Refugium overheated.

[alfieh0]

Had a accident about a week ago, i run my heater in the refugium. Its controlled by a separate controller, the thermometer part, is in the part of the sump before the heater. So the water flows down into the sump on the thermometer then over a baffle into the refugium with the heater.
That way in my mind i can test the water temperature before its reached the heater, making sure the temp in the tank is high enough.

Well... while doing a water change i turned off the pump, causing the water to be still in the sump. This water change took a little while longer than normal so inevitably the temperature dropped in the sump. This caused the heater to turn on, however as the thermometer isn't in the same part of the sump as the heater, the control didn't register the water was warming up again, so it kept the heater on. The refugium kept getting hotter and hotter.

When i finally realised what had happened, i put the thermometer into the refugium and it read 90 f, I quickly turned on the pump to dilute the heat. However i think i have cooked everything in the fuge. Over the past week my Chaeto doesn't seem alive, its not brown or anything, bit seems like its going to die. The sea weed growing in there too is breaking apart and bits keep coming off. And i think I've killed all my pods growing in there. I dunno if you guys think its best to get some more Chaeto, or do you think it will pull though, is 90 high enough to kill it completely?

I have now moved the thermometer into the same area with the heater, bit of a bummer but i guess its a lesson learned. Just hoping some of my pods have survived and can pull through.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Had a accident about a week ago, i run my heater in the refugium. Its controlled by a separate controller, the thermometer part, is in the part of the sump before the heater. So the water flows down into the sump on the thermometer then over a baffle into the refugium with the heater.
That way in my mind i can test the water temperature before its reached the heater, making sure the temp in the tank is high enough.

Well... while doing a water change i turned off the pump, causing the water to be still in the sump. This water change took a little while longer than normal so inevitably the temperature dropped in the sump. This caused the heater to turn on, however as the thermometer isn't in the same part of the sump as the heater, the control didn't register the water was warming up again, so it kept the heater on. The refugium kept getting hotter and hotter.

When i finally realised what had happened, i put the thermometer into the refugium and it read 90 f, I quickly turned on the pump to dilute the heat. However i think i have cooked everything in the fuge. Over the past week my Chaeto doesn't seem alive, its not brown or anything, bit seems like its going to die. The sea weed growing in there too is breaking apart and bits keep coming off. And i think I've killed all my pods growing in there. I dunno if you guys think its best to get some more Chaeto, or do you think it will pull though, is 90 high enough to kill it completely?

I have now moved the thermometer into the same area with the heater, bit of a bummer but i guess its a lesson learned. Just hoping some of my pods have survived and can pull through.

Some damage may not be apparent immediately, some may recover...

Keep an eye on macroalgaes, and some pods may have been deep in sump rockwork to survive fine but no harm in picking up more pods... if in another week or three you find you also need replacement chaeto and/or seaweed, add if needed

 

[Pistondog]

Had a accident about a week ago, i run my heater in the refugium. Its controlled by a separate controller, the thermometer part, is in the part of the sump before the heater. So the water flows down into the sump on the thermometer then over a baffle into the refugium with the heater.
That way in my mind i can test the water temperature before its reached the heater, making sure the temp in the tank is high enough.

Well... while doing a water change i turned off the pump, causing the water to be still in the sump. This water change took a little while longer than normal so inevitably the temperature dropped in the sump. This caused the heater to turn on, however as the thermometer isn't in the same part of the sump as the heater, the control didn't register the water was warming up again, so it kept the heater on. The refugium kept getting hotter and hotter.

When i finally realised what had happened, i put the thermometer into the refugium and it read 90 f, I quickly turned on the pump to dilute the heat. However i think i have cooked everything in the fuge. Over the past week my Chaeto doesn't seem alive, its not brown or anything, bit seems like its going to die. The sea weed growing in there too is breaking apart and bits keep coming off. And i think I've killed all my pods growing in there. I dunno if you guys think its best to get some more Chaeto, or do you think it will pull though, is 90 high enough to kill it completely?

I have now moved the thermometer into the same area with the heater, bit of a bummer but i guess its a lesson learned. Just hoping some of my pods have survived and can pull through.

Sorry for the problem. Some of us use thermostat controlled heaters plugged into,the temp controller to avoid this issue. Eheim Jaeger heater uses a bi metal element less affected by power cycles. Set the heater thermostat to 2 degrees above your temp controller. It would have shut off the heater without incident.
If your temp controller fails and the heater stays on, you'll be in the same predicament without safety.