Tank Crash thanks to a aqua heat titanium heater

[sitandwatch]

So got a call from my wife, dead fish(sand sifting golby) in tank I get home and a bad smell was coming from the tank.

SPS and LPS are dying everything is melting other fish are missing and the snails have flipped onto their backs its a bad thing to see, but the aiptasia seem to be dying also so that is good I guess.

I look at the temperature and its cold, oh that must be it I think to myself so I check the heaters both are aqua heat titanium heaters I look at the controllers both are on and showing that they are heating.

I pull one out and here is what I see

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=491&pictureid=4963

Heating tube no longer attached to the wire and still looking like its pumping out the juice and no GFI trip.

I have started to do some water changes and bought a new heater as the water was really cold.

Had this heater for less then a year I checked the other on and it seems fine at this point.

[monocus]

that's bad news-all my tanks are heated by the aqua heat.don't be surprised if you get an aptasia outbreak.i had a crash and the aptasia grew everywhere in abundance.took 5 months for berghia to clean the tank

[Myka]

Ew, that's awful. You even have a back up heater? How big is your tank and how many watts are the heaters? Maybe you should buy slightly bigger heaters.

[paddyob]

Sooo it fell apart. On it's own? I find it hard to believe that without being pulled that it would ever happen.

Bad bad luck either way. Sorry.

[sitandwatch]

I heard a bang last night while I was in bed did not think anything of it at the time. I don't think it pulled apart I think it exploded

There was no pressure on the wire so I know it did not "pull" out it was just hanging in the sump

I am running about 150Gal total with the sump with 2 300watt heaters

[fishytime]

oh man:sad:.....thats crappy news.....hopefully you dont loose too much more...

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

Terrible news,sorry to hear and like fishytime says hopefully you don't loose too much more

[Coleus]

It is always terrible to hear something like this. Hope that i don't sound like an ass but honestly, everyone should really save up money and get a controller that can warn you something is wrong. I really think it is a good investment comparing how much money we put into our live stock, not only the emotion attach to some fish (maybe only me on this one). Of course controller can fail to but you still get a better chance than nothing :-)

Hope your tank will recover soon.

[fishoholic]

That sucks :sad: I am using that kind of heater right now, got it to replace the stealth heater because people had them fail/explode. Now I'm wondering if I should get a different heater.

[naesco]

Sooo it fell apart. On it's own? I find it hard to believe that without being pulled that it would ever happen.

Bad bad luck either way. Sorry.

Happened to me 3 years ago twice
I am surprised they are still around

[fishytime]

Im not sure why we all figure we need titanium heaters???....especially when most of them are proving to be crappy.....most of us have sumps and the likelihood of a heater getting smacked around and breaking is low.....to me nothing beats and old fashioned ehiem/ebo-jeager glass heater.....in 20+ years of fish keeping Ive never had one fail.....( I do have a titanium heater too....a jali run by my ACjr....three years and so far so good)

[MKLKT]

That sucks :sad: I am using that kind of heater right now, got it to replace the stealth heater because people had them fail/explode. Now I'm wondering if I should get a different heater.

Same... enough already!

[sitandwatch]

Running an aqua controller I checked the log and it looks like maybe an amp jump at a point but nothing else really stands out?

This morning corals are bleached, hammer is looking near the end only missing one fish now figure he is buried in the sand, toad stool is limp

Trying to get the tank temp up two 300watt heaters going right now

[bades]

Hey, sorry to hear about your situation,..... can totally relate. To make a long story short, I had to replace my first Aqua Heat Titanium heater within 6 months (Kevin replaced it, no questions asked). Thinking that the titanium heater was still the way to go (and with a larger tank upgrade in the process), I elected to buy another one to supplement the system. Well, needless to say, one stopped supplying heat even though there was power to the heater and secondly,...... but more seriously,.... the second heater shorted out and melted part of the controller. That was enough for the Aqua Heat and back to the good ole Eheim Jagers, for me!

[untamed]

Do you have a ground probe in the system? I'm assuming that you do not, which would explain why the GFI didn't trip...

[NastayNatron]

Eheim Jagers FTW :mrgreen:

[sitandwatch]

Update.

The good
- Only lost one fish the golby the rest came out of hiding and are eating again
- removed the other heater and replaced both tank back up to temp
- Hammer and some zoe's are coming back slowly

The Bad
- Aiptasia outbreak going on
- Tank is green very green major algae outbreak I suspect this is due to tap water and prime for water changes as I could not get enough ro/di at the time
- Snail are dead and they smell really bad
- Toadstool is limper then me after my snip snip today

[Hustler]

Eheim Jagers FTW :mrgreen:

I have 4 300W titaniums sitting in a box that either shocked me... coocked the tank or just quit heating all together... and they were in fresh water LOL...
Just got 2 new jaggers and am happy as a clam again:)

[gregzz4]

Do you have a ground probe in the system? I'm assuming that you do not, which would explain why the GFI didn't trip...
+1
A GFCI will not trip if both the Hot and Neutral wires are exposed to the water at the same time ie; the seal on the heater let go and flooded the tube.
If you have a GFCI and a proper ground probe, the GFCI will trip.

FYI, without the ground probe, and both wires being exposed to water, you could have gotten a serious or even deadly shock if you touched the water.

Same can go for those of you out there with ground probes and no GFCI.
An exposed wire in the tank can flow back through the probe, possibly without issue, but you put your hands in there and tada, Christmas Tree. Especially if it's the Hot that's exposed.

Final thought;
Don't put all your equipment on one GFCI, unless you don't mind everything being tripped at the same time

[Hustler]

My pumps have blown GFCIs for no reason.... cant use them on my returns or wont being the case now that its happened a few times...
I was told its the static or magnetic current they create that can trip them even though they are just doing thier job....
I use a probe on everything and its saved my life more than once...
If i were safe i would kill power before putting my hands in there...

[gregzz4]

To quote the Bean;

Both GFCI receptacles and GFCI circuit breakers are also susceptible to nuisance tripping. Ballast and motor loads create a complex signature that sometimes confuses GFCIs into thinking a fault has occurred.

Most quality build, in-line pumps have no possibility of water-to-motor contact.
This is one of the reasons I have opted for in-line with my upcoming Fowlr.

And my heaters will only be immersed, not submersed

sitandwatch's grief only reinforces this for me

[Hustler]

Yup my inlines have no water to power possibilities unless something springs a leak lol
I keep my jagger heads above the water line just incase... its the powerheads that i worry about now...and stray current from the salt to the light fixtures if its possible...
not enough for me to go GF or turn the power off but im aware of it lol

[gregzz4]

I had a submersed heater leaking current last summer in my 125g Freshwater, so it went for a trip to the recyclers
And because of possible powerhead leaks, and them being so ugly...
I just scored a pair of MP10wES from Ryan :biggrin:

Oops, sorry sitandwatch...Hijack