Heater Shattered, Fish All Dead.

[Robson]

Just wondering what's best to do now. Unfortunately my heater shattered and I didnt notice the temperature went up to over 90 and all the fish are dead. I'm really upset, it was a big tank and I hate to think about what they must have gone through.

I'm looking for advice now on how to move forwards. I've had this tank set up about 4 years. I'm going to take the opportunity to completely clean out the tank, there's some limescale on the back from where something leaked before and I've not been able to pull the tank out to clean it off, cos it was so heavy when full. I'll also give it a good clean into all the roof bits and yes I'll rinse it out a million times afterwards. Of greater concern is the fact I had just put a half dose of Methane Blue in cos one of the fish was ill, and I'm aware that can kill all the bacteria, so is it worth putting any of the filter material into one of my other tanks to keep going or can we be certain the bacteria is all dead too. (Does that die in high temperatures too?) Or should I just change as much of the water now as I can - or just start again completely?

Arrrghh. Those poor fish. So horrible!

 

[mossonthemoon]

Are your other tanks up and running? If so, I would work on the assumption that your bacteria is dead, give your sponges a wash to make sure the medication is out of them, and cram them in with the other filters so they get recolonised. If they aren't running, then I would think you would need to do another fishless cycle.

I am so sorry for what happened. What a traumatic experience.

 

[Tuxyu3]

My personal choice would be to start again, dispose of everything and build from the ground up using somefilter media from another tank. Out of curiosity, what kind of fish did you lose?

 

[Aquascaper]

Sorry to hear that

If you have the means to add some activated carbon to the filter and run it remotely (ie. off a bucket or small tank) and feed ammonia for a few days it should clear up any meds left in the filter. This will also allow you to clean the tank up, etc. while the filter still runs. Than when ready to get going again run through a fishless cycle to check the state of the cycle and see where you're at.

 

[Robson]

Yes I have two other tanks, both cold water ones. One for Goldfish and one for snails - I dont like snails in my main tanks!! They are up and running. I shall try and get as much of the filter stuff into them, I did wonder if that was the thing to do.

I had a pair oftwo beautiful 3-spot Goramis, had them since I first bought this tank. They both adopted a side of the tank each, and would have a go at the other if they dared wander into the wrong side. Such personalities. I had a few glass cat fish, saw some of them in the wild on holiday this year - that was amazing. A few neons and cardinals. And Spotty and Dotty - sweet corys. I bought some new plants recently so there are a couple of snails in there too which I haven't yet been able to totally remove into the snail tank and they are still alive!!

 

[Robson]

By the way is it common for heaters to shatter - its not like I've moved anything around in the tank recently, so it must have been spontaneous. The temperature is still set on the heater to the correct temperature. Are you supposed to replace them every so often like bulbs?

The filter is built in to a cabinet, so I can't run it remotely but that is clever. I do have a spare pump actually now you mention it, I could put the filter stuff into there and give the goldfish a surprise! Should I do the carbon thing first though? I think from the smell of all the dead bodies there's probably quite a lot of ammonia in there at the moment.

 

[mossonthemoon]

If that is a possibility, then that is definitely what I would do. If you can run it in the old filter with carbon first, until the medication is definitely gone, that would be even better. Then let it get colonised in your other tanks. You could even take the whole filter out and run it in your other tank I suppose, if it is the correct type of filter to do that with.

Sorry again. I lost almost an entire tank before, and I know how horrible it feels.

 

[RichardA]

Was it a Stealth heater? There has been some cases of those lately......

 

[Billsfan905]

Wow that's horrible! I am so sorry for your loss

My heater shattered a while ago but that's because I was careless and did a water change without turning it off.
I can't imagine what you had to go through!

Good luck in the future- I've never heard of any heaters exploding without reason

 

[Robson]

It was an Aqua Clear not a Stealth heater. I did notice a few brown marks on the glass ages ago where the two clips hold onto the shaft of the heater, but that must have been more than a year ago. Are brown marks a tell tale sign of something wrong? I'm wondering if it overheated (thus increasing the water temperature to over 90) then exploded because of the excessive heat - or whether it was the other way round. Not that it makes much difference now I suppose. My tank looks so empty now with nothing moving in it.

Also, I've done a complete water change and it still smells of death. Any ideas on how to resolve the smell issue?

 

[Robson]

I've done a 99% water change and left it running, albeit cold as the heater has broken (spit). I couldn't find anywhere near all the bodies and discovered today a couple in there. It still smells but I'm hoping now if I've got all the bodies and with a virtually complete water change it should start smelling better soon. I'm put a small spare heater in I had but its nowhere near big enough for the size of tank, but at least it will warm the water a bit.

I've tested the water today, Ammonia is 1.0 ppm(probably down to the dead bodies), NitrItes were zero and NitrAtes were 20ppm (they come out the tap at 10ppm). Can any of you boffins deduce from that if any of my bacteria are left alive and thus if its worth keeping it running until I have the time to clean it all out?