EVERYTHING DIED OVERNIGHT! Read this, folks..
- Thread starter loughrys
- Start date
IPowderBlueTang
New member
Very Sorry to hear about your tank and I feel for you, Thanks for sharing your info and the strength to start all over again. I would be a t a lost if that happen to my tanks.
Silencer
Member
If you look around the internet for posts regarding titanium heaters you'll find that they tend to fail just as often if not more than a good brand glass heater. Also don't assume that a ground probe is always a good thing. While they do have several important advantages they also have a fair share of disadvantages, some of which can be quite dangerous if used improperly or without adequate knowledge.
I also feel it is likely that it -probably- wasn't the electricity but some sort of contamination or heat caused by the malfunction that did the damage.
Sorry to hear about this.
I also feel it is likely that it -probably- wasn't the electricity but some sort of contamination or heat caused by the malfunction that did the damage.
Sorry to hear about this.
bassnman11
New member
I have had heaters fail in several different ways, such a not shutting off, not comming on and leaking water to the interior. I no longer use fully submersable heaters to prevent leaking and use 2 smaller heaters so if one fails, it will not cook the tank or go totally cold.
JimBob Schmidt
Premium Member
I am very sorry to hear that.. Good Luck with your new set up
boomsticks
New member
That's pretty "shocking" to hear! Sorry stupid punn...
physicslord
New member
If it runs on electricity, and it's immersed in saltwater then it's vulnerable to catastrophic failure.
spoiledcats
New member
I had a metal heater that corroded in one spot and sent a pretty strong current through the water. Believe me, it did not tickle when you touched the water. However, the fish did not suffer at all because they were not grounded. I won't use metal heaters anymore.
tankslave
New member
If electricity killed your fish, it must have flowed THROUGH your fish. Ever see a bird get killed while sitting on a power line? (only the hawks, etc, who's wings hit something grounded get killed).
If you have a GFI, and the electricity gets in your tank, and your tank is grounded somewhere, the GFI should trip and prevent any shock.
What might have killed your fish is any other toxic metals in the glass heater. Thats a MIGHT, i really dont know what they put in there, but I've heard this happen a lot.
Also, did you check the temp when it happened? Might have just over heated. If you have a temp monitor that records the high and low, you would know.
Hence why magdrive pumps are that much better. Sorry ReeFlo/Sequence guys...
Its just failure rate probability and engineering.
...Warranty time is inveresly proportional to failure rate...
:uzi:
Good warning for all to beware.
I also have known guys that have a bite in the tank for years on end. This particular one had a thriving SPS tank and every time I put my hand in there, I jumped from the bite and I even knew it was coming!
My point is that the current is probably not to blame. I would blame the copper coil inside it. After all some things lived right? If current was this detrimental it would be a much larger issue in the hobby, Magdrives notoriously leak electricity.
The fact that you said your pods went first also is a clue that it was copper, pods die, fish live.(I would bet that the fish that died were more delicate or the largest, which need more oxygen and with the dying reef, water quality plummeted quickly) Did you ever do a copper test? If you run carbon in your system then it could have been buying you time, I just can't see electricity having such an overnight effect on the corals.
In my experience if it is enough voltage to kill immediately, then it is enough to knock YOU on your butt when you touch it, much more than a bite.
I also have known guys that have a bite in the tank for years on end. This particular one had a thriving SPS tank and every time I put my hand in there, I jumped from the bite and I even knew it was coming!
My point is that the current is probably not to blame. I would blame the copper coil inside it. After all some things lived right? If current was this detrimental it would be a much larger issue in the hobby, Magdrives notoriously leak electricity.
The fact that you said your pods went first also is a clue that it was copper, pods die, fish live.(I would bet that the fish that died were more delicate or the largest, which need more oxygen and with the dying reef, water quality plummeted quickly) Did you ever do a copper test? If you run carbon in your system then it could have been buying you time, I just can't see electricity having such an overnight effect on the corals.
In my experience if it is enough voltage to kill immediately, then it is enough to knock YOU on your butt when you touch it, much more than a bite.
piberoptikz
Premium Member
That's sad. I hope you get over it.
physicslord
New member
You'll notice he says that he checked the thermometer and the water wasn't any warmer than normal.
I don't know if he checked the recorded high though.
I had a heater fail on me. It literally split in two but did not short out so it charged up the water (one big 110V circuit). The tank wasn't grounded in any way that I know of. I couldn't see what had happened so I was just going to go investigate. I got a really annoying shock when I touched the water. I was wearing rubber shoes and there was no water on the floor. That's probably why I'm here to tell the story.
I immediately unplugged the device and cleaned up the mess.
As far as the fish go, no one died or was electrocuted. Scared the crud out of me though.
Old powerheads were immersed in an oil bath to protect the motor (as opposed to the modern epoxy encased ones). When an old powerhead would go it would shoot boiling oil all over your tank which would kill anything it touched.
I found a metal screw on my magdrive that had rusted and stained the plastic magdrive housing, I removed the screw and figured the pump still runs fine. It also could have been the culprit of a bite in my tank. I actually purchased that tank I spoke of that had a bite for several years. When I set it back up the bite was gone, yet the magdrive on the chiller was not hooked-up yet. After I hooked up the chiller, the bite was back for a brief time. I removed the rusting screw after that sometime. I can't say when the bite went away but, it was all in the same time frame. I was most irritated with the rusting screw as I felt it was contaminating the tank, and it came from Magdrive. It is still under warranty but, I need it and would have to buy another in order to send this one in. The bite is not in the tank now anyway...
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