That thread mentions copper in the heater as well. This isn't like treating fish in a tank with copper where it can potentially make a tank unfit for reefs? I'm guessing an actual piece of metal is not the same.

hmm i have this heater somewhere for backup but i think i am going to throw it away. Thanks for the warning

My experience

http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/v...w/IMG_1694.jpg

From the same kind of heater???

When it was time for a new heater I did search the net and came upon the tanks with the bomb hole, still couldn't believe the heater did this. But as a precaution I took it out of my tank(I used this heater for over a year)Now I only use it to do water changes.
So sorry for everyone's bad luck, it must be devastating.

I have a heater that is metal and labelled as a stealth heater in my freshwater cichlid tank but its not made by marineland. I bought it at petland about 5 years ago. Does anyone know if this is pretty much the same? Wonder if Marineland bought them out or something.

read this - http://www.beananimal.com/articles/a...-to-know!.aspx

good article on the truth/design of aquarium heaters and their reliability. You can use something like this (plumbed into your sump) to protect it from explosions like the ones pictured above.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

I have about 6 of these heaters running on my systems never had any issues. All have been going 1-2 years. Tried two hydor heaters first one stuck on good thing it was a small heater and the replacement one exploded within a month of use. I think all heaters have issues. But this is crazy

From what I can tell, it seems to only be the stealth pro heaters. Most of the feedback for the original stealth heaters is good. I haven't heard of any that exploded.


Brett - I saw the reference to copper as well. I'm not sure what would happen if you dropped a penny in your tank? In any event, a really big water change should be sufficient to dilute it.

Thank's that's good to know. My cichlids are getting kind of big and I actually liked the fact it was metal. Have had it for 5 years with no problems.