Me.... I looked in my tank yesterday and noticed my heater was not in the proper depth according to the marks on it, plus it was a bit tilted (OCD I suppose) so simple enough fix, instead of just adjusting it from the top head of the heater, I reach into the water to straighten it up and pull it down a little in depth....... Don't do that.... These little things get SUPER H-O-T !!!!!!!!

My heater was a part of my filter system and one day too many passed in which I didn't replace lost water. All of the sudden the heater just plain ol' exploded one day! Ha. Oh man did I feel like a moron for being so lazy.

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I like big fish tanks and I can not lie. You other brothers can't deny.

I've forgotten to plug my heater back in after a wc. now i just have everything on a surge protector and turn the whole shebang off and then back on after the water change.

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

Couple years ago a box fell off the top of the stairs and hit the top of my 30 gal and broke the glass top, knocking the light in the tank. I was so mad about the the broken top i wasnt thinking, reached in to grab the light and ZAP

Oh yea this is gonna be a fun thread!!

Same happened to me, Did you loose all the fish in your tank? Years back I knocked my light into tank, reached in to grab it and got zapped, always wondered though why it did not harm the fish in the water?

Also when I was a kid and setting up a tank I hung the heater on the back of the tank and plugged it in to make sure it worked.(with no water in tank) forgot to unplug it and went about putting in gravel and decor, finally got to dumping water in and as soon as water got up to heater BOOM, she blow up ,shot tiny pieces of glass all over. ended up needing a new heater and fresh underwear

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90 gallon, 1 Iridescent shark, 2 Pleco, 3 Goldfish, 5 Cory cats, 2 Nerite snails
5 gallon hex, Blue Crowntail Betta, 1 nerite snail,

Heaters seem to be the common denominator here! I bought a mini Aqueon for my 1.5 gallon tank and mounted as per instructions. I checked and rechecked the water temp. It hadn't budged beyond what it was - 66 degrees. (No livestock in the tank!) I called the manufacturer, they said it was defective and return it to Petsmart. I called Petsmart and told them the situation, my tone rather accusative (frustration). I went to remove the heater for return and discovered I had never plugged it in! I returned it anyway. Got a better heater from Kens.

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AVATAR: Frog Dreams

I've got two. One was due to being young (like 4) and stupid, the other was very recent.

When I was younger, I had a 10 or 20 gallon tank (can't remember which) that I was very proud of. I fell in love with red claw crabs, and decided to shove a few of the (poor) little things into my tank. I was upset and confused at why they kept trying to crawl out of the tank up through my filter only to die in a dry husk behind it.

I found out a couple of days ago (Now 20) that apparently Red Claw crabs cannot survive 100% under water, and need dry land to breathe. OOPS. I felt so bad I must have sent at least 10 crabs to their death.


So that links into my second story. In setting up my new 45 gallon tank last night, I ordered ahead and got an underwater dry habitat from an online aquarium supply dealer. It's actually really cool it has a plastic dome that you pump air into to keep the water out, with a regulator valve/pipe that rotates. Wherever the end of the pipe is is how high the water will be in the dome.

I got it all set up and filled up, but I wasn't happy with the water level inside the dome. I thought it was a bit too low and the crabs wouldn't be able to get up into the dry area. So I take my algae scraper and start to gently tap on the pipe to raise it up. Frustrated with the slow progress, I push a little harder and BAM. I managed to hit the whole thing hard enough to push the locks out of place and the entire thing (and all the air in it) exploded up to the surface.

Spent an hour with my arm shoulder deep in the water trying to fix it.

No. didnt seem to harm the fish that i no of. But ya u think it would

Water change without dechlor once. Caught it in time thankfully. First time, last time.

When I turn off the sump or filter for feeding, I turn on a light that I mounted under the tank. The light shines through the cabinet doors to remind me to turn things back on if I forget.

It's kind of funny the reason that it doesn't hurt the fish is because it doesn't have to pass through them. Electricity always looks for the quickest ground, and in a fish tank that is most likely insulated, on a wooden stand, it has nowhere to go so it just sort of sits there, not bothering anything.

That is until you stick your hand into the water and give it a perfect conduit from the tank to the ground.