Devastated. 180 Gallon Custom Tank broke tonight. Before i could get sand in it.

[asonitez]

MY brand new 180 Gallon tank broke tonight before I could even get sand in it. I am devastated. My 90Gallon is fine but empty just housing fish. I think this will make me quit. It flooded my apartment. Caused some problems. I don't know what to do. I spent literally thousands of dollars in equip.

RK2
New Lghts
New Sump
Reactors
Ballasts
Piping
Paint
Wood
Unions
Valves

not to mention the time I had to put in to make it work. I am simply devastated. I have a long night of clean up ahead of me. I will prolly call out of work tomorrow.
Pics.

www.flickr.com/asonitez

 

[JohnS_323]

Oh that's awful. I'm REALLY sorry to hear that. I know it sucks now but don't make any rash decisions until you've had a chance to let the emotions clear. Remember, the tank is the cheapest part of the hobby. It would suck to get pennys on the dollar for all that equipment only to have to replace it later when you realize you're still addicted.

Hang in there. I know it's easier said than done.

 

[ricwilli]

I'm really sorry to here that. I can't even imagine how you must feel. Don't worry about the 90. Like John said "Hang in there". If I didn't have to take care of my new born, I would offer to go help.

 

[GregW]

how did it break?

 

[Brian]

SO SORRY to hear that! I had the same experience, except my tank was running for about a week before it cracked and I didn't know it cracked until 8 hours later so it also pumped all the water out of the system as well...325 some odd gallons...ugh.

Don't be so hasty to drop everything and run, trust me...I had the same feelings when it happened to me. I almost got out, but for the exact reason John stated...I got another tank. I looked at all the equipment and live rock and figured what the hell! The tank is the easiest thing to replace out of the whole setup at this point!

 

[JRodrig692]

Man that really stinks.

This has happened to ALL of us in some shape manner or form. We have all had problems that we said would be it and we were done, but you have to stick it out.

Water dries but the joy you get looking at a setup tank goes on forever.

Hang in there!

 

[asonitez]

I found out what happened. The back SEAM at the bottom became seperated. as i was draining and running with buckets. it got to within 1/4 inch and stopped leaking. i pressed the back and bubbles came out where the silicon meets. basically the pressure from the tank was PUSHING the back and sides and it seperated enough to start leaking. My salvation might be the tank maker. Its a customtank and I think he will come to the house to reseal it. I saved my live rock because my 90gallon was still up. and i had rubber maids. It looks that my surge protectors were affected but the RK2 and the DC8 were OUTSIDE of the tank. my lighting was not setup yet and only the pumps and my fuge light may have been affected.the WOOD is fne it seems. I had sanded stained and sealed it with poly then light sand and seal again with poly. I picked up my wife to be and she helped calm me down. I'm really down but Hopefully resealing a tank dosen't take forever.

 

[ds4x4]

that is good news after all that.. depending on power strips i might lean towards tossing them.. as for the pump and light let them dry out real good and then check them. if your stand had poly on it then you shouldnt have a problem with it.


good luck and were all glad you thought about this before making a choice

 

[JasonR]

This really sucks
I know how you feel :
A few things you need to think about before you set back up
Are you confident about your tank builder that this is not going to happen again ?
I would have him take the tank completly apart and redo all seams
If not get your money back
Is everthing Perfectly Level

Jason

 

[asonitez]

I spoke to the tank maker last night and he's willing to work with me. he will probably Reseal Everything here in my living room. The guy built the 600 gallon tank thats been up for about 7 years in my flickr acct. So I'm confident in his abilities. I will need to inspect the tank during he day to really determine if the glass and everything else is salvagable. I'll speak to him later on today.

 

[ds4x4]

wow.. a man that stands behind his work.. don't find them very often anymore. that is great to hear and that would probably be the best way and i agree to check the level just for S&G at the least.

 

[momof6kids]

Glad to hear that the tank maker is willing to stand behind his work. In today's society that is good to hear. Good luck.

 

[asonitez]

The tank maker was FENG of Red Sand Aquariums in Dunellen.

 

[Phyl]

Feng is such a great guy, I'm sure he'll make everything right for you. I can't wait to see it back up and running.

 

[RichT]

I believe most of the structural integrity of the seams is created by the silicone "in" the joint between the panes. That would require removing the panels and redoing them. If he's not able to get silicone in the joint, then at the very least, I would require him to remove all the silicone from the inside bottom of the tank and install a 1"x 1" strip along the bottom. Although it's not ideal, the 1" of vertical silicon will be better then the 1/4" from simply resealing the inside. The sealing of the joints from the inside add only a small percentage of structural soundness to the tank. Make sure your comfortable with the repair job. I suggest you get him to guarantee the repair, in writing, for "X" number of years including cleanup, repair and/or replacement of equipment, home furnishings, flooring, etc that are the result of the possible future failure of the repair.

Sorry for sounding alarming, but it's something to think about. Good Luck

 

[asonitez]

Feng and I spoke again this morning regarding the tank. It seems that a reseal might not be necessary but I don't know yet. He told me to stop by tonight to plan the reseal.

It seems that the cause of the leak my not be a fault of the tank maker. Basically when the tank was purchased it was in a specially designed stand that. According to feng offered structural suppoort at the bottom of the tank. Its about a 1.5 inch border and trim that fit around the tank snugly.

What I didn't know was that this border was designed to fit snugly around the bottom similar to how the plastic border fits around larger manufactured tanks. When I refinished the stand I largely left this border intact but - failed to use any wood or make the tank itself flush with the border.I centered it. Feng hinted that the problem was that I needed to fit a piece of wood behind the tank similiar to a wedge to push the bottom of the glass against the 2 pane bottom he designed. After which screwing in the back border would ancor the tank back (tinted black anyway) against the border. This appears to be why the seam failed.

I will know tonight. My question Is if feng does not reseal the tank entirely this *wedge might be the answer. Would the tank be structually sound?

 

[REEFLECTIONS]

i agree with rich, instead of being glad that this guy is gonna make good, ask what he is gonna do to make up for the possible damage that occured... he built you a fish tank that was built to hold water, you used it for the designated purposes and the product didn't hold up. he is obligated to make right by you, i would personally want it rebuilt correctly, not repaired in a "good enough" way.... other wise if the worst happens AGAIN, you'll be kicking yourself in your a$$. what if it was full of live stock, and you weren't home?

 

[asonitez]

Re: Devastated. 180 Gallon Custom Tank broke tonight. Before i could get sand in

I know. I kept telling my self yesterday that God made me go home and be home when that happened. I'm sure tonight Feng will make good. I haven't tested all of my equip but the only things that COULD have got damaged were the items plugged into the Powerstrips. I don't anticipate anything getting damaged much but I have to plug them in this afternoon and see what the damage is.

As for going after the tank maker I feel that it was part my fault as well. I am glad that I took my time with this tank and really put it through its paces before i moved anything alive into it. Feng will make good on the tank and I look forward to that happening. I doubt I will have to go after him for anything and even so he has always been good and kind to me and he is a good friend. Hell we drink and smoke cigars all the time shooting the poo about fish, corals, and life in general. He will make good.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Seems to me it should not need a stand to hold it into place? What about at the top is there a rim? Maybe to make things safe he should include a rim on the bottom too? I saw his handmade L shaped tank and it is pretty impressive, I wouldn't blame him(or take any blame either) but I would challange him to make the next version better stronger faster.

 

[asonitez]

Re: Devastated. 180 Gallon Custom Tank broke tonight. Before i could get sand in

The Top is braced in 3 places. Each edge is braced and 1 center brace. I agree that the tank should be freestanding without needing any stand needed to keep to together. I will see what happens this afternoon.