Cracked Tank - Advice Needed!

[invictor]

Hi all, I'm pretty new to the forum, and I hate that one of my first posts is this disaster

5am this morning I was awoken by the sound of rushing water...never a good thing. My tank overnight had decided to spring a huge crack along the back wall of it running from the base to the top and was spouting water at a tremendous speed. Consequently my floor is soaked! Luckily the tank was cycling, and had no fish in it yet, so all I've lost at the moment is a tank and the ability to walk on my carpet until it dries.

My question is how can I prevent this from happening again? The tank was new so I can only imagine there was a fault in the glass. I've read on here that if the tank is unlevel then the differences in water pressure in the tank could put stress on the glass causing it to crack, but it looked fine. The water level was straight and there was no obvious unevenness in the flooring, and if there was then it was unnoticeable to the human eye.

I must admit now, it was standing on the floor so wouldn't be surprised if you say I only have myself to blame, oops. It was one of the Hagen Elite 60 litre tanks.

I'm obviously now going to go and buy a new one (or try and get a refund for this one first anyway) and almost certainly buy a stand for it - but will this make any difference? Should I put the tank (and now the stand) in the same place for fear of it being uneven even though it looks fine to me? There isn't really much space in my room to put it anywhere else...I could put it on the other side next to my desk where I am now, but if this were to happen again and 60 litres of tank water were to empty over all my electronics I'm not quite sure how I'd feel about that....

Mike.

 

[youngfisher]

Why do you get one of them StediLevel things where you can see if its a straight surface/line. Then put the stand there make sure its even, same with the tank. and then put it next to your computer see what is more safe? And maybe if you cover your electrics somehow it could prevent it?

Oh and sorry to hear about this but atleast you learn and you know now.

 

[minxfishy]

Being on the floor is fine, wouldnt have caused the crack, unless it was extremely uneven, which it doesnt sound like it was. More likely a problem with the tank, maybe it had been dropped prior to purchase and caused stress to the glass, either way if its new, they must exchange it, so long as you have your receipt.

The stand is always the way to go, but it doesnt have to be a specially bought for the tank kind, for a 60L tank, which isnt that heavy a good solid piece of furniture is sufficient.

 

[Mr Spoon]

Unlucky, doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong, i've had tanks on the floor, faulty tank me thinks. Before you put another tank on the floor check with a level and feel with hands for any lumps. Oh, and when my tank was on the floor it was on a sheet of polystyrene.

 

[invictor]

Ahh right, I thought being on the floor could have been the problem but if not then I'm in the clear

I do have another tank, its exactly the same one, also sitting on the floor, currently housing some goldfish (tank bought from the same place at the same time). I mean I've already emailed the place saying can I have a refund for both tanks as I'm incredibly paranoid about this other tank now...but if being on the floor doesn't just crack a tank then should I even go ahead with the refund for the unbroken tank? The crack and the consequential drainage of my tropical tank happened obviously within seconds, so do I just wait and see whether this other tank caves in, or should I just get a replacement and get a stand for it?

The last thing I want is another part of my room soaked to the core, and of course the probable death of my fish if I'm not around to try and save them.

What a horrid way to begin fish keeping!!!

Edit: Reply to Mr Spoon: I don't have polystyrene under my tanks, there was a note in the tank saying doing this would void the warranty if anything were to go wrong so I thought best not do it incase it explodes...

 

[Mr Spoon]

Edit: Reply to Mr Spoon: I don't have polystyrene under my tanks, there was a note in the tank saying doing this would void the warranty if anything were to go wrong so I thought best not do it incase it explodes...
[/quote]

Ok cool, my tank that was on the floor was very old and came with the polystyrene. The other tank is probably fine, you just had a faulty one. I would just try and get a refund for the broken one personally. Good luck! hope it hasn't put you off fish keeping to much.

 

[invictor]

Thanks all for your comments so far

I have put a spirit level ontop of my coldwater tank which is sitting near to where the tropical tank was.

Is this sort of levelness acceptable for a tank of 60 litres on the floor? I mean it is off centre a very little bit, but not really noticeable at all. As you can see, the bubble's tip just crosses the first marker by almost nothing.

(I managed to get a replacement for the tank that burst, also bought a stand for it, but waiting for the floor to dry before I even attempt to get it going again!!)

Thanks again for your help.