Damn John, sorry to hear it… PIA heaters! Glad it wasn’t the 180 though! guess you’ll just have to go on a fraggin spree in the big tank and re-stock the 55. was it all frags you lost, or did you have any colonies in there as well?.. and i have a Via aqua 300w titanium that i’ve had for 3months that’s been working great, and seems to be very accurate… it’s set on 77, and it kicks on at 77.0 and off around 77.8 consistently, its small, and i love the external controller, and the price. I just hope it lasts longer then other POS heaters i’ve had!
Hey John, there was all frags in there. I had allot of mushrooms in there and they are all gone. I also had a nice breeding pair of tomato clowns, but there was no way they could have survived.
Did some reading about the Via AQua and it got some good reviews, I also ordered the titanium heaters.
I think some sort of titanium heater is the best way at this point. The biggest thing with them is just getting them to turn on and off when they are supposed to. I’d look into either a Neptune or a Ranco or both.
I am planning on trying out some of the JBJ True temp heaters and perhaps a very small cheap Blue Line. The JBJ’s aren’t cheap, but I think too many people skimp out on something so critical to life support.
If you ever needed justification for a controller add up how much all the live stock would have cost if sold off out of the frag system including the mother colonies. Then keep in mind you couldn’t buy them all new out of a store and just put them in a new tank. The years of work collecting, taking care of, removing pests, water changes, bulb replacements, research, learning experiences. You can’t really put a $######.## on the value of the living system created.
Very sorry to hear this happened John. Keep your head up and rebuild. Let me know if you need a hand with something.
wow really sorry to hear that. i had the opposite happen about the same time. i did what i never do and had a heater that was over rated for the nano in use until i had gotten a second 15gal heater. well it broke in the on position and the water temp hit 90 killed a bunch of corals and fish. this s the exact reason i use multiple heaters that will equal the tank size.
Thanks, sorry about your loss.Have new heater in place and trying to get the water stable again.
I just had a Visi-therm Stealth heater fail last week (a week from when my tank sprung a leak, crappy month). The heater had a pinhole in it an I could see electrical sparks and smell burning plastic. Luckily I caught it before any damage was done to the tank. And I agree, controllers are awesome. I have one and it makes everything so much easier.
I think its pretty clear that stealth heaters are complete garbage, I have read on this and 3 other forums this month probably about 15 of them failing or exploding.
How’s that new heater treating you John? accurate for you?
Yes, I really like them. Makes me truly understand just how the other heaters were not doing what I wanted them to do… I bought 2 350w heaters. Placed 1 on the frag tank and 1 on the main tank, and they are doing a great job of keeping both tanks heated right where I have set them. I should have done this a long time ago.
Thanks for asking.
Great everything is working good John. I think when summer comes around I’ll be pulling one back out.
Which heaters did you go with??
I purchased 2 Via Aqua 350w titanium heaters which have external temp controler. I have placed one im my DT along with another brand heater for backup and they are keeping my tank perfectly heated. The frag tank is completely broken down and I am looking to set up an acrylic frag tank with built in overflow.
Thanks for asking Bret.
Funny John, i was just talking about these heaters on Reef-Geeks today, and said i was very happy with mine, and thought you were also…sounds like i was correct… YahoO