sankaz Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 Hi. I've had my Aquarium Co op heaters for about 5 months now. They are great, I don't worry about the temperature because I can easily see it and/or change the temp with control. I recently had a weird experince for me - I took the heater out of pone because it didn't seem to be keeping the tank as warm as my setting. When I removed it (after unplugging) I found the inside packed with snail shells and an awful smell. After carefully crushing the shells and flushing them out I put it back in ad it's working perfectly again. Has anyone else had this happen? And does anyone know how to clean the glass covering the heating coils? I was't happy to put something so smelly back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjum Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 Huh, interesting. I had 2 ACO heaters in my tank & I just took one out yesterday because it was overkill (my house used to be a lot colder but we got a mini-split system installed last year). I did have about 3 small ramshorns crawl out, which I tossed back in the tank. Didn't notice any dead ones or smell. I'll have to look closer when I get home tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knee Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 On 1/31/2023 at 12:16 PM, sankaz said: Hi. I've had my Aquarium Co op heaters for about 5 months now. They are great, I don't worry about the temperature because I can easily see it and/or change the temp with control. I recently had a weird experince for me - I took the heater out of pone because it didn't seem to be keeping the tank as warm as my setting. When I removed it (after unplugging) I found the inside packed with snail shells and an awful smell. After carefully crushing the shells and flushing them out I put it back in ad it's working perfectly again. Has anyone else had this happen? And does anyone know how to clean the glass covering the heating coils? I was't happy to put something so smelly back in. Maybe the amount of dead snails in your heater was restricting the flow of the water through it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sankaz Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 Yes, that's what I was thinking. So I know now to keep an eye on that. Do you think it might be better not to try to clean it? I don't want to ruin the heater. And as for the smell from it, I could only smell it after I took it out of the tank. So maybe just leave it, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knee Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 On 1/31/2023 at 4:26 PM, sankaz said: Yes, that's what I was thinking. So I know now to keep an eye on that. Do you think it might be better not to try to clean it? I don't want to ruin the heater. And as for the smell from it, I could only smell it after I took it out of the tank. So maybe just leave it, huh? I think it's better to keep it as clean from shells as possible to avoid any heating issues. About the smell, not really sure how to get rid of that. Maybe email customer support to see what can be used to clean the heater if needed. Like if you can use bleach or vinegar? I'm sure they'll be able to help with that. I've emailed them about some issues I have with the 50w heaters and they responded within the day. They're very quick with the responses which I really appreciate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sankaz Posted February 15, 2023 Author Share Posted February 15, 2023 Thanks @knee, I didn't even think about contacting ACO for advice. DOH! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sankaz Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 (edited) Following @knee's advise I contacted ACO customer support about cleaning my heater. Candi in her lightning fast response assured me that using white vinegar can safely clean it. Love the products AND the customer service as well as my ACO cohort! Browsing youtube and catching my first Cory video has literally changed my life! I have five tanks between home and work now and life is twice as interesting. Thanks to all the Aquarium Co op people and to all the others who are interested and supportive to this wonderful hobby. Edited February 16, 2023 by sankaz I hate misspelling words! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted February 16, 2023 Administrators Share Posted February 16, 2023 In my testing I've seen a snail shell or two in the heaters. Nothing that ever caused a problem like you're saying. My guess is that it was a chain reaction. Snail gets in and dies, gives off the foul smell, attracts more snails, they die, give off smell, attracts more etc. Usually a rinse and a little bit of time gets rid of snail smell. They smell the worst when they die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I'd like to know how snails are getting into the heater in the first place ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryC Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 On 2/16/2023 at 10:40 AM, anewbie said: I'd like to know how snails are getting into the heater in the first place ? thru the tiny holes on the protective casing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sankaz Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 I never knew that snails are attracted to foul smells! It makes sense upon thinking about it. Another reason to keep my tanks clean. And yes, The slots on the sided are big enough for snails to get in there. I haven't confessed that I tried adjusting the pH and almost killed all the fish. I realized fairly quickly that I'd really made a dumb mistake. But not fast enough to save all the snails. But yeah, they had to be in there already, hm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now