RIP Garfield - a question and warning for aquarium owners

So I'm sitting here at the computer Saturday night and I hear a strange sound and the lights go dim for a second. Since I was editing a video I quickly saved my project, thankful that the power didn't just go out completely and so I had the chance to save it. Then I went to investigate. \
In the hall the first thing I saw was Garfield, my Corydora catfish upside down in the fish tank and there was a slight electrical smell. Then I noticed the filter wasn't running. I unplugged the heater and filter and planned to investigate further in awhile. After doing so I saw the two neons swimming around.
Later, it dawned on me that the filter has no electrical parts in the water so it must be the heater. Looking in the tank I could see a crack in it right down the front. When I went to pull it out of the water it broke right in half.
This cory was the biggest one I'd ever seen, probably close to 3 inches long. I've had him/her a long time. So that's sad, at least for the fact that it didn't end up being old age that killed him.
I don't know why the heater went poof, other than it took in water obviously. I do know that a couple days before that, I had my hands in the water, cleaning the glass and stuff (no, I went nowhere near the heater). That kind of scares me. I don't know if I'll get a heater for a fish tank again, but if I do, I guess I'll just unplug it before I work in the water. I assume this could have been bad...anybody know more about this kind of thing?
Summer is almost here so I guess the water will stay warm enough for the neons while I think about it.
I guess they've been recharged. :)
TTFN

Camera

Well, I backed off a bit from the DSLR (EOS Digital Rebel). Why? Bills bills bills! But that's ok for now. I got a Canon S5IS and am happy with it so far. I was leary of a couple things at first but upon further reading into the manual I got at least one of them figured out and so I guess that will happen here and there until I get it all figured out.
Here are some of the pics I took testing it out. I did do some minor post-processing and of course, resized them. I think I'm going to enjoy this camera.

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Some tree that grows like a weed out back. Very pretty this time of year though. This is one of the few that I let continue to grow.

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Sage

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Birdhouse. Duh. lol

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I had pizza for supper. Buffalo Chicken. Mmmmm.

So there's a few. There will be more but right now I'm just playing around and getting to know my new camera.
I'd be interested in knowing if anyone reads my blogs. I don't think anyone does anymore. Please take a moment and leave a message so I'll know. Thanks. TTFN.

~dswv~