My Worst Nightmare Came True Last Night... Living Room and Downstairs Flooded....

[Charles Crews]

My roommate woke my up at 5am yesterday morning yelling the aquarium! the aquarium! We live in a 3 story condo, I'm on the 3rd floor, the aquarium is on the 2nd floor, and my roommate is on the first floor. He woke up to water hitting him in the face... coming through the ceiling. When I got to the tank there was about 4 inches of water left, did I mention this is a full planted 140 gallon discus tank! In the front center of the tank the seam had broken (no cracked glass etc) theres about a 1/4 gap inbetween the floor glass and the front panel. Needless to stay you can see the glass all bowed out. I grabbed buckets and started to try and minimize the damage, my girlfriend started grabbing fish and throwing them in buckets. This wasn't an easy task given it was dark and all the plants were down since the water level was low. We saved all 9 discus, 2 angels, 4 loaches, in-fact everything except 2 tertas and 3 otos.

The water filled the living room and ran through the ceiling in my roommates room and the garage, the biggest mess I have ever seen. I never thought this would happen to me, I've heard other people's horror stories but... man you just cant believe it till it happens to you. All the fish are in an old 55 gal I had in the garage, and the plants are in a bucket.

Couple of questions, I have been looking on the local forums and craigslist. I have found a few takes that should work. The biggest thing I need to make sure is that I dont have the tank break again. What is the typical lifetime of an aquarium that is 100-200 gallons? What can I do to make certain it doesnt break a seam again? What should I do with the current tank? Can it be fixed?

Below is a picture of the tank a few days before the break. View attachment 2973

 

[dutchy]

I feel sorry for you..... There's always a little voice in my head that's afraid of just the same. You might want to use some reinforcememt along the bottom of the tank, a glass strip covering the entire length. This will prevent flexing and too much stress on the seams.

 

[Charles Crews]

Thought I would post a pic showing that the tank was a decent looking piece of furniture...

 

[ShadowMac]

Sorry to hear of your disaster Charles. I don't have much to add other than my sympathies. It was a nice tank.

 

[Tom Barr]

I'd get a good company for your next tank, bt this is also an opportunity to redesign the tank and get everything you want just so.
Every aquarist has the fear of what happened to you.

Water damage: Fans, Dehumifiyers, carpet: pull it back and allow the foam and the backing to dry, mold is the real enemy.

When making tanks, the construction can add 1/2" thick x 2" wide slats on the bottom to increase strength and surface area. While Glass cages quality of the cuts/beveling stinks, their glass tanks are over built and have this feature.
My LeMar tanks are made well, typically the top front and rear corners are where the tank's pull apart. But those are rimless, with the thinner glass and bracing, it's the front and rear middle bottom edge, just like you saw on yours, that's where the stress is strongest.

We have seen a few ADA tanks do this here in the Bay area and some friends in Japan report the same thing, the warranty also dropped from 5 years, down to 3 years, never a good sign.

So shop around for a good tank, think about the new tank and design.
Over engineer and provide fail safe designs.

 

[Charles Crews]

I found a 180 gal Oceanic that is 6 years old, just got back from looking at it. Very few scratches and comes with the stand and canopy all for $450 bucks... I thought it was a pretty good deal. What do you think of the Oceanic brand?

 

[nipat]

When a tank is about to leak, there generally is a sign.
Bubbles will form at the silicone seam where there have not been before.
So you can be prepared for the incident.

Good luck with your next tank.

 

[Aquaticz]

I have had the same thing happen a few years back. I now buy custom acrylic tanks. Custom because I like more open space on the top maintain the tank. I draw it and they tell me how thick the top needs to be- so far so good