My L-204 died last night

arndogg · Post by **arndogg** » 01 May 2005, 16:42

I woke up this morning, and saw the fish on top of one of my undergravel jets. As I was reaching down to get it, I was surprised by the warmness of the water. My heater conked out last night, and heated the tank to 95! Fortunately, the rest of my fish--African cichlids and an L-200--are still alive. I cannot think of any other cause for death, because just before I went to sleep I saw the L-204 up and about, munching on an algae wafer.

NOw I have to replace my heater. I had a via aqua titanium heater. Anybody have any suggestions before I head out to the lfs?

Post by **Barbie** » 01 May 2005, 17:27

Don't replace the heater with the Via Aqua. We got a large number of those back at the store before we discontinued them. The new Stealth heaters by Marineland seem to be great, other than no indicator light to tell you if they are on. I was pretty impressed with a heater you could smash on the side of the counter and then put back in the tank and have it warm back up. If you take them out of the water, accidentally or during a water change, they shut themselves off. I haven't received a single one of them back, either.

Sorry to hear of your loss

The low dissolved oxygen levels would have definitely made it tough on the L204.

Barbie

catfishgrrl · Post by **catfishgrrl** » 01 May 2005, 17:59

I had the same thing happen a few months ago, but I lost the whole tank...my L-200, a pair of Sturisoma panamense, a Panaque maccus, a bunch of pencilfish, a group of rummy-nose tetras, a group of emerald eye tetras, a few mystus cats, and some black kuhli loaches. I woke up to a murky tank with way too hot water. Sorry for your loss...it definitely sucks.

Post by **Shane** » 01 May 2005, 18:48

I have said it before and will say it again...you can cut corners and try to save costs on filters, lighting, stands, and many other things, but never heaters. As Arnndog and Catfishgrrl's experiences demonstrate, a faulty heater can wipe out a tank faster than any other mechanical malfunction.
Some other heater advice...
1) Always unplug a heater while working in a tank. Collapsing or dropped stones can break it while your hands are in there.
2) Always unplug heaters during water changes. I recently had one blow up on me while my hands were in the tank because I thought I had unplugged it but did not double check. Scared me pretty good to say the least.
3)Throw away any heater that shows condensation inside the glass tube.

I was with Barbie in Seattle when the Marineland rep demonstrated the Stealth heater for us and I was very impressed. It is black and thus almost invisible against a black tank background. It is almost impossible to break. A great choice for big cats that think heaters are toys.
-Shane

taksan · Post by **taksan** » 01 May 2005, 19:32

Can you really trust a company that makes such shite filters to make good heaters ??????????????????????

Shane wrote:I was with Barbie in Seattle when the Marineland rep demonstrated the Stealth heater for us and I was very impressed. It is black and thus almost invisible against a black tank background. It is almost impossible to break. A great choice for big cats that think heaters are toys.
-Shane

Post by **Shane** » 01 May 2005, 19:34

Taksan,
Interesting you would say that. I am probably running over 20 Marineland filters right now and some are over 10 years old.
-Shane

taksan · Post by **taksan** » 01 May 2005, 19:40

Well shane opinions are like ...... everybody has them
My expereinces with their "Biowheels" hasn't been good
In fact my experiences with anything but sumps and Ehiems hasn't been good

Shane wrote:Taksan,
Interesting you would say that. I am probably running over 20 Marineland filters right now and some are over 10 years old.
-Shane

catfishgrrl · Post by **catfishgrrl** » 01 May 2005, 20:01

Went on Marineland.com and the Stealth heater does sound great... I may have found myself a new heater. Is there anyone on here that is currently using a stealth in their tank?

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 01 May 2005, 20:32

I won't buy any other heater than Marineland/Visitherm. The Stealth heaters are an incredible thing. I couldn't get the in-line heater to work on the 75 gallon tank. I tried a bunch of different ways. Instead, I have 2 smaller Stealths, rather than 1 larger heater. There's no light, but it makes a click when it turns off or on. I had a RenaCal once and it just shut off after 6 months of use.

I have Stealths running in 4 tanks at the moment(2 in the 75). Five, if you include the one to heat the RO water. I have a 6th on standby for the 29 gal.that will become a river tank. That's a total of 7 Stealths, 5 run continuously.

I use Marineland BioWheel Filters in tanks less than 20 gallons. Tanks cycle so quickly. I don't use the carbon cartridges. I make up a mix in a filter bag. The oldest is 3 years old, a Marineland 170. I've been in the hobby for 3 years. I use Eheims on the larger.