Simon Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 I have not been aquariuming for some time. I started nearly 50 years ago when tanks had stainless steel frames. I went through numerous freshwater tanks, a 1,200 gallon outdoor pond, and a 100 gallon saltwater aquarium. Life, work, children, got it in the way of keeping going in the hobby although I kept abreast of the technology especially LEDs making indoor light affordable and easy to accommodate. About 5 years ago my kids became interested, we started out with betas. The older one has moved onto horses, but the younger one still enjoyed her beta. Crisis stuck over Thanksgiving and her Beta of 5 years, Hercules, became ill and died. We got a new larger aquarium Fluval Edge 15. For Christmas and got a few corydoras for the old tank a 7 gallon micro tank with intention of moving them to the Edge once it cycled. I kept the old tank going (feeding the plants and filter) and did a water change, filter media split and gravel cleaning to spike the new tank. New crisis after running for years the thermostat on the fixed temperature heater failed a day or two after we got the new cories. I noticed that a cory was dead and trapped between between the heater and the tank wall. Stuck my hand in to retrieve it and found the water to be hot. I could not see an indication of temperature on the stick on thermometer. In fact it was 97F and the led indicated the heat was on. I've got a new crisis today, as we finally added fish to the Edge, yesterday we added 12 neon tetras, by morning there where 10 and as I'm writing this there are only 6. We got a fancy goldfish for the small tank and my daughter has been enthralled with watching it, but she has taken the time to call her grandparents to tell them about the school of neons, but hasn't noticed yet that half are missing. I have never has such an incident with neons, they have always been a go to beginner fish. The cories make a quick disposal of the bodies fortunately. There is plenty of hiding space, vegetation, the water quality is good (non-detect on ammonia and nitrite, about 20ppm on nitrate, pH 7.2, 77F, total alkalinity and hardness on the low side given the water we have in the area). Anyway, I'm back to the hobby, I will soon have a sobbing child, and I'm interesting in learning about the latest. I have already watched hours and hours of Cory's YouTube videos as well as others planning and planting the new tank. Cory and Aquarium Co-op have already been a great resource and I'm gathering up a list of stuff to order. Top of the list is the USB air pump to help us through power outages that seem to be far too common in the rural areas of Washington. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Welcome back to fish keeping! Sounds like an eventful return. Hope all starts to go smoothly soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Welcome! Sorry to hear about your heater problem, which seems to be a common enough occurrence to be concerning. @Danielhas written about this, explaining that they almost always fail "on" and overheat the water, and a way to prevent it is to use heaters underrated for the capacity so they never turn off and will never be able to overheat the water. I guess you'd have to use more than one depending on your tank size, heater wattage, room temp, and desired water temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 16 hours ago, Simon said: New crisis after running for years the thermostat on the fixed temperature heater failed a day or two after we got the new cories. I noticed that a cory was dead and trapped between between the heater and the tank wall. Stuck my hand in to retrieve it and found the water to be hot. I could not see an indication of temperature on the stick on thermometer. In fact it was 97F and the led indicated the heat was on. I am so sorry to hear that! Heaters are prone to fail, so often the best course is to treat them like they will fail tomorrow. Besides getting a less powerful heater that cannot overheat your aquarium, which might be hard for a small aquarium, you can also buy on Amazon an Inkbird temperature controller. You plug the Inkbird into your electrical outlet and you plug your heater into the Inkbird. This way you are not dependent on the thermostat on the aquarium heater. I believe the Inkbirds go for less than $30. I think many of us have had this happen. I am sorry it happened to you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Your missing your neon tetras? Have you reterievd their bodies or can you just not see them anymore. Neons can be jumpers so make sure you have a lid on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Welcome to the forums! Sorry about all the bad news! Hopefully no more crises happen! I second the Inkbird thermostats, I have them on most of my tanks and am very pleased with them. Peace of mind sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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