Mourning my perc!

[Gmandese]

Runaway %@#*&^%$ Heater! I came home to find that my 18g tank temp was 85 degrees, and my heater was still on. It is set for 72, but I guess it got stuck. Since I have a fan blowing across the top of the water, The hotter it got, the more evap got blown away! The level was 3 inches low, and the SG read 1.027+. All my fish were dead, most disturbing was my percula clown, who's picture is my avatar. That was my favorite, and now it's hard to find another. It was over 4 years old. I also lost an algae blenny, and my new saddleback clown (sorry, Mike). My zoo's, mushrooms and polyps were closed up, and so were my 2 anemones. My crabs, shrimps, and hermits seemed ok though.
I did an emergency water change, brought the SG down to 1.024, (I'll drop it more tomorrow), moved the anemones to my 46 (they are opening now, so hopefully no permanant damage, and now the rest are starting to halfway open.
Very discouraging. I try diligently to keep up with the maintenance, but something that happens when I'm not home, well, sh#t. It throws the whole system out of whack. I'll probably go through a mini cycle, now.


Anyone have any suggestions on how to best recover?

 

[ctxmonitor]

Very sorry to hear that. RIP clowny...

Hope everything recover on you, man. Be well.. But now you could look for new fish and the excitement when you get it home..

 

[Gmandese]

Yeah I know, but I feel like a murderer. I'm afraid to bring one home to his death!
But really, I'm getting a new heater, and room temp is 75, so I'm ok for now. I'm just afraid of die-off, and the ammonia/nitrate levels. Such a small tank. The next couple of days will tell...............

 

[nanoreefer22]

Don't drop the salinity lower than that. I keep my Salinity at 1.025-1.026. Sorry to hear about your losses buddy.

 

[ctxmonitor]

so a faulty heater? What brand is your heater?

 

[Gmandese]

It WAS a Visi-therm 100W. Now it's dumpster-chow

 

[stingnyc]

sorry to hear that, my little one died also...

 

[jackson6745]

Sorry about your clown You should look into getting a ranco temp controller so this sort of thing doesn't happan again. P.S. never trust the thermostat on a Won Pro heater

 

[DEEPWATER]

srry Gman ,RIP Clowny ,freaking heaters

 

[SlamaJama]

freakin A.....
gerry, sorry to hear that,that really sucks sand, and u been workin so hard getting things together...very sorry:banghead:

A very wise reefer said and i quote "you cant turn your back on it, not for a minute"....so true brother jim, so true.

 

[Gmandese]

It looks like the other inhabitants are starting to recover, opening up wider. All is not lost. My frilly mushrooms look a little limp, but still kicking, and the polyps have a slime coating that's starting to peel off in little strings.

 

[Gmandese]

Mike, sorry I killed your clown. He was really cool, and got along with mine great, like a pair. I'll work on replacing them soon.

 

[gegema]

Gmandese,

I'm so sorry about your lose.

george

 

[ulmo]

Gerry,

Sorry to hear about your clown. It always sucks when you lose a fish! Try ebo-jagger heaters next time because IMHO they are the best. I hope everything else makes it.

Peter

 

[SlamaJama]

shite happens , im more sorry for ur loses

 

[Gmandese]

Thanks everyone for your condolences. I guess it's just a lesson to be learned. I'm lucky the losses were low compared to what I have in the tank. It's hard to get personal with the zoos and stuff, but the clown had real personality. I'll get a couple of new ones soon, but it won't seem quite the same for a bit. Just looks empty now with no movement.

 

[spykes]

feel better, hopefully you will find another soon.

 

[Reef Guy]

THE SAME thing happened to me with my nano, I was running the same heater but it was the Visi therm 50 watt. I felt the water and im like this feels a little warm, so i then look at the temp which was reading 90 degrees. Luckily I had no fish

 

[Dmitry]

Dude! I lost a lot of fish recently, so I feel your pain! :grouphug:

Heaters suck, right? Why do they get stuck anyway? And what is a possible solution? Replacing them every 6 months? (I think one should do that with power-strips used near the tank...)