RandyC
Supporting Member
Recently got rid of my magnificent fox face for nibbling my zoas. At first I thought he was just cleaning off the rock, then he went right at the center of two polyps. BANISHED!
Rygh's 250 gallon - Rev 3
- Thread starter rygh
- Start date
Recently got rid of my magnificent fox face for nibbling my zoas. At first I thought he was just cleaning off the rock, then he went right at the center of two polyps. BANISHED!
rygh
Guest
Interesting. Could be the culprit.
Although if I have to choose, I am keeping the fish and just going with different corals.
RandyC
Supporting Member
Had the fox face for a little over a year without issue then zoas started disappearing.
Yes, I leave it on. It’s kind of hard to remove when I need to for periodic cleaning. I’m worried that the hot titanium will melt something in the sump or hurt my banished cowrie.
jorahx4
Guest
jorahx4
Guest
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
You could leave the calcified stuff on, I mean it'll help protect the heater, it'll warm the water just as much, the only thing I'd worry about is if the boundary layer between the crud and the water is more likely to precipitate your precious calcium and alkalinity into the water...
or just dunk it all in muriatic acid for a fun fizzy show
or just dunk it all in muriatic acid for a fun fizzy show
I wouldn’t leave it on. It will do 3 undesirable things:You could leave the calcified stuff on, I mean it'll help protect the heater, it'll warm the water just as much, the only thing I'd worry about is if the boundary layer between the crud and the water is more likely to precipitate your precious calcium and alkalinity into the water...
or just dunk it all in muriatic acid for a fun fizzy show
1. Slow the transfer of heat from the heater to the water, probably without noticeable effect but at least theoretically could lead to wider swings of temp than desired. Not that any heat will be lost, just won’t be as responsive.
2. Act as a nidus for more rapid precipitation of the calcium, carbonate, and whatever else that stuff is from the elements in your water, wasting supplements and possibly imbalancing them.
3. Be ugly.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
1. Possibly, also how fast your tank loses temp to the environment, theoretically you may actually have a more consistent temp as the warm crud helps heat your water, I guess it really depends upon the thermal conductivity of "crud"(tm), glass is hardly a great conductor of heat, so it may not be as bad as you might think.
2. Yeah I figured this would be the biggest issue.
3. It's in a sump, stuff is supposed to be ugly there. Yeah I know, some people have sumps that are prettier than the display tanks but still, we put heaters there for a reason
4. It's morning, the caffeine hasn't quite kicked in yet, but I can see some satisifaction of removing it, kind of like picking a scab off when you were a kid.. but again caffeine hasn't kicked in, and I'm patiently waiting for pvc cement to cure. from last night.
2. Yeah I figured this would be the biggest issue.
3. It's in a sump, stuff is supposed to be ugly there. Yeah I know, some people have sumps that are prettier than the display tanks but still, we put heaters there for a reason
4. It's morning, the caffeine hasn't quite kicked in yet, but I can see some satisifaction of removing it, kind of like picking a scab off when you were a kid.. but again caffeine hasn't kicked in, and I'm patiently waiting for pvc cement to cure. from last night.
rygh
Guest
You could leave the calcified stuff on, I mean it'll help protect the heater, it'll warm the water just as much, the only thing I'd worry about is if the boundary layer between the crud and the water is more likely to precipitate your precious calcium and alkalinity into the water...
or just dunk it all in muriatic acid for a fun fizzy show
It came off easily. It does not stick all that well to titanium.
Insulating a heating element is not a good thing. It will make the heater itself substantially
hotter than designed, possibly leading to failure.
Those are pure heating elements, no electronics inside, so lower risk, but still a concern.
rygh
Guest
Yes, a good question.
And I have not had this problem in the past.
About the only big difference is adding Kalkwasser to my dosing system.
All dosing is done in the sump with the heaters, although there is a big powerhead,
so strong circulation.
I need to check Magnesium levels also. Been a while.
Flagg37
Guest
I have the finex titanium heaters and never saw anything like that. I don’t have any plastic guard on them but I dosed kalkwasser. I did all my dosing in the return chamber though, so it would have to travel through the whole system to get to the heaters.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
the plastic guards are probably the reason why it happened. You create an area around the heater where water flow is slowed greatly so it'll be hotter there and easier for calcification to accumulate, basically a version of condensation on a glass full of a ice water.
I have the same heaters with the same plastic guards and no buildup.
I have them in a high flow area where all the water goes from skimmer chamber to return chamber, so probably less temperature differential.
Also I slowly drip 3-part into the return chamber, as far as possible from where the heaters are in the water flow circuit.
Vhuang168
Guest
I have Finnex Ti heaters with fb plastic and also do not have that. Both are in the skimmer chamber. Which is before the bubble trap whicb is where the dosing tubes are.
I did have 1 sitting ring under the dosing area for over 1 year. That did not have any build up as well.
My Mg levels are well over 1600 ppm.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I did have 1 sitting ring under the dosing area for over 1 year. That did not have any build up as well.
My Mg levels are well over 1600 ppm.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro