Tank Failure

[teeljay]

Hello all,
I got a panic call from my wife this afternoon, seems she came home to a floor full of saltwater and an empty 150 gal tank. This tank has been set up for about a month without any problems. I went home and started putting the live rock in plastic containers with some fresh mixed salt water and scraped all the sand out. The bottom of the tank had cracked from front to back and all the water had leaked out. My questions at this time are:
1. How long can I leave the rock in the plastic containers before I loose what little was still alive when I got them out? ( the tank was probably dry for several hours with the lights on.)

2. Is this a common problem with big tanks. I had about 200lbs of rock and 4-6 inches of sand in the tank, was this too much? I have seen many tanks with a lot more rock than I had without breaking.

3. If I am able to find another tank quickly enough, how can I keep this from happening again?

4. Do reputable companies warranty their tanks for this type of problem?

While waiting for your answers I think I will go bang my head on the wall for awhile....

 

[Anonymous]

man, that sucks. sorry for your day 8O

1. How long can I leave the rock in the plastic containers before I loose what little was still alive when I got them out? ( the tank was probably dry for several hours with the lights on.)

that would depend on too many factors to give an accurate estimation. like how big the container is, how much rock is in each, temp., etc.

large containers would be best. big rubbermaid garbage cans or the like. keep some heat and circulation in them too. if all you had was rock, it should do fine in there for some time.

2. Is this a common problem with big tanks. I had about 200lbs of rock and 4-6 inches of sand in the tank, was this too much? I have seen many tanks with a lot more rock than I had without breaking.

i would guess it was a defective tank, or it wasn't sitting level.

3. If I am able to find another tank quickly enough, how can I keep this from happening again?

level the tank?

4. Do reputable companies warranty their tanks for this type of problem?

they warranty the tank, not usually the damage done though.

While waiting for your answers I think I will go bang my head on the wall for awhile....

you can stop now.

 

[CraigLampe]

I have to agree that YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG, unless the tank is GROSSLY NON-LEVELLED... I believe that all of these tanks are over-engineered, and usually to cause a problem like this, you have to drop a piece of live rock from the top of the tank with NO WATER IN IT!! I think if you had water in the tank it would slow it sufficiently to avoid a crack...

I do believe, however, that if this was a used tank that stress can build up in the glass and if it was abused before then it increases your chance of having problems

it sounds like this is a new tank, though, and there must have been some sort of inherent defect... rarely, I think that pistol shrimp can crack the glass on tanks, but I don't think they could do anything to the BOTTOM GLASS!!!

Sorry for your loss!! I would take this up with the manufacturer in case this was a new tank.

in case it was an old/used tank I believe you are SOL, sorry

I do agree with the trash-can temporary storage with some heaters/powerheads to give some reasonably suitable conditions... you could then place them by a window so they are exposed to some sunlight...

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear about the wet floor. we all have gotten our socks wet in this hobby before...

If you bought your tank and stand together,(IE an aga stand for an aga tank) you should have no problem getting the company to replace the tank. Make a call to wherever you got the tank and start there. The damage to the floor, and whatever else go wet has to be filed under your homeowner/renter policy. your insurance company will probably send the bill to the tank manufacturer.

Depending on how long the tank was set up, and how far along in the cycle it was, will depend on how much life you will lose. If it was just cycling the rock, you will only lose what had just started to grow back.

Brett

 

[Anonymous]

I think not being level is not so important as having all corners equally supported- if the left back and right front are slightly off in elevation from the other two stress can result.

 

[MarkO1]

teejay,
I think I know what may have caused it. It sounds to me like you had a stress point at the bottom of the tank caused by a flaw in the support cross joist in your stand.
Here's what caused my 75 gal. to crack:
http://home.attbi.com/~ohary/wsb/html/v ... 14686.html
AGA made my tank AND stand, so they were completely responsible for the crack.
Fortunately for me, I noticed the crack before the "crash". When I contacted AGA, they were EXTREMELY helpful and replaced my tank no problem.
CONTACT THEM AS SOON AS YOU GET HOME!!! They will replace the tank for you if you can prove (like I did... a photo was all I needed) that the stand caused the crack.
Make sure you FIX the problem before you put on the new tank. (I planed mine).
Good luck!
_________________
marijuana photos

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
I also planed my stand before putting the tank on. It may not matter much for my case, but there is certainly some craftmanship issue if a non-professional can see the irregularity.

 

[shalegac]

I've had to replace my tank twice. Luckly I'm running a nano. Sometimes crap happens, (to me it happens in pairs). Good luck though and don't get discuraged, thats when the real mistakes happen.

 

[teeljay]

Many thanks to all that responded to my story of woe. Now that a couple days have gone bye, at least I am not as bummed out!
I was very careful in setting the tank and stand initially and they were level both side to side and front to back, so I don't think that was a problem. the stand came from the tank maker and was designed for that tank so I think that is was Ok. it was pre- assembled so I didn't even get a chance to mess that up. lol
I did talk to the pet store and then a rep from perfecto tanks called me at work and assured me that they were making a new tank for me and it would be ready and shipped to the pet store by monday! That was pretty quick work, she also said that some tanks had weak spots in the glass and they would just give way. didn't happen often, but once in a blue moon....and of course, alway to me....lol
She also said to send them the reciepts for my rock that didn't make it, fish and if it was a real problem the damage to the house, and they would see what they could do about that.....I thought that was fairly good treatment from the mfg. I will let the list know if they stand by what they say....
thanks again for the help and encourgement, it helps to have someone 'in the next room' to ask questions.

Teeljay

 

[texman]

I have several large tanks which are acrylic, so I would hope that they will never fail. I have one suggestion which may or may not do anything, however in my simplistic brain, it makes sense. I have always been worried about uneven weight distribution of the tank on the stand (highly supported segments of the stand will sag less than unsupported sections, etc. I have always put a sheet of the pink/blue 1" foam insulation between my tank and the stand. To me, this should aid in weight distribution if there are any stress risers in the stand. The stuff is very resistant to compression as well. Even my 500 gallon tank has not compressed the foam to any significant degree. It is a very cheap way of adding a little extra piece of mind.

 

[danmhippo]

My LFS had a customer that came telling us his tank cracked. Upon inspection, we found his stand (home made) is not level. The center of the stand is slightly higher then the corners. With thousands pounds of water, rock, and sand, eventually his tank will crack.

Check your stand and make sure it's all smooth and level.

 

[Anonymous]

Its good to see perfecto stand up to thier product. Let us know if they do pay for your losses. I would GLADLY support a company that would do that, and tell all my friends the story as well.

Brett

 

[The_Butler_1999]

I had an 55 gallon tank crack on me. I bought it from Petco as they had a good sale on there tanks at the time. not only did they replace the tank, they gave me a 80 gallon to replace it with and paied to have my carpets cleaned replaced all my fish to boot! ... howes that for Customer Service???? ... I gladly buy dry goods of petco ..

 

[MarkO1]

I think people may be confusing level and flat. Having your stand not level is not as bad as the stand not being flat. A tank can/will fail if the surface it is sitting on is not flat. If the surface of your stand looks like this:

---------------------------^-----------------------------

it will crack due to the stress in the middle. Plane the stand/remove the flaw and you'll be fine. Remove too much and you should still be fine.

---------------------------_-----------------------------
_________________
American Forum

 

[danmhippo]

Sorry, my bad choice of word. Yes, I meant flat.

 

[CraigLampe]

It also depends on the size of the tank, I have seen a couple of 55 gallon aquariums supported on nothing but cinder blocks, which leaves a 2-foot area in the middle for the tank to support itself!!

Some of you may actually be surprised that you own stands are creating this situation if you can slide a piece of paper in between the stand and the tank, there is obviously no support right there!!

I am a firm believer in cushioning in order to balance out the stress... fowm or spong of some kind usually works well... I also place some cardboard under the stand to help level it out, but I agree that flat is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than 1-2 degrees off from level... I mean, if it is 20 degrees off, yes, this creates a MAJOR PROBLEM, but it is also an OBVIOUS problem...