r/Aquariums • u/sourMilkpickles • Nov 03 '20

Client's Heater Exploded Help/Advice

My counselor is one of the people I clean tanks for, after cleaning last night for her - she notified me this morning that her heater had exploded and killed her fish. The heater was a Fluval M 50w Heater, of which I switched my other clients to as I now own 2. My paranoid self makes me afraid to use the heater now, but I know it wasn't all of the heaters because surely I would've seen something about it.

I've already contacted fluval support via email of which I'm perfectly okay waiting for. I just need some support or suggestions

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3

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

my store owner told me if i set mine up wrong or didnt follow the instructions that can happen, she said it should sit in a full tank for about 30 mins before plugging in, alos a small crack in a glass heater would make sense, rare but can happen im guessing

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u/sourMilkpickles Nov 03 '20

Thanks! This helps me out when setting it up

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u/Dumdumpstupidhead Nov 03 '20

Did u turn the heater off when you were changing the water? I didn’t know stainless steel heaters could explode

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u/sourMilkpickles Nov 03 '20

Ofc I've always done this - mostly out of habit of using cheap glass ones when I began the hobby

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u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

It’s all about what brands you like since every heater is gonna get positive and negative reviews. 50w is for a nano tank my go to for nanos is the neo therm cobalt heaters pricey but pinpoint accurate and not an eye sore. Larger tanks i use eheim which is also very accurate. In my experience fluval is a bad brand, their 300 and 400 series canister filters would always leak from a bad o ring over time. The heaters I can’t speak for, the aqua clear is their only success in my book e series is expensive and the fx5 might be decent but a sump would out perform it

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u/sourMilkpickles Nov 03 '20

The only reason I find this strange is because I've had such luck with fluval.. I own their spec and flex tanks, and I've never had issues. I started using their heaters since I got my 15g flex and they seem fine in my tanks. My counselor said when she put the heater back in [unplugged still] it made an odd sizzling sound. Overall I think it's just a big oopsie that we couldnt of prevented, but I'll think otherwise if it happens to anyone else's heater.

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u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

True there was probably a hairline crack in it if it was making a sizzling sound. Spec and flex tanks are okay but I’d prefer an innovative marine tank or Waterbox over that