Heater blew up in tank!

[Jandkmcdonald]

Something happened to flip the braker and the power on my tank went out. I turned it back on and the heater blew up, there was glass everywhere and black clouds filled the tank. I did about a 25% water change, got the black stuff out. Put some aquarium salt in. Are my fish going to be ok? Is there anything else I should do? The heater was plugged in and send electricity through th water for 3-4 minutes! He fish seem ok now but I am worried

 

[Bruna75]

Oh my gosh :O that is scary! I hope your fish will be ok:/ I never knew that was a possibility, I'm ganna be freaking out my next water change :O

 

[Convict2161]

Do you have you equipment plugged into a surge protector? I highly recommend doing so to avoid further...

Hope your fish and tank are ok. Me personally I'd call the company and find out what it's made of inside and out... The black clouds and such, I'd wanna know what exactly it was.

 

[Sambo7475]

I've never heard of a thermometer explosion! I would continue to do water changes twice a day if you can, just to get any residual of the black stuff as well as any shards of glass remaining. As far as the electricity goes, the fish are not grounded, so the electricity shouldn't harm them. The glass from the thermometer should be taken out when you vacuum the substrate, and unless the shards actually stick the fish (the gills would be my biggest concern), it shouldn't be harmful either.

 

[Jandkmcdonald]

I do have it all hooked up through a surge protector which is why I don't understand how it exploded. Thank you all for your help and concern

 

[Dreamwallaby]

my heater exploded once after I forgot to unplug it when I removed it to save a fish. I put it back in and came back to a mess. Everyone survived just fine, I hope the same will be true for you.