Bzzzap POP

[Kronk]

OK so that was the sound i kept hearing when i went to find out where the burning smell was coming from when i woke up this morning. The heater in my Rock curing bucket broke and it was shorting out BIG TIME there were actually blue sparks shooting in the water it was nuts. The smell was really bad!!!

So now the water is a darker colour and still stinks like electronic burning and there are dead pods floating around. Will i have to throw out all my Live Rock ??? or can it be rinsed and used? i dont know what kind of damage a broken heater can do in terms of "poisoning" the rock with heavy metals.

Somebody please advise.

Thanks,
Ken

[untamed]

Yikes! There's no solid answer here...only opinions on what constitutes live rock. You've likely killed a bunch of "life", but many people would consider that to be a good thing and will likely want to replicate your technique!

There's no reason I can think of that you should be concerned about using it in your aquarium though. To some people, it is just porous biological filter medium with interesting shapes.

[Kronk]

Thanks for the quick reply, but my concern is that porus biological filter medium is now containing damaging elements from the inside of the heater.

[Reef_kid]

happened to me to when i was curring live rock,.. i broke the heater...
shouldn't be much of a problem most of the metals if any would be int he water
just put the live rock in some freah salt water... maybe rinse it off in clean saltwater to get any dead stuff off...
it should be perfectly fine..

[untamed]

Originally Posted by Kronk

i dont know what kind of damage a broken heater can do in terms of "poisoning" the rock with heavy metals.

Somebody please advise.

Thanks,
Ken

I got focussed on the live rock and missed this important aspect of your question. I don't know what, if any, potential there is for metal contamination of the rock.

[Johnny Reefer]

I think toxic metals are pretty much a no no in our daily society these days. Lead. Uranium. Whatever. In other words, I doubt the heater has anything toxic in it and you're probably fine. JMO.

[justinl]

you have to consider the direction you want your tank to go. if it's a tank that is going to have invertebrates in it (fish *should* be fine with it), then i would highly recommend throwing that rock out. Lots of heaters that break end up spewing a bunch of chemicals into the water (not uranium and that kind of really toxic crap... i mean the other everyday elements... copper is the main thing Id worry about). the porous rock will soak copper up like a sponge and release it over a VERY long period of time (longer than the tank will stand Id wager). even if you test the water for copper, you might not get a result because it's in the ROCK.

personally i would chuck it all as well as the container it was it.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I broke a heater IN my tank before and was fine. I was actually lucky that I did not shock myself in the process. I would just call the company its made by and see what it had in it chemical wise. I doubt there would be much if any these days. Don't just go throw the rock out before you find out though. Take your time here.

[skylord]

First don't panic and toss out the rock( or if you do...let me know and I will come by and dispose of it for you )I have had 2 heaters break in my sump and act just like yours did. Did a large water change and ran some carbon. Didnt lose a thing. The third was curing rock in a bucket. I have no idea how long the heater was broke, just than less than a week. You might want to email the company that made your heater and ask them the same question you asked here.

Scott

[andresont]

My thoughts are with poore pods ....