5am I'm awoken to loud electrical pulsing sounds, ZRRP! ZRRP! Lighting my dark room up orange. Then BOOOOM the glass blows out and water starts rushing all over the floor. I jump out of bed and save as many fish as I can.
I'm not sure wtf happened but it seems like my heater exploded like a bomb inside my tank. You can see in the picture it's burnt up and the glass is exploded from around it. The explosion was strong enough to embed chunks of the tank glass into my wall, and sling it as far as 10 feet away.
The shockwave was enough to kill most of the fish in the adjacent tank as well. Out of both tanks only 1 fish, 1 frog and 3 shrimp made it out alive. Lost most of them.
How could this happen? The heater was 100W for 15gal, and the heat wasn't cranked either it was set to ~77F. It wasn't running dry there was plenty of water surrounding it. I've never ran it dry before.
Is there any action I can take with the manufacturer? Many of my things are ruined from the water damage, and my fish are dead. I don't know what to do.
Posted by JinxedTrap
14 Comments
Ive heard of this happening if the cord wears down where the water meets it. š¤ was it the bulb looking heater??
I have no advice, but am following. What brand / model of heater?
Heaters malfunction, the cheeper brands like topfin are terrible, get an ink bird for peace of mind.Ā
Sucks about your fish OP
Fiest reach out to aqueon directly, tell them what happened with photos and ask them if theres anything they can do to help you in replacing lost items and fish.
Take pictures of the cord to make sure cord was not damaged and it was a heater malfunction. If they brush it off, and you have the money, maybe talk to a lawyer.
If you cant hire a lawyer, let them know you’ll be escalating the situation. There should be some sort of consumer product safety organization in your country you can report to. Document on Google reviews, social media and BBB for other buyers awareness.
That is terrible! Iām so sorry that happened to you and for the loss of your finned friends. had no idea this kind of thing could happen. š® Aquarium heater manufacturers apparently need better quality control. They should not be allowed to sell products that can do this.
Oh no. I am sorry.
I do have a question though, can it be that the order of events was a little different? The aquarium broke and then then the heater exploded?
The way the aquarium stands on the uneven thingy might tell a different story (that the aquarium cracked, water came out and then the heater overheated since it shouldn’t be out of water and THEN boom)
I’m just talking about theory though, I’m totally new to this hobby and I’m only asking from what I’ve seen here so far.
It also appears your stand is bowing, which could lead to the tank shattering, please get the remaining tank on a level surface
Woah this is nuts! Sorry this happened to you OP!
Okay so a little devils advocate here to possibly figure out some alternative causes.
Is it possible your tank exploded from your stand bowing? And the heater melted due to running dry?
Or possibly the tank cracked during the night, drained some water, heater ran dry, and exploded?
Is that a real tank stand or is it a dresser? It needs replacement either way.
Water must have gotten into the glass chamber, causing it to boil.Ā This might have caused enough pressure for the glass containing the heating element to explode violently.Ā Ā
jesus, i’m so sorry š
oh man this is awful. definitely contact the company and post wherever applicable. I’m so sorry
literally just got done setting up my Inkbird for my 300w Fluval T heaters šØ
Tank heaters scare the hell out of me. Submersible electronics are the last thing you want to cheap out on.
Man this sucks. Hope you get some resolution.
While this isnāt the main reason why I did it, I DIY an off tank heating section with a large water filter. If something happens there the tank will be fine. Itāll lose about half the water and Iāll have a mess to clean, but the tank will survive l.