Heater Exploded

jeflen651 · Jun 25, 2016

Hi, I am new to the forum. Last night my heater exploded in the very early morning so I did a 20% water change. All fish survived and the corals are a bit PO'D but it looks like they will make it. Only loss was a fire shrimp. My question is, the water is a bit cloudy even after the water change. Do I need to do anything else or will it clear up in time. I did change all the carbon and filters. Thanks, any suggestions would be appreciated.

cloak · Jun 25, 2016

Ouch! As long as everything looks ok though that cloudiness your seeing should go away in time. I know it can be an eyesore, but sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all. Just stick with your current routine and be patient. GL.

jsker · Jun 25, 2016

Welcome to R2R, it should clear out with the carbon and filters. Stray voltage probably got the shrimp.

Lionfish Lair · Jun 25, 2016

What kind of heater? Was it out of the water or what do you suspect happened?

jeflen651 · Jun 25, 2016

It was a aqualeon pro heater. It did not shatter but the top separated from the body. I feel lucky to have lost only the fire shrimp a this time. it could have been much worse. The heater was in the tank.

Lionfish Lair · Jun 25, 2016

jeflen651 said:
It was a aqualeon pro heater. It did not shatter but the top separated from the body. I feel lucky to have lost only the fire shrimp a this time. it could have been much worse. The heater was in the tank.

WOW!

Kungpaoshizi · Jun 25, 2016

That sucks! Good to hear everything is ok though. I've heard horror stories about the plastic, goop filled heaters exploding heh..

jeflen651 · Jun 26, 2016

Hear is a update. I did a 50% water change because the ammonia spiked to .5 to 1.0 and I added Seachems Prime to the tank. All other parameters are stable. Most corals are showing some signs of recovery but I have lost a sailfin tang, and a fire shrimp. My yellow tang is struggling also. My plan is to do 10% water changes daily and add recommended dose of Prime until ammonia is under control. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I have a 40 gallon tank, salinity is 1.024, 0 nitrates or nitrites

NeptuneGarden · Jun 26, 2016

jeflen651 said:
It was a aqualeon pro heater. .

I don't like these sealed all plastic heaters for just this reason. I've seen video's where another brand did something similar. It has to do with a bad batch or air pocket in the internal epoxy they pour into those things. If I remember right when that guy's heater nuked itself it released all kinds of nasty toxins into the tank. Wish I could find the vid, he did a lot of research and back and forth with heater manufacturer about what went wrong and why and how it affected the tank.

Titanium heaters are always my first choice. Expensive, but made to last.

Just keep doing water changes. I would do (2x) big 30% back to back water changes. Then drop down to 10% daily. Get some activated carbon running on the system.