# Heater blew



## MriGuy85 (Aug 29, 2013)

Well, for the first time ever, I forgot to unplug my heater during a water change. While refilling, the heater exploded in the tank. Left tiny metallic pieces all over the tank floor and some floating on the water surface. I moved my 5 cories and rubber lip over to my big tank, cleaned out the metallic crap as best I could, and added a small amount of ammonia to maintain the current bacteria colony, although the tank is now unheated...the temp will likely swing from the low 60s to the mid 70s until I make the decision to either restock it, or drain it.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Wow. Just...wow. Glad everybody's ok.


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## MriGuy85 (Aug 29, 2013)

Me too. Gonna take a baseline nitrate test right now and watch the tank for the next week and see how the addition affects the chemistry. Hoping this won't be a problem, because now that the cories are in, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to get them back out. May have to move one of the filters from the 20 over to the 55 to keep up with the increased load. Won't know for about a week or two though.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

Thanks for the heads up! I would not have even noticed the heater when changing out water!


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## Botiadancer (Dec 30, 2013)

If the shrapnel is all gone, can't you just put another heater in to keep the tank going? This is why I always have a spare heater or two.


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## Arthur7 (Feb 22, 2013)

Perhaps a clever design engineer should invent a drying breaker. Can not be that hard.


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## MriGuy85 (Aug 29, 2013)

Unfortunately, I don't know what that metallic stuff is...aluminum, something worse? Not sure if it's toxic to the fish or not, and definitely don't want my cories sifting around in it. It's so fine that I can't really get it all out, so my only option that I can see is to replace the sand. It seems that everyone is doing fine in the big tank though, so I may just break down the small one and sell the equipment.


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## vreugy (May 1, 2013)

Thank God you weren't electrocuted. That's so scary. I have forgotten to turn them off and hit them with water and steam arises. I try to remember to turn off the power strip now. That way, it all is disconnected. Sure glad you are ok. I agree about changing the sand too. No need to take a chance on poisoning the fish or yourself.


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## MriGuy85 (Aug 29, 2013)

Yeah, in the frenzy of it all, I was lucky enough to remember not to put my hand in the tank. Although, I don't think it blew in a way that was dangerous to that extent. For example, all of the fish are ok..nobody was electrocuted. I saw red hot coils boiling water away for a brief second, but my strip didn't trip nor did any of the breakers in the house. Lucky break, I guess.


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