Can Aquarium Heaters Burn Fish?

Fish are great no denying we love watching our fish, But even the roughest toughest fish are still so delicate and need lots of looking after!

One of the best things fish love doing is playing, hiding, or trying to sleep on heaters but aquarium heaters burn fish?

Indeed yes fish can be burned by heaters its rare and only if you don’t have a guard/cover over the heater if left unintended burns can be fatal to fish.

 

 

Heaters are designed to heat the water, So occasionally there may be hot spots across the heater, or fish may not have enough flow current of water and get stuck behind a heater. Most of the time they’re fine and having a guard is simple enough and will be all the protection needed.

Heater to Hot

Believe it or not, the fish don’t even need to be playing by or near the heater to be burned. There are a few rare ways of burning fish first if the heater gets too hot for too long if don’t notice the fish will burn or even start to cook so definitely needs to be constantly managed.

Heater Cracked

Again a crack in the heater will cause the element to malfunction even electrify the water and burn the fish this is extreme and no doubt would kill the fish. There could also be chemicals that enter the water via the element, some heaters have a coil and or a strip with metals that may cause chemical burns.

Heater Exploding

A big problem would be an exploding heater by a wiring fault or more commonly taking the heater out while still switched on. As this is liable to have said heater pop, exploding and causing possible burns and shock to any near fish.

The best advice I can give is to regularly check your heater always turn it off, before taking it out, and have a couple of thermostats on the tank to check the temperature of the water. Adjust the heater accordingly and keep a check daily as it is one of the main concerns for all hobbyists.

Other Burns

But heaters are not always the culprit when burning our fish. There are some more sinister things in our tanks that can have an effect here are a few!

PLANTS

Yep, plants some plants are not for fish tanks. Hobbyists have had to learn the hard way. When fish swim through certain plants chemicals have released that burn the fish. This can cause problems with the gills and fish end up with breathing difficulties.

• Blue-Green Algae
• Fagaceae Quercus
• Yew
• Cherry Trees
• Jasmine
• Tiger Lily
• Just a few plants to avoid!

TOXINS

Probably the most likely burn is from toxins within the water, Normally but not exclusively from ammonia what’s more it can be hard to spot at first.

Even the smallest amount of ammonia can cause gill damage in fish and extremely high levels are oftentimes fatal. But if you can catch this problem very early in its progress and treat the water immediately, the fish can live normally. Fish treated for ammonia burns will respond to treatment within three to five days!

HUMAN HAND

Fish have what can only be described as slime all over them. This slime acts as a protection against some physical objects and mainly bacteria. The slime acts as a coat and is made up of glycoprotein. It is essential for fish’s well-being and helps them stay healthy.

This slime also keeps their electrolytes and other fluids in check. If that’s not enough the slime also helps the fish glide through the water, with ease as it reduces surface resistance.

But what happens if we touch them, even pick them up or handle our fish? , well yep, the slime will come off. As fish are cold-blooded they can not regulate their own temperature, we are warm-blooded and warm to the touch. So the two don’t go together well and usually ends with the fish getting a burn or two!

 

HEATERS DO BURN FISH AND THE CONCLUSION

As we’ve learned fish can indeed be burned by heaters, and heaters can have problems. Leading to burning in other ways we can also attest to plants and toxins and other chemicals even including our own hands all these little problems are so easily solved and should not happen to be honest!

Some easy tips check the heater daily, as said above get a guard/cover for the heater and make sure water conditions are good. This helps keep the fishes coat in top shape as fish have multiple layers of skin called dermis within are

layers of scales the scales are covered in epidermis and goblet cells inside the epidermis scales produce more slime so as long as the conditions are good and the fish are not stressed they can recover from minor loss and get a new coat so to speak Awesome.

 

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