Heater Blew up! RIP tank

vetteguy53081 · Oct 5, 2020

Kplum said:
This makes me feel a bit better..
the stench of burning wires when got home yesterday, well we can still smell it..
I want to come back sooo bad..
maybe start off a little smaller..

Ive had that too, with sparks flying. I now Know I can get from the front of the house to the circuit breaker box in 8 seconds !!!
If I took a wild guess, was the heater a cobalt neotherm ?

Kplum · Oct 5, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
Ive had that too, with sparks flying. I now Know I can get from the front of the house to the circuit breaker box in 8 seconds !!!
If I took a wild guess, was the heater a cobalt neotherm ?

It was a hygger, not the heaters fault..

melanotaenia · Oct 5, 2020

Kplum said:
I know right.. an easy $300 and it’s fixed..
my counter part isn’t backing down, and is not a fan of the tank.. so sad

That is a bummer

southerntnreefer · Oct 5, 2020

Proof biocubes are fun. It's turning 3 years old in march

stanlalee · Oct 5, 2020

Ah I had the 6ft reef of my dreams, I dropped the canopy doors hard accidently and the tank broke from the bottom dropping 100g of water on the hardwood dining room floor. I saved everything but one anthias but my wife put a china hutch where my reef was. Kind of hard to argue for a tank there after that but I have two nanos. Hobbies are the only thing that allows me to tolerate marriage so no way I was giving it up completely for love nor money. 10 years later I had gave it up on my own and my wife says you need to fix that aquarium up or get rid of it. Needles to say I've gone hog wild for the last 3 months. Don't give up forever.

Buckster · Oct 6, 2020

Buy her a hippo tang for the tank, everyone loves Dory!

ShepherdReefer · Oct 6, 2020

Kplum said:
Well, my beautiful wife and I decided to go away for the weekend.. I shut down the DIY sump down because of a precious overflow, so we would have a carefree weekend away.. I forgot to move my heater from the sump to the tank, and when we got home, something smelled burning.. The heater had blown up.. the sump glass baffles split.. and I am tearing my down tank that I have worked hard on building for the last 3 months..

RIP to the tank I have always wanted, but didn’t have for very long..

[/QUOTET

Back in the day, not long ago, our tank was just a display with no sump. Two powerheads, heater, and hang-on protein skimmer. One day I was at work and received a phone call from the wife, the tank smell like it is on fire. I rushed home to discover the heater went out and caused some kind of electrical short/fire in the water. The smell was bad. Only fish that made it was out clown fish which is over 17 years old now.
I wonder how we can avoid this Tragedy

MarineREEFpassion · Oct 6, 2020

Kplum said:
Well, my beautiful wife and I decided to go away for the weekend.. I shut down the DIY sump down because of a precious overflow, so we would have a carefree weekend away.. I forgot to move my heater from the sump to the tank, and when we got home, something smelled burning.. The heater had blown up.. the sump glass baffles split.. and I am tearing my down tank that I have worked hard on building for the last 3 months..

RIP to the tank I have always wanted, but didn’t have for very long..

Don’t let something like this discourage you from the hobby and tear down your hard work. These things happen. It is an unfortunate thing that can happen, rare, but does happen. It’s just one of those things we learn from and move on past. I’ve lost hundreds/thousands of $$ of fish from mishaps, but I move on and hopefully learn from it, and I ahead a few tears lol.

SaltISlife · Oct 6, 2020

Not trying to be rude here... but why bother with a sump ? 2k$ you have spent ? On a tank that small ? My 135 gallon tank uses hang on backs and no skimmer. And i have 85+ corals lps sps ect. I have less than 600$ in equipment lights INCLUDING the tank and stand. And my tank is 5x the size of yours

Why not just skip the sump and grab a hang on or back like a emperor 400 or something for 40$ ?

Or grab a new 40$ tank for your sump ?

Pistol Peet · Oct 6, 2020

Don't give up I've lost hundreds of dollars of fish and coral over the last few years it's just something that comes with the territory. I feel your pain.

WRB · Oct 6, 2020

I had a heater fail in my DT and lost well over $2k in fish. Almost walked away but shut it down, cleaned up the crime scene and started over with fail safes in place, that was 30 years ago. Don't sell things off, just take a breather.
FWIW, now my better half spends more time and money on the tank than I do. After taking it down she realized that she missed it too.

Tamberav · Oct 6, 2020

@Kplum

Seems to me it gave you an excuse to do the sump right so you don't get an overflow of water. Did you put the baffles too high or something and it can't hold enough water?

What type of heater is it? I believe some have a shut-off protection if they overheat. All my tanks are in a GFCI as well.

Kplum · Oct 6, 2020

SaltISlife said:
Not trying to be rude here... but why bother with a sump ? 2k$ you have spent ? On a tank that small ? My 135 gallon tank uses hang on backs and no skimmer. And i have 85+ corals lps sps ect. I have less than 600$ in equipment lights INCLUDING the tank and stand. And my tank is 5x the size of yours

Why not just skip the sump and grab a hang on or back like a emperor 400 or something for 40$ ?

Or grab a new 40$ tank for your sump ?

I thought about using hang on backs.. I think I am going to try to pitch the reef ready tank idea..

SaltISlife · Oct 6, 2020

Kplum said:
I thought about using hang on backs.. I think I am going to try to pitch the reef ready tank idea..

But that costs tons of money. Grab a emperor 400 they are large and have plenty of room for 4 filters. I run regular floss and 50 micron pads after.. or i can take the 2nd filter out and add a large sock of carbon or two. Sure sumps can hide heaters and stuff.. But so can rocks i put my heaters behind, my heaters i never see em. And the intake on a hang on back is smaller than a reef ready overflow by alot. Those overflows take alot of room away from a tank.

But this is just me of course. I use 3 emperor 400s on my 135. One on each end and one in the middle. Im debating on going with a 4th.

The biowheels also add some oxygenation with the spinning wheels and the spray bars. But honestly i just really think simple is better.

Eddiensusan · Oct 7, 2020

Hey bro I’ve been there. I ruined hardwood floors with an overflow. Thank goodness that was only a small tank compared to the one I have now. I had to wait awhile until the wife got over it and I put tile floors down. Now I’m the proud owner of a 250 and she loves it. I catch her looking at it but she won’t admit to loving it. Just give it some time bro. Family is way more important than a tank. She will come around just wait.

SaltISlife · Oct 7, 2020

Eddiensusan said:
Hey bro I’ve been there. I ruined hardwood floors with an overflow. Thank goodness that was only a small tank compared to the one I have now. I had to wait awhile until the wife got over it and I put tile floors down. Now I’m the proud owner of a 250 and she loves it. I catch her looking at it but she won’t admit to loving it. Just give it some time bro. Family is way more important than a tank. She will come around just wait.

I dunno msn. I dumped my fiance for having issues with me buying a classic car. Cars are a huge part of my life. Id rather not marry a woman if she had issues with things i like.

Now i have a GF who loves my Wagoneer. And loves my fish tanks. She has no problems with my hobbies. I dunno if i could ve with a person who had issues and got nasty or upset over them. I wont get 8nto your love life but me personally. Id get rid of a woman before i conformed to them having problems with things that make me happy.

In fact my classic car i bought was from a guy whos wife made him sell it. Lol. You shoulda seen his red face when he signed the title over. No woman is worth that but thats just my experience lol

charlesk · Oct 7, 2020

Kplum said:
I know right.. an easy $300 and it’s fixed..
my counter part isn’t backing down, and is not a fan of the tank.. so sad

Get a new counter part. Just do it any way and beg for forgiveness. It’s your house too.

mtl12580 · Oct 7, 2020

Trying to understand heater failure. Did it have a temp probe that was in the main display, and just kept heating up?

Bfragale · Oct 7, 2020

Kplum said:
I know right.. an easy $300 and it’s fixed..
my counter part isn’t backing down, and is not a fan of the tank.. so sad

$300?

naw- get cheap Petco tank- (try their $1 a gal sale) order set of baffles and make your own. Should be under $100 for tank and baffles.

but keep your tank my friend! You willget past this, and learn from it. Tell the wife “happy husband, happy life and tank makes you happy”

if your happy it will be easier to keep her happy- at least that’s the reasoning I tell my wife lol

good luck my friend!