Cracked Tank

[Seepu]

So my day started with a hot cup of coffee.... that I never got to finish. In fact, it is still sitting on my kitchen bar....

While waiting for the coffee to cool, I turn to admire the tank.... and notice WATER EVERYWHERE.

I find this:

So... I begin draining the tank... freaking out, alternating between laughing, crying, staring blankly and cursing my luck. I get most of the water drained, somehow remembered to fill up a bucket for the fish (at this point, only 5 Blue Green Chromis and 2 Diamond Gobies) and finish draining the water....

Get the LR out, and sand... and I find this....

At this point.. hubby finally wakes his sweet arse up... I tell him about the tank.. and start tearing up all over again. He mentions the tank would be great for an iguana.... Bawling now...

So.. I'm waiting for 10:00 to roll around.. finally get in touch with the LFS... and since we JUST bought the tank... 2 months ago.. they say to bring the tank in so they can look at it... but not to worry, they have another 125 in stock and they would hold it. Worst case scenario, he said they would let me take the new tank home, and charge me for the cost to repair my original tank.

<CHEER> I am SOOOOO relieved.

I call my OTHER LFS, and ask if they can babysit my fish for a week or so.. because at this point, I wasn't sure HOW we were going to get the tank to and from.. because we traded in our truck for a new Jeep 2 weeks ago.. Today was the first day I missed the truck... Ha!

My dear Mom saves the day, and brings a truck out. Take the old tank in.. he looks at it.. and doesn't even mention me paying for anything. <cha CHING>

Get the tank home.. painted... filled, sand back in and LR put back... and this is where we are now...

New empty tank, egg crate in the bottom...

Filled and salted...

Sand back in.. can't see a thing...

LR back in, filters on, heaters going....

/whew

 

[Sadielynn]

WOW what an ordeal . I am so sorry you went through that !! Sounds like you had a plan and put it into action ... You are smart to have the fish held how ever you can keep them in a tupperware tote if it is already cycled water whilst you wait for your other tank to recycle ... It is smart to place the egg crate on the bottom as it sounds like your rock may have shifted causing it to bump the glass and break... we have all had our rough time experiences at some point I have had 3 tanks drip leak nothing this big tho...
Now go get a fresh cup of coffee and sit back it is going to be alright now ...

 

[Seepu]

Sunday morning, and a hot cup of coffee on my desk. Tank is clear, bubbles sticking everywhere on the glass... but NO LEAKS!

My sand and LR were out of the tank for about 6 hours.. do you think I had significant die off?

I didn't want to shift the rocks AT ALL while draining it.. and totally didn't think about saving enough water to cover the LR. I was doing good to remember water for the fish.

I got lucky that the LFS traded the cracked one out. I really hate iguanas!

 

[Sadielynn]

Sunday morning, and a hot cup of coffee on my desk. Tank is clear, bubbles sticking everywhere on the glass... but NO LEAKS!

I really hate iguanas!

LOL
You will def have another cycle , you may wish to add a couple pieces of LR to to assist as you will have die off from being out of water for so long , tho I can not really say how big or long your cycle will be ...

 

[bigjoeybx]

**** seepu sorry to hear about your ordeal and hope everything turns out alright with your cycle and your fish. So the leak was from the LR? Is the eggcarton supposed to stop that from happening? What kind of egg cart? I definitly want to avoid that situation. How has it been not using a sump if your not using one?

 

[Seepu]

I don't think the crack was from the LR. My 2 diamond gobies really left that end of the tank alone, I only had small pieces down there, and none stacked up.

When the tank was empty, I could feel a change of the plane of the glass, if you will.. meaning there was obvious pressure relieved by the crack because the 2 pieces were uneven... so I think that the tank just wasn't square, and the crack grew untill it actually broke apart.

I added the egg crate.. *just in case* since I have the 2 gobies and will eventually add a jawfish... I figured it was prudent to add it.

As far as no sump.. well.. that is a bone of contention in my house... LOL. I will eventually get one.. but since my hubby foots the bill, I respect his fear of the potential cost. He's a proud man.. and sometimes it's best to let something be HIS idea.. ya know?

He hated the sump in the 90g bowfront... the footprint on it was NOT condusive to working under the tank.. and I guess it left a bad tasted in his mouth... that and seeing $$$ in my eyes when I talk about overflows, mag pumps, ect ect... keeps me quite.

As far as my tank's stability... I have to say I have been pleasantly suprised. After my initial cycle, we added fish, and I lost the tang.. it just never ate in my tank, and dummy me, forgot to ask the LFS to feed it first. The tang picked on my LR, but there just wasn't enough for him to eat, I guess.. and he was wasting away... and after 3 weeks of not eating he was looking rough, his fins were getting ragged, and I decided to take him out of the tank.

My water has tested zero across the board, my pH was a bit low.. 7.8.. but I keep the lid open now to see if that will help. I had no trAtes... and was suspicious about it.. and had the water tested at the LFS... and everything tested the same as at home. 3 months set up, diatoms no longer out of control, happy fish.. everything was going well... till this!

I can only hope it's a short re-cycle, and I can bring my little fishies home.

 

[cmor1701d]

First, did you make sure this tank is completely level? Did you put a thin piece of felt weather stripping around the perimeter of the tank stand to help smooth out any imperfections?

You will have some die off from the LR but not much. You should have a short cycle, but you should add some flake food if you don't see an ammonia spike today or tomorrow. Something to help get the cycle going again if necessary.

 

[Seepu]

No felt/styrofoam, but we did make sure the tank was level. We made sure the floor was level, the stand, then the tank on the stand. With the first tank, we only had the maintenance guys come in and check the floor before we got the tank.. but didn't check the tank/stand once it was put in.

I'm hoping it's only a quick cycle.. I will drop some frozen Formula One in the tank if nothing shows up on the tests today. My flake tank food got soggy when the other one cracked.

I decided to add another 30 lbs of sand since the fish are out of it... so that's on my agenda for today.. rinsing, rinsing, rinsing, cursing and rinsing sand.

 

[lando]

Wow...that is a fun day huh? Funny you should mention the iguana...I had an iguana once in a tank with a crack on the bottom! It sounds like your tank was pretty new. I would contact the manufacture and let them know about the problem. AGA/Oceanic have been know to send adjusters out to your home and authorize payment for clean up and a new tank. Might be worth looking into. I had a leak in a 72gal Oceanic tank and called them about it. They informed me that certainly will investigate any leakage issues, but my tank was over 3yrs old and did not qualitfy.