The cooking of a 4gal pico(GRAPHIC)
 

First off I wanna list what was in my pico tank
4 gal pico nuvo tank
- fire fish x2
- bi colored blenny
- peppermint shrimp
- hammer coral
- 3 mushrooms
- bunch of random zoas
- a red monti plate
I don't have a before pic

So I woke up this morning to my pico tank looking like this

http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/...pshx6yx0pk.jpg

At first I thought hmm did my fire fishes have a wild night n mated then I touched the tank glass n boy was it warm. Took a thermometer n dropped it in n looked closer and everything looked dead. My heater had somehow stuck on n cooked my tank 100 deg.
Here's a closer pic of what died. It's kinda graphic but the look on my fire fish lol

The omg I'm cooked look
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/...psevacykoy.jpg

Thank god it wasn't my new in wall tank or I woulda had a heart attack
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/...psdrcxrmhh.jpg

Sorry to hear about your Pico, now you know the importance if an Aquarium computer, Apex, etc

Uhh yea some people shouldn't have tanks. With you finding humor looking at your dead fish I'm thinking your one of those people.

:jaw:

Yea I'm rly considering a aquarium monitoring device now. Lucky it was only my pico. Woulda been a lot more devistating if it was my main tank. Is there any good temp controller other than the apex out there?

That's a lil excessive don't ya think? If your that easily offended then mybe U shouldn't have a tank either?

use ranco or any digital controller and titanium heater, that way you don't rely on the heater control.

What do you want to him to do ? cry about it ? There are a lot of people who think that no one should even keep wild fish in a glass prison for your own amusement.

Some people are just chit distrurbers:lol:
Different sense of humor.

That Honda guy is right. Those Ranco heaters aren't too bad. I use them on a clients tank and I use a Finnex heater on my own without any issues.
Sorry for your loss:cry:

I'm just blown away by how much livestock you had squeezed into that tiny tank....

If you haven't had a heater cook a tank, you probably haven't been reefing long enough.

There weren't always affordable controllers either.

unfortunately that is the number one failure point of most tanks, the thermal coupler kick switch fails inside a heater and it sticks in the on position.

I won't go back from a titanium heater and a tank controller of some sort, just won't; I have way to much time money and love invested in my two tanks to take any unnecessary risks and I do think, it is unnecessary because it's the #1 failure of tanks.

sorry...

That ranco looks pretty promising. I might consider that or even just go for a apex. I know it's a much higher initial investment but it pales in comparison to what I spent on my main tank. I should be able to snag a good deal on here when some1 sells.

+1. Pretty much sums it all up here. Thx Pike =)


Ya I havnt been In this hobby for too long. I think I'm almost at 2yrs now which means I'm still a noob with tons to learn lol. Yea at first I also thought that I might have overstocked my 4 gal tank but I kept it bare bottom and piled my rockwork in a way that Detris won't get trapped too much and I do 80% water changes once a week. This kept all my params In check and nitrates low. Of course I also did not keep super high demanding corals but everything was super happy till the heater fiasco.

Also I was using a eheim jäger heater. I see ppl saying they only trust titanium heaters. Why is that?

I use two heaters rated for smaller tanks. So if one breaks and decides to try and cook my tank its not going to over heat it that much hopefully.

I think people like the titanium heater because glass and plastic can crack and leak stuff into your water. Titanium isn't supposed to..

This hobby can be brutal sometimes. Little things cause huge problems. Keep your head up! Let me know if I can help.

I use two 100 watt ViaAqua titanium heaters for my 40 breeder both have built in thermostats so they make it easy to see a heat problem if there was one. I did so after reading so many people having 1 heater cook a tank. Learned the hard way with glass heaters after a glass one exploded during a water change, also had one marineland heater that just stayed on after only being a year old.

Being a pico tank it may be a pain to have 2 heaters.

Thx guys for ur inputs. I've decided to shut down my 4 gal pico indefinitely n it will go on sale same with my 75g full set up n I will be getting a apex for more peace of mind. Kelly I'm gonna pm U soon with a few things U can help me with =) some nice Sps I got from U died during my tank swap.