Heater nearly cooked my fish

[Sliceofnature]

It seems like i narrowly avoided disaster tonight in the mini pond. I walked out into my patio and noticed that steam was rolling off of the pond, which is weird because it was about 66*F out and i only keep the heater set to around 68*. Stuck my hand in and sure enough it felt like bathwater. I unplugged the heater(Marineland 200W) and when i pulled it out of the water it was super hot. Checked the temp after and it was above 90*F! I thought these heaters had some sortve safety to prevent them from cooking the tank, but apparently not.

So Im looking for suggestions on how i can prevent this in the future without spending a fortune. Im guessing there are temperature activated circuits i can plug the heater into? Im so lucky to have walked out and noticed this before it killed my fish this time, i dont want to allow this to happen in the future.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[tonyjuliano]

This can happen to anyone at anytime. Other than expensive real-time monitoring, I can’t give you much in the way of prevention.

I will say this, if I needed a heater for an outdoor pond, I would make sure I got a submersible heater with either a titanium or quartz body, not a glass unit.

https://www.finnex.net/hms-series

Edited May 12, 2021 by tonyjuliano

[Andy's Fish Den]

Inkbird heater controllers are a great lifesaver.

Amazon.com: Inkbird ITC-306A WiFi Temperature Controller, Wi-Fi Aquarium Thermostat Heater Controller 120V~1200W Temperature Control with Two Probes only for Heater Aquarium Breeding Reptiles Hatching.: Pet Supplies

[Eric R]

44 minutes ago, Andy's Fish Den said:

Inkbird heater controllers are a great lifesaver.

Amazon.com: Inkbird ITC-306A WiFi Temperature Controller, Wi-Fi Aquarium Thermostat Heater Controller 120V~1200W Temperature Control with Two Probes only for Heater Aquarium Breeding Reptiles Hatching.: Pet Supplies

Yup! I second the inkbird controllers. They have wifi enabled and non-wifi options (non-wifi are cheaper), and they have single and dual probe options. I have heard occasionally of one of the probes going out of calibration, and the dual probe options check the temperature between each probe and issues an alarm if they get too different from each other. And unless you want to run a chiller or fan in addition to a heater, you don't need the ones that can control both heating and cooling, just heating.

Edited May 12, 2021 by ererer

[lefty o]

heaters have boiled tons of fish.

[H.K.Luterman]

How scary! I'm glad you caught it in time. I use Inkbirds on all my tanks just because I like the peace of mind. 

[CalmedByFish]

One other idea is to use multiple little heaters instead of a single big one. That way if a heater gets stuck on, you've got more time to find the problem before the water's too hot. 

[Jungle Fan]

I tried an inkbird controller a while back and it kept messing with the wifi, and the temperature readings were erratic (I kept my regular thermometer in place); I finally chucked the contraption. In my experience it's a great concept but poor execution. I'll hold off until someone else comes out with a better unit.

[Eric R]

9 hours ago, Jungle Fan said:

I tried an inkbird controller a while back and it kept messing with the wifi, and the temperature readings were erratic (I kept my regular thermometer in place); I finally chucked the contraption. In my experience it's a great concept but poor execution. I'll hold off until someone else comes out with a better unit.

It's likely you just got a bad unit, I haven't had any noticable problems with mine yet. With most of the cheap things we get these days, quality control and longevity are going to be issues. You could try the non-wifi model. Ranco makes high quality industrial grade thermostats with temperature probes that some reef keepers use - you either have to wire the plug in yourself or you can buy ones prewired if you search for Ranco aquarium heater controllers. They don't come wifi equipped though. If you want something with wifi, you could get a used older model apex controller with a temperature probe.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Eric R

[Sliceofnature]

Thanks everyone for the responses. It looks like ill be picking up one or two inkbirds and honestly might just down size or remove the heater in others.

[Guppysnail]

I use inkbird temp regulators. Like 30$ stick probe in water plug heater into inkbird you can plug in two on the cheap model. Temp hits a certain temp it cuts the power. When temp falls below it turns power back on. Also alerts you it’s running too hot

[Stealth Aquatics]

On 5/12/2021 at 8:04 AM, Eric R said:

Yup! I second the inkbird controllers. They have wifi enabled and non-wifi options (non-wifi are cheaper), and they have single and dual probe options. I have heard occasionally of one of the probes going out of calibration, and the dual probe options check the temperature between each probe and issues an alarm if they get too different from each other. And unless you want to run a chiller or fan in addition to a heater, you don't need the ones that can control both heating and cooling, just heating.

I just bought some L134s. I will be purchasing this for sure! Too expensive for a breeding group of them to not protect them the best I can 

[SoundHunter]

I’ve had success with Inkbird controllers not just for my aquariums, I use them in my greenhouse and beer brewing. Solid equipment. 
The guy complaining must have gotten a rare dud. WiFi units allow you to look back at temp reading history, mine all run smooth. 
🤷🏻‍♂️

[TMartins]

Really good information from everyone.  The heater is one piece of equipment that can really do a lot of damage in an Aquarium.  It’s so hard to to find a reliable one.