Ever have a tank bust?

[TNpharmboy]

Has anyone ever had a tank blow out on them? I am about to start setting up this 180 and i know its been moved and stored a few times, it has a lot of all glass accessories which I assume means it was made before they became Aqueon. and i dont know that it was ever set up seeing as how overflow kits are new in box. How do I check before filling it? what do I look for? I bought my oceanic 125 after it had been stored dry for at least a few months and it has never leaked, but of course while searching for how to set up etc you see horror stories.

SO how many blow outs? How many slow leaks for those of you with larger tanks?

 

[randomfishguy85]

i had a leak on a 135 gallon tank. It happened because i did a poor job resealing it. for the most part i feel that as long as the tank was stored away from the sun and the silicone looks good it probably wont leak, but doing a leak test is always a good idea

 

[TNpharmboy]

I checked all seals for breaks pulling etc they all seem intact no gaps and tight back into the gaps, and also seem to be spongy so I suppose they have not dried out. Going to try and get tanked plumb as far as sealing off the overflows so I can fill tank and test it.

 

[TNpharmboy]

ha poll not looking great 40% of people havin problems.... haha

 

[SaltyReefDog]

If you have a spot to fill it up outside or in a garage and let it sit for a couple of days I would do that. If you do have a leak (which I highly doubt), it would happen outside and not in your house.

Happy Reefing!:spin3:

 

[lclark209]

Yeah definitely leak test that sucker outside. I had a 120 blow out the bottom panel randomly. But I purchased it used, 7 years old without knowing its history so yeah...
Good luck though. My new tank is a 180g acrylic tank.

 

[TNpharmboy]

yeah my problem is no where outside home to test, im in an apartment lol, simple 20 gal set up startin to look pretty good.

 

[swcc]

Never had a problem myself...pay careful attention that the tank is level if you do leak test it and of course when you set it up.

 

[Michigan Mike]

What swcc said. Fill it up with freshwater in the kitchen for a couple days, check for leaks. Then set it up so its extremely level all around.

 

[jaa1456]

Had a 65 leak after 2 years but mainly because the cheap pine stand warped over that time. I checked it with a level and it was almost a 1/4 inch off, no where close to being level anymore.

 

[KCombs]

I've had the front glass literally blow out; 100 gal on the floor all at once and no place to put $500 worth of fish & corals

 

[TNpharmboy]

Well the stand to this one is metal. Welded weighs close to tank weight but ill make sure totest with level etc

 

[KevinJ]

2 tanks leaked. Had a stack of rock that the fish dug under roll off and took out the front glass of a 55 gallon. Then I had a 70 gallon slow leak bottom crack. that progressed me to my current 135, that is about to be traded up for a 210.

KevinJ

 

[skincoffin]

The way I got into this hobby was by taking over a tank from a co-worker who's husband had died recently. She took care of it for as long as she could but apparently didn't have 'the fever'.
One day after I had expressed some interest in it she said I could have it for free if I came and got it. So I grabbed a buddy's truck and a huge 50 gal cooler. The transport went as smoothly as could be expected and I had her 55 gal long glass fish-only with barely alive rock setup in my (at the time) carpeted basement. There were neat fish in there, a huge 4" tomato clown and a couple of similarly large domino damsels. I even eventually got some better rock and a cleaner crew and even a small carpet nem that seemed happy as slop.
Anyway, one morning I got up for work and ambled down to check out the tank... disaster upon horror. One of the front corner seams had split from the top to nearly all the way to the bottom. The gap at the top of the seam was probably 2 inches, so you can only imagine flood that must have occurred. By the time I got to the scene 90% of the water was on the floor. Miraculously only 1 of the fish had been on the floor, I guess the others were able to resist the flow and hung on to life in the 2" of water that pooled in the bottom of the tank. Thankfully my LFS is very near by and they rescued the living things. Grown men don't cry but I did that morning...

After that experience I will never use an older glass tank that has been moved less than professionally. My current tank is a 75gal acrylic.

 

[TNpharmboy]

man to everyone who has had a bust I am so sry I couldn't imagine. Well Ive been moving the tank with minimal lifting and a furniture dolly supporting middle. And I think tank is within 7 years old maybe newer just dont know for sure because everything with it says all glass not aqueon all seams look ok. silicon looks great. so figiners crossed guys for the water test

 

[Bolivian Ram]

Here's my tale on bursting tanks. Went to my local LFS. They were selling a brand new 30 gallon Marineland tank, lid, lights with stand for $80. Thought it would make a pretty good marine tank. Take it home and set it up near the entrance. Fill it with sand, live rock, saltwater and equipment. Looked good.

Then I notice it. The bottom brace of the tank, I see there's a little bit of water seeping through the edge where it touches the glass. Vary little if not at all. Don't think much of it, water could have seeped in there when filling the tank right? WRONG. A day passes by, coming from work and see my brother and dad sweeping/mopping water out of the house. My heart races. Run inside and see a piece of the ocean all over the tiles (luckily). Find out that my dad heard a large bang, similar to a gunshot. He ran downstairs to the chaos. Luckily there was no livestock. Further inspection showed the bottom panel had a horse shoe crack. Most likely there was a small unnoticeable crack initially which grew and burst. Took it back to the LFS. They gave me a replacement and some store cred. Least they can do as my basement had a nice long shower.

The new tank (I am currently using) is doing well for almost 1 1/2 years. Both tanks were manufactured on the same date so must have been some kind of manufacturing defect.:furious:

Moral of the story, always do a leak test first, in the garage or wherever you don't mind having water spill.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

All-Glass tanks were very high quality (second only to Oceanic, IMO, for normal production tanks and on par with Perfecto) so given that you don't see any defects in the glass or the sealant, you should be ok. My Oceanic was moved a number of times and stood dry for most of 10 years. It has been going again for 18 months with no signs of a leak.

I am amazed that those of you with tanks completely letting go continued with the hobby. I think I would drop out if my tank sent 100 gallons of dirty tank water on the floor.

 

[Reef264]

Yeah...You could call it a burst...

I had a bit of an explosion.I used to have a softie reef 10g by my bed, long story short, during an act of fun, I bounced into the tank, causing the front pane to explode.Saved everything.Just had to rush into setting up a new tank.


-Ray

 

[McCune]

I had a tank crack across the front pain from bottom corner to top corner on the opposite side. The whole tank drained onto the floor.

 

[TNpharmboy]

I'm wondering how many other questions i should have asked. Like how old was your tank, did it have support bracing either center or eruo. Was your stand putting stress on tank etc. Looks like a few horror stories but overall most people have never had a problem. I am checking with apartment tomorrow to see if my renters issurance covers flooding, if not I may look into a policy that does before going through with the big tank....... looks like i'll be buying that nano set up I was thinking about too....at least i gave myself a valid excuse now. haha