RSM went up in flames!!!

I have a red sea max 130d and today it had flames two feet tall coming out the back of it. Im in the process of figuring out what exactly caused the fire I just wanted to warn fellow owners of the danger. Thank god I was in the room when it happened or my whole house could have been burnt down. Ill post some pics of the damage later.

Edited by lil' man - September 26 2011 at 11:56am

That is scary! Yes, good thing you were home! We worry so much about our tanks and the inhabitants, but man, all the saltwater and electricity can be dangerous to our homes and families too.

Scary thing about most people's systems is that they are all pieced together. A huge selling point (and convenience) of a RSM is that they are complete and self-contained. I think they are awesome and have seen many amazing ones. I've always wanted one too. Now I am second guessing that.

Was yours modified? Keep us posted if you determine what the cause was.

No modifications have been done. It is completely stock. I cannot tell what the exact cause was although It was either the heater or the return pump. The hood is melted on, so I cannot really get in the back to well.

WOW! I'm sure that I have never worried about a fire from my aquarium, but now I think I will.  I had the powerhead on a small hang on filter get really hot when it jammed and I guess it could have caught fire since it was not submerged, but I would not suspect any of my electronics, other than my lights, to catch fire, because they are all under water.  

I would give Red Sea a call! They are usually really helpful and nice to deal with!

I am so sorry to hear about this, how scary! I am glad everything is ok!
 Pam

Snowrfr has one for sale i think. Can you check your lighting? The heater and pump are in the water i dont know if that would have caused the fire, but a extremely hot ballast would have.

that is probably the worst nightmare for aquarist, right besides being electrocuted with your aquarium. Did you find another place to find your livestock?

Well I found out it was one of the return pumps. Some how it blew up, there is a hole in the top of the pump where something was spewing out of. It smells like when a battery blows up. Either way it was shooting sparks out the top and some how caught the hood on fire. All of my corals made it out accept for the sps. All the sps bleached out and all the fish have past away. I moved everything out immediately into another tank so im not sure what exactly killed it all. Either whatever came spewing out of the pump or maybe it all got electrocuted?  Im in contact with red sea and they seem to be very helpful. They want to send replacement parts but Im pretty sure Im just screwed on all the livestock and house damage. Ill try to get some pics up later today when im off work.

I have a frag of green polyp sps I will donate when the tank is ready again