sump disaster!!!

[sacramentofish]

I got a call from my wife the other day "your fish tank exploded!! theres water all over the hardwood floors!!"

I risked a $300 ticket and rushed home in the car pool lane at 5pm to find out that yes my fish tank had exploded. There was 20+ gallons of water, critters, and macro algae all over our hardwood floors.

The bottom pane of glass in my 30g fuge/sump with 5' DSB had shattered.

No clue as to the cause.. the tank was only 2 years old and had been under the 40g display tank for 8 months with out incedent.

Well, we cleaned up the mess and only had minor damage to the floor -amazingly-

I think that maybe my sump pump- a rio 2600 caused some vibration over time and that stressed the glass..

Any ideas about the cause?

I need to keep the main tank filtered, any ideas?

[MACATUA]

sorry to hear that dude

[blorkiemom]

Man, no clue what could have caused that. I'm sorry for the mess--glad it wasn't worse!

[Edmonton Eskimo]

Did you notice any scratches on the bottom? Do you have any curious cats or dogs in the house? With a 5" dab I don't see how anything could hit the bottom to break it. The only other thing I could think of is was the stand and tank level? An unlevel tank can cause stress to the tank.

[msuburg]

I'm sorry, man, that sucks! Hope you were able to clean up relatively easy, and save those hardwood floors,

matt

[MattP725]

What about looking for a tank with a tempered glass bottom or an acrylic tank? Neither of those should be a problem.

[Edmonton Eskimo]

If the bottom exploded it sounds like it was tempered.

[MattP725]

By the description I would think so but he could have been exagerating... I find it kinda hard to believe that a 30g with a tempered bottom and only 5" of sand would break... could be wrong though.

[Edmonton Eskimo]

yah I don't get it neither

[lando]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Hope your critters are doing okay. I would go with a HOB filter until you can get another sump running. Try an Emporer 280 or 400. That should get you by in the mean time. Good Luck!

[fishfreek]

I think that maybe my sump pump- a rio 2600 caused some vibration over time and that stressed the glass..

That verywell could have been the issue. Was the pump one to make alot of noise due to vibration? Can you tell where the stress fractrure started by looking at the fragments.

Now to help with the tank. The biggest thing is water movment. If you didnt have accessory powerheads in the tank then you will need to rig up somekind of water movment. If the rio is still operational you could slap that in the tank and have it blow across the top lenght of the tank for now. Second if you had your heaters in the sump you need to relocate them to the main tank if they are still in working order aswell.

[phases99]

Sorry to hear that. Was the sump stand balanced correctly? I've never heard of that happening before. If your critters and house made it through OK consider yourself very lucky. Good luck

[electrikat]

You could go out and buy a rubbermaid tub for a few bucks to get you through untill you replace the sump. It might also be an option permently if your sump is hidden in the stand. If you go with the real rubbermaid flexible tubs you also wouldn't have the breakage issue. The harder plastic ones tend to become brittle so I don't recommend them, even though they come in clear.