HEATER LEAKED INTO TANK

[LifeOfAquatics]

Hello, I recently set up a nano 5-gallon tank with live sand and rock a little more than 2 weeks ago. Tomorrow, I was planning on adding one clownfish (I was going to upgrade to a 10 gallon, I have everything I need except some more rock and water). However, today I put a heater that I bought a few days ago. It was a HITOP heater from Amazon. I did buy a larger wattage than what I needed because I bought a heater for a tank in advance (i.e. the 10 gallon I was upgrading to and then a 20 gallon after that). When I put the heater in the water and turned it on, almost immediately, I noticed something was slightly wrong. The heater was letting out this sort of clear oil like liquid into the tank. It was very subtle, not easily noticeable tbh I would have just walked away but I stayed for a little bit after I installed it). I took out the heater no more than 2 mins of its installation. I am worried that the heater may have leaked something into the water and I am worried this will prevent me from adding a fish tomorrow. I did a 50%water change, but ran out of water and could only add about 30-35% new water. The filter has carbon running in it by the way. I use premixed water from a lfs since this is only a 5 gallon i didn't feel the need to get a rodi just yet. I am just worried that maybe this oil like substance went into my rock and it wont come out or my sand, but I am trying to reassure myself saying that nothing might happen because I removed the heater immediately and did a 50% water change. I plan on going to a lfs tomorrow, completely removing all of the old water and adding 5 gallons of new water into the tank just in case as the bacteria is in the filter not the water yk. After that, I might add a small clownfish or damsel either the same day or the day after. What do you think? Should I proceed with course or do something different? Also, I had someone at an lfs test my water last week and he said that only my nitrates were high. he didn't really mention my ammonia or nitrites so I'm guessing they're good. i was planning to do a water change today anyway, just this happen which forced me to do it even sooner. anyways, what should i proceed with? please and thank you!

[Tired]

I would do a 100% water change all at once, yes.

 

Also, you need to get a test kit. Not API brand, they're inaccurate. You need to be able to test your own parameters on demand, for if something goes wrong. 

 

You should also really look into other fish. A 5-gallon tank is good for small gobies and blennies, but it's too small for any fish that don't just perch in one place, so it's too small for clowns or damsels. Small babies or not, they'll grow, and it's not good practice to buy fish that will grow too large for your tank. You could get a clown goby instead, or one of the tiny shrimpgobies, like an antenna goby, and a candycane pistol shrimp. 

[LifeOfAquatics]

11 hours ago, Tired said:

I would do a 100% water change all at once, yes.

 

Also, you need to get a test kit. Not API brand, they're inaccurate. You need to be able to test your own parameters on demand, for if something goes wrong. 

 

You should also really look into other fish. A 5-gallon tank is good for small gobies and blennies, but it's too small for any fish that don't just perch in one place, so it's too small for clowns or damsels. Small babies or not, they'll grow, and it's not good practice to buy fish that will grow too large for your tank. You could get a clown goby instead, or one of the tiny shrimpgobies, like an antenna goby, and a candycane pistol shrimp. 

that aside, on r2r, i heard a lot of people say that this is normal and the swirling effect im seeing is just hot water. and the condensation inside is just some leftover water bc once i removed the heater, the condensation disappeared and there wasnt any residual water left. 

[Tired]

Ah, you just saw the heating effect! In that case, yeah, you're fine on the water quality front. 

 

I would still strongly recommend not getting a clownfish until you actually have the 10-gallon tank at least set up and cycling. Get a small goby for now. Then you can put that in the new tank, and later add a clownfish. That way, if something gets in the way of upgrading, you won't wind up with a clownfish being cramped in there. 

 

You should also look up the Inkbird heater controllers. You plug the heater into it and put its temperature probe in the tank. That way you have a precise measurement for the tank temperature, and the controller will shut off the heater if it fails on. Any heater can fail, even really good ones, and them failing on means everything in the tank is very likely to die. With an Inkbird as a failsafe, the chance of that happening drops massively lower. 

[Reefkid88]

Its definitely just the heater heating up the water around it. You have to think the chemical composition of saltwater vs freshwater is totally different. 

[Tired]

It's not saltwater vs freshwater that does that, it's pure temperature difference. Heat rises, and so does hot water. What you're seeing is the hot water expanding and moving around. Think of it like the shimmer you see over the road when it heats up in the sun- same concept.