what will happen if your heater breaks in your tank???

[tim000]

mine did and now all my corals look like there going to die, could it of released some kind of toxin? is there any way to fix this before its to late?
thanks

 

[Bill2]

well it could possible leech copper into your tank depending on what the coil was made out of and i'm sure the broken heater melted some plastic on you heater.

I would do 4 things
1. water change
2. run carbon
3. run skimmer a bit wetter than usual
4 throw in some poly filters if you find em (not the floss type stuff the filters made by poly bio marine)

 

[JoshF]

The actual electrocution of your tank may have had something to do with it as well!

I was working in my tank a few years back and one of the pieces of live rock bumped the heater and I jerked my hand out of the tank super fast! It didn't break, but it must have made a hairline fracture because ten minutes later as I'm cleaning up the garage I hear a "pop" and I look over at the tank in horror to watch all of my fish twitch, hit the bottom hard, then kind of float to the surface still twitching. The corals all contracted, and most survived, but a few basically melted over a couple of days. That was incredibly difficult to watch, as I really love my captive organisms. It could definitely be a combo of both. Learn the hard way like I did; always put your reef on a GFCI outlet, it could save your life. Those titanium heaters aren't a bad idea either. They don't break!

HTH

Josh

 

[John G]

I agree with Josh F - probably electrocution. Hopefully the corals will survive. You need to do two things. All pumps, heaters, etc must be plugged into a GFIC receptacle. Also, you need to add a grounding probe to both the tank and the sump. It is safest to add one to both, but for sure put one in the same place where your heater is located.

I'm curious. You did not mention if you had a circuit breaker trip when this occurred????

 

[tim000]

no the heater broke in the bucket that I use to mix up my saltwater then add to the sump. the heater didnt actually break but water got into it and I was wondering if any chemicals leaked out. my xenia is now dead but everything is looking some what better.

 

[chris_h]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by John G:
<strong>I agree with Josh F - probably electrocution. Hopefully the corals will survive. You need to do two things. All pumps, heaters, etc must be plugged into a GFIC receptacle. Also, you need to add a grounding probe to both the tank and the sump. It is safest to add one to both, but for sure put one in the same place where your heater is located.

I'm curious. You did not mention if you had a circuit breaker trip when this occurred????</strong><hr></blockquote>
If the tank was grounded, how would you know when your heaters are broken?

I have electrocuted my self many times becouse of broken heaters, but it has never hurt fish or corals.

 

[danmhippo]

I have electrocuted myself due to pump housing failures. The tank is grounded, but when you reach into the tank, you could feel tingling "sensation". The worst part is trying to figure out which pump did this.

Yeah, I agree to go with something that doesn't have a glass housing to it. May actually lasts a bit longer too.

Jimmy

 

[dukecola]

A bad heater virtually wiped out my Zenia colony.
Having nearly been electrocuted a few times, I recently changed to the titanium heater with the remote out of the water control. Stay away from ones with the rubber covered adjustable temp knob.
And yes, if you have GFCI, that's the best precaution. I just moved and my new house had no GFCI's. This post reminded me to get my a$$ to Home Depot.

 

[JohnD]

Everybody made great comments, but let me add another: put the heater in the sump. It is less likely to get bumped.

Tim,

With all of the action going on in a mixing tank, consider getting a plastic heater holder for your heater. Even Petco carries them and they run a couple of bucks. They help to protect the heater's glass.

As far as your make-up water, get rid of it. Wash out your bucket with RO water and start over.

HTH

 

[John G]

Probably will open myself to critism, but why bother heating the mix water?? I never do. I change 10-12 gallons/week in my 120. I'm not sure of my mix water temp, but I'd estimate 65-70 deg. I keep my tank at 82 deg. I've read somewhere that a short term inrush of cooler water is actually good for a tank. Anyway, my tank is doing fine, and heating mix water is just one less thing to worry about in my opinion.

 

[Scott D Passe]

Hi All,

If you have all of you electrical appliances connected to a GFI and you are using a ground probe, the GFI should trip before any significant damage is done to your critters.

A broken heater, pump, etc can also put lots of copper into the water via electrolysis.

A ground probe without a GFI does not necessarily prevent electrocution of either you or your fish.

But a broken heater can electrocute you and your fish because it has both a hot and a neutral path.

But whether it does or not depends on the exact path the current takes.

So IMO as a EE, you need:

1 A Circuit Breaker to protect you (somewhat) from Hot To Neutral faults.

2 A GFI, and one or more ground probes for protection from Hot to Ground Faults.

Regards,

Scott

 

[dnmst1]

Dumb Question here. Sorry.
Is a GFI the same as a surge protector?
Thanks.

 

[Lynn]

No a GRI is not the same as a surge protector. The ground faults are a little harder to find, but you can get GRI pluggins. They plug right in to your wall plug. Then plug all your equipment into it. They actually interupt the electrical current from doing damage.

 

[Mabu]

GFI=Ground Fault Interrupt. These devices generally come in two flavors: circuit breakers which replace existing breakers in your box, and replacement electrical outlets. The circuit-breaker models are often used for separate lines to jacuzzis and such. You'll often see GFI outlets in bathrooms - I believe that's now standard electrical code to include them.

The idea is simple, if a short on the line is sensed, the GFI immediately shuts off, and requires a manual push of a button to restore power.