]

Noodus, did yours rust?

 

[heuerfan]

Titanium can rust?

 

[inline6]

Titanium can rust?

Yeah
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum...n-bros-heaters-must-read.html?highlight=probe

 

[cali_reef]

Titanium can rust?

Not real titanium..