20 replies to this topic

[Gareth]

Walk in the fish shed this morning and one of my tanks has no water in it...
It was my Tang tank, very lucky no fish died (who said they weren't hardy) Swimming in no more than 2cm of water.

My first thought, "damn i'm selling everything"...
To tell u the truth, its the way i'm heading....

But if I do snap and sell it all I will be doing a 6x2x2 marine....Mmmmm

SHOULD I?

Anyone else go through this?

[cozza2000]

What the hell happened ???

[Gareth]

Dunno man, must have twisted the glass a bit and made the silicone come apart.
Jeez it makes u so angry.
Was in there around 10pm last night and it was fine, so I really dunno.
What do u reckon, have a marine?lol.

[cozza2000]

Have a marine, just don't give up the freshy though, it's harsh when that happens and makes you angry as heck, just like my leaky 6x2x2 lol but once it's sorted and running again it's all worth the hard work!

[werdna]

I have had one split on me. It was while we had friends house sitting and I was 20 minutes into a 14 hour night shift.
They didnt know what to do with the fish, so put them all in a 3ft fry raiser.
So I lost all the fry too.

It didnt make me want to give up, I learnt a lesson.
Now I never buy s/h tanks unless I know they are less than a couple of years old, and only ever buy new if they are over 4ft.
Vebas always have tanks in stock and they are so cheap I dont think buying s/h is worth the risk.

Atleast you didnt lose any fish, this is why I always try to keep atleast a 3ft empty somewhere just incase there is an emergency, and unfortunately the more tanks you keep, the hiogher the chance of it happening.

Andrew

[Gareth]

mmmm, Well I was thinking of keeping the BN's and pleco tank and maybe my afras.

See what happens i guess...
Cool off period

I have had one split on me. It was while we had friends house sitting and I was 20 minutes into a 14 hour night shift.
They didnt know what to do with the fish, so put them all in a 3ft fry raiser.
So I lost all the fry too.

It didnt make me want to give up, I learnt a lesson.
Now I never buy s/h tanks unless I know they are less than a couple of years old, and only ever buy new if they are over 4ft.
Vebas always have tanks in stock and they are so cheap I dont think buying s/h is worth the risk.

Atleast you didnt lose any fish, this is why I always try to keep atleast a 3ft empty somewhere just incase there is an emergency, and unfortunately the more tanks you keep, the hiogher the chance of it happening.

Andrew

Bet that was the best shift of ur life, lol.

[werdna]

Was that the bottom 6x18 tank that split in your new stand?
Where did the tank split?

Edited by werdna, 10 October 2011 - 09:40 AM.

[scottyhooton]

reseal it , then make sure you stand is leval before putting it back

[werdna]

I agree, sounds like the stand wasnt level.

[Bowdy]

Bloody unfortunate mate. The rack does look to be leaning to the left maybe that's what done it. Hope you can get it sorted.

[scottyhooton]

I had built a far from level stand for my 6x2x2 so baring this in mind I used 40mm foam under the tank

[Kleinz]

Sorry to hear that Gareth.

That wouldn't be the tank and stand you're selling now, would it?

What do you guys mean about the stand being level exactly?

Edited by Kleinz, 12 October 2011 - 09:44 PM.

[scottyhooton]

If a tank stand is not truly flat on the surface that the tank sits on it can twist the base of the tank causing it to crack or separate from the edges ..... To avoid this if you don't trust the stand you can use thick foam between the tanks floor and the stand or better yet make sure your stand is square and true , but foam is still always recommended

[werdna]

The stand itself doesnt need to be level, as long as all the legs are even.
If one leg is higher than the other then you get excess pressure on one corner of a tank, causing a split.

Edit: Ninja'd by Scotty

Edited by werdna, 12 October 2011 - 09:50 PM.

[Kleinz]

Right, so to understand (sorry for the quick hijack), the stand has to be properly square, with all legs the same length, yes? The floor underneath would have to be quite flat also, then, or it might twist the stand slightly, and thus the tank?


Just want to make sure I understand this before I set up my first large tank.

[scottyhooton]

That is correct to a point if the stand is rigid enough simply pack something under any leg that isn't touching the ground

[Mr_docfish]

The silicone should never give way unless the silicone used is inferior or old.... or the glass thickness is not correct for the situation, where the silicone over stretches and tears. If the tank was twisted, the glass would give way - cracking along the pivot of the twist or bend (assuming the silicone was still holding on properly - if it was inferior silicone, then this would be the weakest link)

Where exactly did the silicone give way?

[Gareth]

Haven't bothered to move it or look for the leak yet...

[sandgroper]

It's not so much important for it to be level, although the water mark looks better if it is but it's critical that it's not twisted or sagging as this puts stress on the tank. cheers steve p.s If your tank is stressed it will burst into tears.

[Bowdy]

So have you figured out where it's leaking? Split seam ? Crack ? Would be good to know exact problem for future buyer seeing as it's for sale.