Oliver's Tank Gives Way

[rabbut]

Condolances to you, but be thankful it happened when it did Just to chear you up; it could have been far worse

If you think that made a mess, picture what the 100gal coral system at my work did when that went during the night. Sump was full for a change too, so more water was beeing pumped into the leaking tank constantly untill the sump ran dry Wouldn't have been as bad, if it was just the 50gal in the display that found its way onto the floor wth an almost empty sump like normal.....Salt leaves a right mess

Good luck sorting this
Rabbut

 

[2excitedkids]

So sorry for you and Oliver, you spend so much time giving your advice on here - it seems so unfair all the setbacks you have had. Hope you have managed to get a new tank and your filters are happily rehomed in it asap.

 

[waterdrop]

When I finally transferred the gravel (so much for my layer of seachem substrate below & gravel above) out into buckets, I discovered that the bottom glass was cracked from the front left corner all the way across to the middle right sidewall.

So now I will have questions:

1) How extreme do you have to be about leveling? I mean, I used a bubble level (long carpenters level) and felt the tank was level - do you have to be really extreme about it?

2) Is gravel heavier than water? In these modern all glass tanks, should you limit the height of gravel you put in?

3) To anchor plant roots under the gravel I had been putting my whole arm in with the tank pretty much full - that mild gravel movement and sloshing action shouldn't be too much for a good tank, should it?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

levelling for me has never been a concern tbh. my house is quite old and wonky. to have the tanks level they'd have to be propped up a couple of inches on one side so we've never bothered really. we ensure even weight distribution as much as possible by putting the stand onto a big bit of ply (spread the weight of the tank across several joists) then if it's a 'normal' glass box tank put some polystyrene between it and the stand to even out any small lumps and bumps in the stand. If it's a floating base tank it doesn't need to be on polystyrene it should sit on the stand fine with no need for any more levelling.

cna you describe what the set up was, if the tank was floating base or not and what you had between it and the stand and the stand and the floor etc? was the tank lined up exactly with the stand?

ummm, if gravel was lighter than water would it not float ??? i think it is heavier, but it shouldn't be a problem. Take a look at the amount of rockwork in an african cichlid set up, if tanks can hold that (and they generally use regular tanks nothing fancy) then they should be fine with a thick level of gravel

nope, having your whole arm in and sloshing around shouldn't be too much for a good tank.

I think the crux of it is, whatever you manufacture, occasionally one will come off the production line dodgy and not be spotted by the quality control process, think you've probably just been unlucky and had a duff tank.

 

[waterdrop]

You have just confirmed all the things I thought. I think it must have been the tank and not my actions.

Yes, its a floating base. The bottom glass measures exactly one half inch up from whatever surface the plastic frame is sitting on. The black plastic frame entirely surrounds all the bottom edges and suspends it up, so there should be no need for polystyrene cushioning. This plastic edge sits on the flat wood shelf made to fit it and just a small bit larger. Metal support tubes add structural support to the cabinetry and then a wood base the same size and shape as the top lies across the floor. The bowfront is glass, the back glass is a mirror. There are plastic braces top and bottom at the midpoint of the 2 foot width.

I don't know that bowfronts are more prone to failure, has anyone ever heard that?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

never heard that, i've a curved tank and it's never broken although that's hardly a representative sample!! lol

i think you've just had a stroke of bad luck tbh. unfortunate but it happens to us all with one thing or another. at least you had no fish in, that's all the consolation we can give really.

 

[waterdrop]

good, then I'm off to hopefully give this same type another go - if a second one cracks I'll change tank and stand both - cross your fingers for me with the "operations manager" - we shall see if they give me a hard time...

 

[Miss Wiggle]

good luck!

 

[OscarWilde]

Holy C**p

Bad luck mate! Is there any warning signs for this kind of thing. I'm worried about the tanks in my Living room and bedroom now!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

not often any warning signs, some general advise for thos that are worried though

firstly go round and check all your tanks, make sure they are lined up on the stand and not over hanging, even a couple of mm overhang can cause problems. if the tanks are not floating base then get some polysytrene underneath them, make sure they are on as level a surface as is reasonably possible.

secondly make sure you are prepared so you can do the best for your fish if this does happen.

keep a spare tank or a large bucket big enough to hold a tank full of fish (obviously it'd only be short term but assume that it'd be sod's law and would crack when you've either got no money or it's xmas or something like that so no shops are open, assume the fish need to live in it for a couple of weeks to choose a relativley decent size. I like garden tidy tubs for this, if you've a few tanks or really big tanks you can stack these so they don't take a huge amount of room to store but you could give all your fish some space still.
keep a spare small filter and heater, nothing too fancy, just a half decent internal filter or something like that. only gonna be an expense of £30 or so which isn't the end of the world.
make sure you're nets are big enough to catch your fish. might sound stupid but plenty of people buy big fish as juvi's, they grow up then a year later they need to catch them and realise the 3" net is not going to cut the mustard! keep a big net on hand, also useful if you've small fish for catching them fast. we've a giant net, when i needed to get fish fast i just swept through the tank with the big net and got several fish at once.
and particularly if you've got cat's/children, something to cover the spare tank/tub with, again doesn't have to be fancy, just a sheet of ply will do. but something to stop the fish getting out or anything else getting in if need be.

just about being prepared for every eventuality isnt it.

 

[Colin_T]

You can look at the silicon holding the glass together. If it is white or opaque, or has bubbles in it then it is failing. Good silicon is an even clear colour and there should be no bubbles or gaps visible between the glass joins.
The same applies for black silicon. It should be an even colour all around. If it is pale or has bubbles it is failing.

Tanks should last for yrs and if they fail it is usually poor quality glue or the glass wasn't cleaned prior to building.
Most tanks should hold up for 20+ yrs before the silicon starts to fail.
Bleach can damage silicon so care must be taken if using it to clean the tank.

 

[rabbut]

Another common warning is algea growing under the silicone. Most of the tanks at work are showing this now, and they are only 7 years old Clearly built on a budget Poor quaility silicone was clearly used, which isn't a big supprise as all the glass used is different thickness on each tank, when they are all the same dimentions. Best preentative is to get the best qualtiy tank you can afford Skimp on a tank and you may well later regret it when the silicone fails long before the end of the 20+ years life span of the adverage tank

HTH someone
Rabbut

Edit to add, I don't think bow fronts would be any more likely to fail. Any structural engineers on here, that would be able to comment on haw pressure would be spread in a bowfront vs a conventional tank?

 

[Mystil]

I am so sorry! I hope you sorted out the tank..I would FLIP if i had just bought a tank and it did that to me!
Any luck getting a new one??

My mum had a 6 foot tank.

One day the stabalising glass bar between the two longest peices of glass decided to snap at the top of the tank ...the tank started to gush water and we had a heck of a time trying to save all the fish...really nice and big there were aswell...got them into a small tank and one of us forgot to put a lid on....the clown loach my mum loved jumped out and landed in the sink...died a little while later...mum was absoultdely gutted

Had a heck of a time trying to clean up the mess aswell.

 

[backtotropical]

Waterdrop, I am gutted for you.

Give Petsmart hell and you'll be back on track soon enough.

Just for info, my main tank is bow-front and i've had it up and running around 5 years now with no problems. As Miss Wiggle says, its not a representative sample, but it all helps your confidence, eh?

Chin Up!

BTT

 

[ALEXF]

wow im sorry to hear about this. i cant believe you put all that hard work into cycling your tank just to have it give way on you. thats absolutely terrible. But just keep your head up and think of how rewarding it will be when everything finally is complete. Im sure it will feel really good just to be able to sit back and watch your lil ones. I think im going to have nightmares.... i really dont know what i would do if my tank did this.