Submersable Heater Melted.

[Glenn Serpas]

Hi.

The submersable heater in my 75 gallon marine tank melted yesterday. It was
A VisaTherm from Aquarium Systems. I've had it for several years and have
never had a problem. When I got home there was an obvious oder that
something electrical had burned up. After verifying that all the
fluorescent lights were still running, I decided to check the heater. Sure
enough, the cap had come off and the tube was flooded with salt water. I
immediately unplugged and removed the heater. I've since replaced the
heater with a new one.

The temperature of the tank was 75F. All my fish were alive and do not
appear to be stressed. The few invertebrates I have in the tank appear
unaffected to. Is it possible for the heater that burned up, to release
toxic chemicals into my tank? If so what should I do? I always run Active
carbon in my canister filter, so it should absorb any contaminates released
by the heater, right?

Thanks,
Glenn

[Aquatic-Care]

Glenn,

Just drop some carbon in the tank and you should be ok.

I would personally look into getting a titanium or stainless heater.
They won't crack or leak.

Aquacare


--
Aquatic-Care aquarium services
Freshwater/Sal****er
Since 1993
www.aquatic-care.com


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.556 / Virus Database: 348 - Release Date: 12/26/2003

[Glenn Serpas]

Aquatic-Care wrote:

> Glenn,
>
> Just drop some carbon in the tank and you should be ok.
>
> I would personally look into getting a titanium or stainless heater.
> They won't crack or leak.
>
> Aquacare
>
>
Thanks for the advice. I'll see if I can find one of those heaters. The new
heater will not turn off automatically, so I'm going to return it anyway..

Glenn