EMERGENCY

[cheezysquirrelz]

When I got home from school today, I was excited because monday is my birthday but we are celebrating saturday. I walked in and my mom led me to my room.........

My 20 gallon x-tall tank busted!!!!!!!!!

While I was at school, my mom went in my room and found that the tank was almost empty and water was everywhere. Thinking fast she put the cichlids into my other 20 gallon.

My floor is CARPET and flooded. The water even leaked into the garage below my room.

I found a large plastic container to put them in temporarily. I put it on my kitchen counter and pulled the little sink hose thing out and rigged it with a rubber band to stay on without holding it. I left the room to grab the filter and came back to find the hose popped out and got water ALL over the floor. I got that cleaned though.

Luckily, my cichlids are under 2 inches and arent aggressive. My neighbors, the only people near by who also have tanks, werent home.
When they finally got home, I explained my story and she came over.

I was going to catch my cichlids and put them into my neighbors tank.

I had to pull ALL my plants and decor out of the tank to get them.
I noticed one cichlid was missing. I then checked the almost empty tank and found him.

I got back home and put all the plants back into the tank.

All this time my mom has been sucking all the water out of my carpet!

Now tonight I have to get a new tank and a stand for it(the tall tank sat on the floor)

----What a great early birthday present...........

P.S. I now have to sleep on the couch!!!!

 

[Rach101]

Sounds great!

 

[rubysoho]

man, that sucks, at least your fish are okay though...




btw, happy birthday!

 

[mattrox]

I hope your fish survive and I hope you can get a larger tank for your b-day so it can go some way to compensate you for your trouble 8)

 

[Meredith]

Oh no! What a mess. Good luck with the soggy floor.

 

[Fluff]

Sorry to hear that cheezysquirrelz. Hope your fish are ok. Good luck.

 

[QTOFFER]

That really sucks.
At least your birthday is coming up - hope you get nice new tank!

Kudos to your mom for her quick thinking and rescuing the fish.
Good luck drying out your room - rent a wet/dry vac, a dehumidifier, and a couple of powerful fans.

 

[Lady Elizabeth]

it also happened to my bf grandmother's 200 gal, it suddenly burst and flooded the whole dining room, it was a SW tank. The maid just cleaned the table and the tank exploded after she pass by it thank God. i'm really sorry for what happened to your tank, i hope God will give you a bigger tank for your bday...

 

[ChileRelleno]

If I was you I'd push for a larger tank as a B-day present....
How old are you going to be?

Sorry to hear about the catastrophic tank failure, any idea what made it go? Kudos to your mom for the fish rescue!

 

[Jchillin]

Wow Cheezy!

Did you guys discover what caused the break?

Congrats to your mom on her quick thinking!

 

[xray]

Yea I'd ask for an upgrade!! Sorry to hear that

 

[severum mama]

Oh no!!! 8O With 5 tanks (and being a renter) that has always been my worst nightmare. Sorry to hear you had to deal with it, but your mom rocks for saving all the fish. Here's to hoping you get a 29 gallon or bigger for your birthday!

 

[FishLover14]

Really Sorry about your tank busting. I sure hope you get a bigger one for your B-Day.

 

[Menagerie]

That's horrible! I hope the clean up goes smoothly and a bigger tank is on the way.

 

[cheezysquirrelz]

WHOA! I havent been here in a while heres an update:

I got a 29 gal and stand!!!!!
----but it leans foward slightly

I moved all my community to the 29gal and got my cichlids back and put them in the good 20 gal.
-----I think I'm going to take the cichlids somewhere. When they were at my neighbors house, they were with a brown knife. Now they have these black spots on their heads and stomaches.

My feeder goldfish Roger died.

I got a lavender/red/irridescentish fantail betta for my birthday too. He lives in the 5 gal. I want to get a 10 gal for him and possibly try breeding him, he's SO PRETTY!

OH! The carpet is all dry!

I don't know exactly what caused the leak. You can't see cracks, hole, etc., but there is hardly any sealer so I'm thinkin thats the problem. I am NEVER buying tanks at garage sales again. I'm gonna turn that x-tall into a tree frog terrarium.

 

[gfink]

----but it leans foward slightly

You mentioned that it is on carpet. Carpet has "tack strip" all around the edges. Tack strip is a thin wood strip with sharp nails pointing up to hold the carpet. If you have the back legs of the stand on the tack strip they won't sink as far down as the front legs do. You may have to move the stand legs 1.5-2" from the wall. You can find the edge on the tack strip by probing with a thin nail or something.