dweyant Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Just got home. Apparently the heater that a LFS sold me and promised would be great for my salt water tank exploded today while I was at work. All of my fish are dead or dying, I have a wife and daughter in tears. I have setup on old Fluva 405 with a bunch of carbon in it, I only have six gallons of SW with me, and it is cold with no way to heat it. Is there anything else I can do? Thanks, -Dan (512) 863-0962 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dweyant Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 Help, anyone???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dweyant Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 I think my clown is just about dead, this really sucks watching this, with my daughter in tears, bi-color blennie is about dead as well, shrimp is at least still moving around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 call Aquatek immediately and ask....450-0182 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Try microwaving the water. Heat it until it reaches temperature. Get yourself to an LFS and buy some more water, you will need to do a massive water change. Do you have another heater if not get another one, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 I just went through this a few months ago. First get any pieces of the heater out of the tank ASAP! Start running carbon and buy another heater. You are going to need to do a 40-50% water change, as soon as you have the available saltwater, so I would start preparing it now. If you have MH lights, you may want to keep your lights running to keep the water warm. You need to make sure the water gets warm again but not too quickly. Do another large water change in a couple of days after your fish get settled again. I was able to save most of the fish and all inverts except the stars and snails. Good Luck and my thoughts are with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 I have probly 35 gallons of RO/DI water amde up and i have 2 extra 250w MH you can use to heat the water up. LMK 512-971-1925 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonSequitur Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 I have a 300w heater I can lend you if that will help. Jeremy 512-818-5076 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dweyant Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 call Aquatek immediately and ask....450-0182 Well, I called Aquatek (since I bought the heater from them, and was assured it couldn't possibly explode, that was in fact the main selling point of the heater). I was told the manager wasn't avaliable, but they would be sure to let him know. Can't say I'm very impressed. -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Get a stealth heater next time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dweyant Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 I have probly 35 gallons of RO/DI water amde up and i have 2 extra 250w MH you can use to heat the water up. LMK 512-971-1925 Thanks, I hope it helped, but I'm afraid we might have been too late. I did a 36 gallon water change tonight, but the Blennie, and the Clown are still just lying on a rock panting for breath. We'll see if they make it through the night, but I'm not optimistic. -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Get a stealth heater next time What is a stealth heater? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 What is a stealth heater? They are black plastic, I think made by Marineland Dan, if you need more Ro/Di tomorrow let me know. I have 55 gallons in the garage. I am out of salt but you are welcome to the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Well, I called Aquatek (since I bought the heater from them, and was assured it couldn't possibly explode, that was in fact the main selling point of the heater). I was told the manager wasn't avaliable, but they would be sure to let him know. Can't say I'm very impressed. -Dan Did you explain what happened and they gave you no advise? Sorry they were not helpful...but Carrie hit it right for you as she did just have this happen to her...I hope things go better for you Dan...I know this is heartbreaking, especially in front of your little girl.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Question for the masses: is it lack of oxygen, something toxic from inside the heater, low temp or the livestock being shocked that is the main culprit? One would think the water change would fix the O2 and toxicity issues. Sorry to hear about this Dan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dweyant Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 They are black plastic, I think made by Marineland Dan, if you need more Ro/Di tomorrow let me know. I have 55 gallons in the garage. I am out of salt but you are welcome to the water. It is/was a black plastic marineland heater... Thanks for the offer of the RO/DI water. My wife is going to go down to Fishy Business today at lunch and pick up another 30 gallons or so of SW, so I "think" we are ok, but I'll let you know if I need it. After Aquatek was less than helpful last night. "Gee, we have never had one of those heaters fail before, you need to do a big water change", we got a hold of Shane at Fishy Business. He was quite a bit more helpful. I had a Fluval 405 cannister filter from when the tank was FW. Based on Shane's advice I loaded it up with Carbon, and have been running it in addition to the sump. The shrimp looks ok, the clown is alive, but lying on the bottom, and I don't see the blennie this morning... I hope that at the very least aquatek is willing to pay for all of the expense associated with this. -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 I have an Ehiem 2213, if you want to run additional carbon or phosguard, you can use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 What is the temp of the tank? I don't run a heater as my chiller reads the temp as between 76-73. Would it help to put the fish in a qt until you got the water params good? I'm thinking the biggest concern would be what ever got into the water from the heater exploding. I'm sorry you had this happen. What have you lost so far and update on how everyone else is doing. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Oh gosh Dan, I am so sorry. I would be heartbroken, amongst other feelings... I can't believe you got the brush off from Aquatek. *sigh* Not real great PR, huh? What makes a heater explode? I had an old heater explode in a bucket of top off water. I dumped the whole mess and since it was in my top off bucket it wasn't a big deal. I'm feeling nervous now about the two heaters in my sump. They are just your standard glass type heaters. Wish there was something I could do to help Dan. Did you call back to Aquatek and speak with the owner? If you do, please let us know how things are handled. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig at Aquatek Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Hi Dan, I'm Craig from Aquatek and I'm the person that spoke with your wife when she called last night. First and most importantly, let me express again how sorry I am that this has happened. This is the first failure of this brand of heater that we have encountered. I had to step into this thread, though, because it's a little hurtful to hear you state that we were "less than helpful." Just so nobody gets the wrong impression, I'll repeat here everything I suggested to your wife last night. First I wanted to ascertain if the heater had been removed from the tank. My thinking here was, obviously, that personal safety comes before the safety of our tanks. I'm sure you agree with this. I also asked if any fuses or circuit breaker had been tripped. When she assured me that none had, and that the heater had already been removed, we went on with a discussion of how to help the tank itself. I emphatically and repeatedly stated that a large water change was the absolute best possible remedy. Your wife mentioned that the saltwater you had on hand was quite cold. After her description of heavily breathing fish and the general murkiness within the tank, I explained that a water change should be done immediately, regardless of the temperature of the new water. (I also asked if your tank was lit with halides, as this would have been a way to bring the temperature up.) I then mentioned that in this circumstance, using tap water to make saltwater would be preferable to no water change at all. After this I suggested using a Polyfilter. I explained to your wife that this product is unique in that it has the ability to remove a variety of metals and toxins. It would certainly be helpful in your case. She was not sure if you had one of these on hand. I explained that large quantities of activated carbon would also help, albeit in a different way, and she mentioned that you had already put fresh carbon in to a filter. My final suggestion was that you needed to ensure there was plenty of oxygen in the water. I explained how all power-heads, any and all water circulation devices, should be aimed at the surface. I had to explain this several times to make sure that your wife understood how to accomplish this. One thing that comes to mind is that I was speaking with your wife on the phone and not you. I heard her ask you a question or two over the course of our conversation. But she was clearly, and for very good reason, upset. I do not know how much of the information I relayed to her was then relayed to you. I cannot express enough how sorry we are that this happened. All of us here are, first and foremost, hobbyists. When an accident like this occurs, we really do feel sorry. Craig 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dweyant Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 Craig, Thanks for the reply, and yes my wife did say that you covered those items with her. It is however dissapointing that you did not take down our number to have Bruce call us back, or offer us any advice on what to do after the water change. We were finally able to get a hold of Bruce this evening, and my wife had a long very pleasant talk with him. He also said this is the first failure of a marineland heater you have had, but you had only been carrying this model for about a month. He is going to be able to get someone from your service out tomorrow to do another large (50 gallon) water change. This will be on top of the 30 gallon change we did last night, and the 30 gallon I just finished tonight. I just wish we had known about your service and could have got them out today. We might have been able to save some of our fish. -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dweyant Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 That saga continues... I don't know the details, since I haven't gotten home yet, but apparantly the fish service wanted to do a water change with 40 degree water..... On the plus side, Marineland is saying they will be for the damages, and is quite anxious to get the heater returned to them so they can do a root cause analysis on it, so that is encouraging. The Clown (Flirty as my daughter calls him) is still alive. I honestly don't know how. He has looked dead for two full days now. But everytime I think he is dead, he will right him self off the bottom and swim a little. It looks like he just isn't getting any oxygen, he is just panting for breath. I have a couple bubblers in the tank, I've done 50 gallons of water changes in the last two days, I'm runing a huge amount of carbon, etc. I'm afraid he has damage to his gills, and just can't get enough to breath? Any thoughts on anything I can do to help this poor thing out? Every time my daughter walks by the tank and sees him she bursts into tears. I'm also at the point I don't know what to do. How many water changes are too much? It can't be good for what is still left alive to change so much water, or does it matter? How do I know when the tank is ok again? How long should I run the Fluval, the bubbler, etc.? -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doktorstick Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Until everything looks healthy and then a few more days. I don't think running that stuff longer would have an ill effect at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 What I cannot understand whatsoever is, why on Earth do you all run heaters? For the umpteenth time, I've never ran a heater in any tank I've owned-from 5g up to 150g while living in Texas. They are just plain dangerous and not worth the headache. It's a nice 65F in my house right now and all of my tanks are just dandy. I'm sorry to hear that you've had issues with your heater, it is sad to lose a tank. On the other hand, all it takes is a quick search to see just how many times this has happened to other members. You always hear about people cooking or electrocuting the tank because of a faulty heater, but honestly how many of you ever heard of someone losing their entire tank because it was to cold? Just say "no" to heaters. Don't buy them. It's just not worth the risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 What I cannot understand whatsoever is, why on Earth do you all run heaters? Just say "no" to heaters. Don't buy them. It's just not worth the risk. I follow Mike's philosophy on this one...my house sits at 70-73 on the digital thermostat and in all 7 aquariums there has never been a heater.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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