Fluval Flora 'disaster'

[Qny]

I just woke up to this scary scene! The hot part of the heater was approx 40% in the water but it was still operating undamaged. The tank temperature had dropped approx. 1.5c

As much as I like the background, I think I'll be painting the back of the tank black

 

[SaTiVa1984]

It floated out the tank with the heater attached?

If you like the bg so much can't you glue it to the back, or silicone it?

 

[Qny]

It floated out the tank with the heater attached?

If you like the bg so much can't you glue it to the back, or silicone it?

Yep, it did. The bg was attached to the back (by the manufacturer) with 5 silicone blobs.

I could re-attach it, but the point was more that it seems potentially a bad idea/design. Because it's so buoyant, it seems to pull itself away from the tank.

 

[betta fish]

Really bad design! that was lucky, what make is the heater? they get so hot when not submerged and can crack depending on the make, I accidently drained a tank once with the heater still plugged in then refilled and crack! the heater broke and started steaming, I turned it straight off and luckily neither me or the fish were electrocuted! I now keep mainly Hydor theo, newatt and Jaegers now that protect against this that background does take a lot of space from the tank too, I'd either place it on the outside of the tank or just get a background that can be stuck on the back, nice betta by the way

 

[Qny]

Really bad design! that was lucky, what make is the heater? they get so hot when not submerged and can crack depending on the make, I accidently drained a tank once with the heater still plugged in then refilled and crack! the heater broke and started steaming, I turned it straight off and luckily neither me or the fish were electrocuted! I now keep mainly Hydor theo, newatt and Jaegers now that protect against this that background does take a lot of space from the tank too, I'd either place it on the outside of the tank or just get a background that can be stuck on the back, nice betta by the way

Ouch! I hope you had a spare

The heater is a Tetratec 200W.

As for the background? I liked the depth it added, but you're right it did take up a fair bit of space in the tank. Either way, it seems the heater decided for me, since it melted a hole through it!

 

[Wills]

Thats actually really dangerous - I wonder if they specifically say not to put the heater on the background? If not they should be made aware of it as if its melting it, its not impossible to see how it could start a fire....

Wills

 

[micko]

Start a fire under water?

I had the exact same problem happen to my background with the same tank. My heater was attached to the side pannel and not the background and the bottom of the heater was positioned to the front of the tank as I thought the heat may cause problems.
I was a bit shocked when I walked into the room to find my tank in the same situation as yours, it had even pushed the light off the top. I never put it back on, wasn't going to drain the tank and mess about with it.