No more Wal-Mart Tanks for me

[Johnny Cakes]

Was away for the weekend of the 4th and we had a pet sitter coming in to watch all the animals, dogs, cat, fish. Get a phone call from here saying that the aquarium was leaking from the bottom seals about 4 inches out of a 55gal was on the wood floor. She said she knew something was amiss b/c when she walked in the house she could hear water splashing louder than normal, it turned out to be the powerheads and the low water level.

Well, lucky me, she has 4 SW tanks of her own and knew what to do. She gathered the Rubbermaid tubs siphoned SW into the tubs and put all the LR in there to keep them from drying out. She gathered my 3 main critters (Maroon Clown, False Perc, and a Peppermint Shrimp), set up a Qtank and put them in there with some LR and a pump she bought for us. She even gathered up what snails and crabs she could find and put them in the QT.

Amazing, she spent her entire 4th of July day doing this so we wouldn't lose our stock and save our wood floors.

Unfortunately, with all the movement and excitement, the Maroon Clown didn't make it, the shrimp and the false perc are doing fine and will be relocated to a friend's 55gal to keep until I can tell if the new one is going to go through a cycle even though the LR stayed under water.

Now the moral of the entire story. Never buy a tank from Wal-Mart. I am fuming and will be taking this thing back and demand a refund. I bought this 55gal tank set-up from Wal-Mart wanting to save a few bucks and this is what happened.

I stopped at Petsmart on the way home from the airport and picked up a new 55gal to replace this one. Side by side, the glass is definitely thicker and the silicone seals seem more substantial.

One good thing did come of this, I finally found that mystery crab I have been looking for in the LR. Got him and will relocate him to a friends fuge as I don't trust true crabs. Those claws need to be used for something.

Thanks for listening.

 

[roka64]

Amazing, she spent her entire 4th of July day doing this so we wouldn't lose our stock and save our wood floors.

Props for her! You should ask her to join us at AA, we could probably use her experience!

Maroon Clown didn't make it

Sorry to hear that, and the tank of course. Remember maroons have cheekspines could become entangled in a net.....

 

[BillD]

If you had bought that same brand of tank from somewhere else, you would have had the same problem, even if you had paid more. The tanks (55s) I have seen at the Walmarts up here are made of very thin glass. Of course, Walmart isn't the cheapest place to buy a tank.While some brands are less likely to leak (just a guess) there is always that possibility, with any tank. That is why all my tanks are in the basement, around the floor drain.

 

[crazyred]

AFAIK, those Wal-Mart tanks are designed for freshwater only and usually say so on the box (my 29 tank did). I'm thinking it wasn't designed to hold up under the extra weight of salt water.

 

[Johnny Cakes]

AFAIK, those Wal-Mart tanks are designed for freshwater only and usually say so on the box (my 29 tank did). I'm thinking it wasn't designed to hold up under the extra weight of salt water.

Live and Learn.

The glass is definitely thinner than the Topfin I picked up from PetSmart.

Leaking is a hazard of this hobby, but unfortunately, I don't have a basement.

Round 2.

 

[plecoperson]

A big gift certificate to the best SW LFS around for the pet sitter! My husband does that too; people always wonder why he charges so much; it's cause he WILL take care of any horrifying thing that comes up on his watch.

I'm glad most of the critters made it, RIP maroon clown.

 

[Zagz]

Sorry for the loss of your clown but kudos to your babysitter! I hope you give her a bonus for all her hard work in saving your floors and other fish!

 

[Creamhorses]

Is/was there a brand name on the tank? All Glass, or ### And what is the difference in weight between 50 g of freah water and 50g of salt water? And should that be a factor in the leaky tank?

Was it leaking mid-way down.in a bottom corner...where?

CH

 

[seaham358]

Sorry to hear about the troubles...
WalMart tanks are tempered glass that is why they have thinner glass. Thinner glass has nothing to do with a leak. I had a WM tank for my FW and it was a good tank until I tried to drill it and BOOM... found out the hard way it was tempered.. Any tank can leak I have read stories about new AG and others leaking, **** happens...
Your very lucky to have a fish sitter that knows her stuff.. I hope you take her out to dinner for the extra work..
Keep us posted on the new tank...

 

[Creamhorses]

Yeah.Dinner, & a movie!!! [what out there!!]

CH

 

[Johnny Cakes]

I don't remember the brand of tank that came in the setup. It was one of the boxed sets that came up with the HOB filter, light, and heater. I wanna say I got a bunch of Tetra sample packets in the set. Was gonna set up a FW tank again, but I decided to go for it and move into SW.

She told me that it was leaking at a few points from the bottom. By the time I got back, the water was gone, so no more leaking, but when I put a little water on it to try to find the leak, it looked like water was coming up over the bottom frame. Doesn't look like it came from a corner, but rather from the bottom seal since it seemed to be spread out.

As for the sitter, she got an extra hundred dollars.

By the way, I forgot how much it sucked filling this thing up, I made three trips to Wal-Mart in a day to fill up my 5 gal jugs with their RO water to fill the tank. Bit the bullet so I wouldn't have to deal with the chlorinated water and the chloramines in our city water. Man I need to get an RO system installed here.

 

[Creamhorses]

How much did they charge you for the water....by the gallon?

Sorry to hear this turned out so bad.

CH

 

[BillD]

Unfortuneately, even a visual inspection won't guarantee a leak free tank. However, some tanks will seem to have more silicone on the seams. This may or may not be better. I have bought a number of new or almost new leakers, at reduced prices, and resealed them, so the problem is not rare. I have 4 older used leakers in the basement, just about ready for resealing. They are great for a cheapskate like me. However, it is disheartening to have issues with something you have bought, brand new, and paid top dollar for. I hope your new tank stays trouble free, Johnny Cakes.

 

[Johnny Cakes]

How much did they charge you for the water....by the gallon?

Sorry to hear this turned out so bad.

CH

The Wal-Mart in our area has an RO system at the front of the store. They sell water by the gallon at $.37 per. You just shove your bottle in the machine and fill it up.

 

[crazyred]

And what is the difference in weight between 50 g of freah water and 50g of salt water? And should that be a factor in the leaky tank?
CH

Quite a bit of weight difference in fresh vs. salt water. All that salt adds weight and density to the water. It could make a huge difference uin causing a tank to leak. More weight = more stress on the seal. I would buy a tank designed for saltwater if it were me. JMO

 

[roka64]

I think SW is about 8LBs per gallon.....? Not sure about FW.

 

[Creamhorses]

I did a Google search and after much fussing came up with fresh water weighing 8.33#'s/gallon. Salt water varies by the amount of salt...but the average is 8.5#'s/gallon. Ok, for the sake of this example, let say salt water weighs 9 pounds per gallon. In a 55 gallon tank, the difference is .67lbs/gallon..... 36.85 pounds.

I have a hard time believing that this amount of added weight would cause a tank to leak based on the fact that it was salt water and the tank may have been manufactured for fresh water. I didn't know there was a difference.

In any event the same amount of clean up is due when it leaks.

CH

 

[crazyred]

All I know is, most of the tanks I see for sale at my LFS and WM say on the box "for freshwater use". I was thinking that maybe, tanks designed for SW use had reinforced seals more resistant to the effects and weight of salt vs. fresh water. Just a theory.....and you are correct, leaking tank and clean up sucks no matter what kind of water it is.

 

[ferretmath]

"Johnny Cakes" said that he purchased his aquarium as a kit. It probably did say for "freshwater use only" not because of the actual tank, but because all of the sample packs of food and water conditioner that came with it was for tropical freshwater fish.

All of the kits that we sell (Pet SuperMarket) are for "freshwater use only" because of this. I have worked at PetSmart also, and their Top Fin brand (its the PetSmart brand) can be used for fresh or salt. My SW tank is Top Fin and I've had no problems. All of the Top Fin kits, however, are put together for freshwater because of all of the other things it contains, not because of the actual tank.

The only major pet store that I've seen that sells SW kits around here is Petco (well, besides Big Al's). When I was with that company, I put together a couple of those SW setups and we just used the usual tanks (in that case it was All Glass).

 

[crazyred]

Oh, okay....I always wondered. Not that I'll ever convert my Wal Mart tank to salt (money, money, money), but I was wondering why it said that, then, when I read this tharead I thought it might have to do with that. Thanks for clearing it up. Must have just been a defective tank.