My heater blew up...

Thanks so much for responding! Ok, I removed the heater and I'll just have to wait until hubby comes home to remove the glass, can't reach it. You guys were right, it wasn't working anyway. Right now it's 70 in the house, but got into the 40's outside last night. It's a 44g hex with a male/female copidichromis borleyi pair, a male/female red zebra pair, and an unknown sex cobalt zebra. Thanks again you guys!

Laura
 
Since your hubby is coming home,is there any chance of you getting in touch with him and having him pick up a heater on the way?
HTH
Eric
 
if you remove the filter for a day it will reduce surface heat exchange
it'll also have a negative impact on your biofilter. don't unplug the filter.
 
That would make it a lot easier, but he's coming from the exact opposite direction. That gives me a thought though, I wonder if there are any on his way home. Nope, nevermind, just checked the phone book and couldn't find any. Hubby doesn't get home until 6pm tomorrow, but the closest lfs is only open til 6, so I will either have to drive the 2 hours to petsmart tomorrow (I think they're open until 9) or I will have to wait until Saturday to go to the closest lfs. I guess I'll just go by what the temp is in the tank tomorrow and see how urgent it is.

Laura
 
lbbennett said:
That would make it a lot easier, but he's coming from the exact opposite direction. That gives me a thought though, I wonder if there are any on his way home. Nope, nevermind, just checked the phone book and couldn't find any. Hubby doesn't get home until 6pm tomorrow, but the closest lfs is only open til 6, so I will either have to drive the 2 hours to petsmart tomorrow (I think they're open until 9) or I will have to wait until Saturday to go to the closest lfs. I guess I'll just go by what the temp is in the tank tomorrow and see how urgent it is.

Laura
zebras are tough cichlids, i'm sure they will be fine for a day or two without heat.
 
You could order a heater from the internet/mail order from somewhere that does next day deliveries - would that be quicker? (I can't work out all the time zones or exactly when you think you can get to the store)
 
I think I'll just make the 2 hr drive to Petsmart tomorrow. Not only will getting it sooner relieve my mind, but I just recalled we bought this heater from them only a month ago, so I might see if I can take it back to them to exchange it. Now where's that receipt...

Fishies are doin ok, temp is still 84 and tonight I'll remember to turn the heat on. Thank you everybody!

Laura
 
I don't know if it was suggested and i overread it - but...

if its just for 1 or 2 days why not keep the house warm by using the furnace (or whatever you use to heat the house). If i had an emergency like that i'd keep the house at 72 for that time (we usually let it cool to 58-60 at night).
OR take a small space heater and place it close to the tank (of course monitoring the tank temperature to make sure it doesn't overheat it).

Leaving the lights on might also help (depending on your light setup).
 
Finally got my heater. The poor fish are probably freezing, it's down to 68 in the tank now. Hopefully it'll start raising before they get too cold...
 
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