Broken Heater

[Falconwithaboxon]

So I got home today and the heater in my tank was broken in half. I immediately took it out of the tank and went and bought a new one. I was just wondering if there's any issues that may have caused. All the fish are acting fine but there was what it looked like a chemical buildup, brown foam, on the surface of the water surrounding the heater. It was not broken when I went to work so it was broken for less than 8 hours. My sailfin pleco was eating off of the heater when I got home, he is the one fish I'm worried about.

I just moved so I assume it got cracked during the move somehow and I just did not notice.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

So I got home today and the heater in my tank was broken in half. I immediately took it out of the tank and went and bought a new one. I was just wondering if there's any issues that may have caused. All the fish are acting fine but there was what it looked like a chemical buildup, brown foam, on the surface of the water surrounding the heater. It was not broken when I went to work so it was broken for less than 8 hours. My sailfin pleco was eating off of the heater when I got home, he is the one fish I'm worried about.

I just moved so I assume it got cracked during the move somehow and I just did not notice.

Things are probably okay, although a water change never hurts.
25-33% should be plenty.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Was the heater plugged in? Did it trip a circuit breaker?

I agree with a WC, but I'd do a large one...done correctly, can't hurt, anyway

 

[Falconwithaboxon]

Was the heater plugged in? Did it trip a circuit breaker?

I agree with a WC, but I'd do a large one...done correctly, can't hurt, anyway

It was plugged in and no circuit tripped

I will do a water change

 

[Slaphppy7]

It was plugged in and no circuit tripped

I will do a water change

Lucky that you (and your fish) weren't electrocuted...

 

[Falconwithaboxon]

Lucky that you (and your fish) weren't electrocuted...

Yes it appears so

 

[Ch4rlie]

Always makes me nervous when I hear of folks having broken heaters in tanks.

As we all know, electric and water is never good news but really thankfully no harm was done by the looks of it.

Would do a nice big water change just to be on the safe side in case any nasty stuff came out of the heater.

This is one area where I don’t skimp on tbh, heater is one of the most important elements that’s needed for tropical fish and is always worth getting a good named brand or a well known good heater, even if it costs a bit extra.

Never, ever buy a second hand heater as you simply don’t know how old it is and if it’s been heavily used or if any damage/cracks that easily missed or simply malfunctioning that could cost the lives of all your livestock or even worse, something happens to you. Simply not worth it, new heater every time for me.

 

[AbbeysDad]

It's rare for a heater to just burst! I once had a submersible where the seal failed and water was clearly inside the glass tube...but the light came on so the heater was working?!?!

Fortunately there was no shock injury but this is another case where we're better off having the aquarium heater and lights on a ground fault circuit. My tanks downstairs are all powered by GFI outlets. On my 60g display tank in the living room, I have one of those plug-in GFI adapters.

I know most hobbyists just plug the aquarium stuff into regular 110 outlets....but always better to be safe than sorry. and an adapter is worth the investment if only for peace of mind.

Although there really isn't anything inside a heaters glass tube that would contaminate the water, a partial water change never hurts. I'd also want to remove any glass chards if I could?

 

[raylove]

For those in the UK, a GFI adaptor is what we know as an RCD adaptor. Even more important for us too as we are 220v !

 

[Falconwithaboxon]

Any glass or parts I could find have been removed, though probably small glass still in that me and the vac missed

Did around 25% water change

Fish observed and none showed any issues

Bought a heater for around $40, forget the brand but works well so far

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Within the time span of 3 weeks, my heater broke, and dropped the temperature in my Bichir tank to 72 degrees. Bichirs are one of the hardiest fish in the...not sea. When moving him to a larger tank, it required me to take down the tank he was in, and take it out of my room, then set up an even larger tank in that same place. It took 4 hours. He was in a bucket that was insulated by warm blankets (I know that it is a lame attempt of heating it). The temperature dropped to 69 degrees, which shows the hardyness lots of fish have.