fire inside water

[derrickyeo]

Hi bro/sis

Wanted to share an unfortunate/ fortunate incident that happened to my tank yesterday.

I have 3 wave makers in my 5 ft tanks. All the wavemakers are bought from fellow reefers previously and used about 2 years.

Normally my baby will stop his crying when I bring him to the tank for fish viewing.

Yesterday around 9.30pm, while my bb was sound asleep, he suddenly wailed out loud. I quickly carried him to my tank to say halo to my fishes.

Suddenly, I see sparks coming from the rear of my tank. It came from the wavemaker which is rubbing against the live rock. The rubber suction had loosen.

I thought im seeing things, I went over to the other side and saw the rear of the wave maker had caught fire INSIDE the water. The wave maker is still functioning but blowing around slightly due to the loosen rubber suction.

I shouted at my wife who ran over and carry my bb. I quickly off my switch and remove the plug. I then on the switch again and the whole house electric was cut off.

Anyone encounter such before? I still could not believe and could not understand, how come, inside the water, the wavemaker is able to caught fire.

Now, I am having creeps... coz, I have another 2 wave makers inside the tank. I have another DIY algae turf inside the sump which is shone by Philips 10k bulb and is on 24 hrs to grow the algae..

[Snoopyhamburger]

Heard fire inside water is only possible when the object is made of magnesium.

[kenyee]

This is indeed stunning..any pic of the wavemaker?..still workable?which I dun think so..

Spark n fire r different..fire inside water will b extreme heat liao..spark won't..nevertheless its indeed stunning to see spark inside the tank too..issit the blade rubbing or hitting the LR like u have described but tot the blade is covered?..simi brand wavemaker?..indeed an unbelievable experience..

Btw, ur fishes ok?..hope everything go well for you..gd luck bro..

[derrickyeo]

Hi bros...

Indeed im surprised too. Its sparks first, followed by fire... a real fire the size of maybe key size? haha.. but the fire came from the rubbing... which im damn curious about... the wavemaker is still very much intact, except for the burning smell..and my fishes all ok. The temp is 31.2 or 3.. I forgot but I dun think much, as im having fowlr and no chiller or fan. My water temp is bt 29.8 to 31.. so not much different.. I thought im seeing things too but having switch on again the switch, my whole house black out, confirmed me that something is wrong with the wavemaker...

[hanafi_weeseng]

Bro,wavemaker what brand?

[MarcoVan]

Bro,wavemaker what brand?

Ya what brand?

Hope everything is ok

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[blesson87]

Do Not put ur hand in the water without switching everything off first ! Most likely a short circuit of some sort and unless your tank is grounded it is very dangerous. I had this happen to me in a freshwater tank when a heater cracked and exploded ! Be careful ...

[flo_reeftank]

Hope everything will be alright for you bro.. What is the brand of your wave maker ? Cheers

[derrickyeo]

Hi bros..

thanks.. everything is ok. my fishes are also doing great... my gray angel also bo chap kind..

as for the brand, I think better don't mention cause I have quite a few wavemakers that I bought 2nd hand and kept over time. I am not very sure of the brand since I threw it away immediately. Mentioning the name, may cause some inconvenience/ alarm or credibility to the integrity of the brand which will not be fair.

[ClOwNy_LoVeR]

Smart thinking:)

[woyeng**]

Really close shave bro... Thank God everything is ok... I had power outage for 2 hours in the middle of the nite lucky my wet dream work me up to turn power back on otherwise I sleep happy but wake up sad

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[derrickyeo]

Haha... lucky yr wet dream save yr fish... morale: happy dream, happy tank, happy fish.

Really close shave... I almost got the thinking my baby has supernatural powers..haha... if he nvr cry suddenly in time. the heat may have cracked the glass...phowww...heng ar....

Lesson for me... small issue such as rubber suction loose can escalate up to big matters...

[kenyee]

Bro, baseline is to know what caught fire n why have fire..a rubber suction loose will just b the wavemaker swinging ard the tank n will get caught somewhere on the rocks or glass or corners and it will still continue to create current as per normal but blowing at another angle and that's all..fire?..or issit the rubber go into tge blades n rubbing causes the fire?..I think got fire is because of malfunction/defect of the wavemaker itself..just like Samsung phone there's a case of the phone caught fire while using it when charging..

Do check ur equipments occassionally & good luck to all..cheers