eah
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hi all,
I bought a used glass 55-gallon aquarium a few years ago. I have it lightly stocked (3 golden barbs, 2 gouramis and on the bottom some cories and a dwarf pleco).
For a while I was trying to get some medium light plants to stay alive and was resting an extra light (10 gallon tank sized) on the center reinforcement strip of plastic and the edge of the tank. Well, that area weakened (started to sag I think but can't remember exactly) and I stopped using the extra light. Now, I just realized that the entire center support has broken and the front of the tank is actually bowing out a little bit if you look at it from the side. 8-O
So, I drained out at least 10-15 gallons to reduce some of the strain and am trying to figure out what to do. Here are what I think my options are:
1) Do nothing (seems pretty stupid to me - a 55 gallon spill in my dining room is not acceptable)
2) Try to buy some type of thing to reinforce the tank in the middle. My concern about this is that the aquarium may already be too weakened to be trusted until I move next summer.
3) Transfer my fish into the two other tanks I have (a 20-gallon long and a 10 gallon). I don't think they'd be over crowded since I'm so lightly stocked now.
4) Buy a new 55 gallon tank - this option I am very hesitant to do because of the fact I'm moving next summer and don't intend to take the tank with me (will get a new larger one when I am settled in the new place).
Please help! Is option 2 a possibility? Do I need to get the fish out of there right away? I have no idea how long it's been like this. The center support breaking definitely happened after I moved (mid-March) but I don't know when.
I bought a used glass 55-gallon aquarium a few years ago. I have it lightly stocked (3 golden barbs, 2 gouramis and on the bottom some cories and a dwarf pleco).
For a while I was trying to get some medium light plants to stay alive and was resting an extra light (10 gallon tank sized) on the center reinforcement strip of plastic and the edge of the tank. Well, that area weakened (started to sag I think but can't remember exactly) and I stopped using the extra light. Now, I just realized that the entire center support has broken and the front of the tank is actually bowing out a little bit if you look at it from the side. 8-O
So, I drained out at least 10-15 gallons to reduce some of the strain and am trying to figure out what to do. Here are what I think my options are:
1) Do nothing (seems pretty stupid to me - a 55 gallon spill in my dining room is not acceptable)
2) Try to buy some type of thing to reinforce the tank in the middle. My concern about this is that the aquarium may already be too weakened to be trusted until I move next summer.
3) Transfer my fish into the two other tanks I have (a 20-gallon long and a 10 gallon). I don't think they'd be over crowded since I'm so lightly stocked now.
4) Buy a new 55 gallon tank - this option I am very hesitant to do because of the fact I'm moving next summer and don't intend to take the tank with me (will get a new larger one when I am settled in the new place).
Please help! Is option 2 a possibility? Do I need to get the fish out of there right away? I have no idea how long it's been like this. The center support breaking definitely happened after I moved (mid-March) but I don't know when.