Everything was okay at 9:00 last night...

[sttaylor]

But this morning when I went to top off the water on the 20g tank stuffed full of beautiful sps corals it was bone dry. I dropped all of the corals into a bucket and transferred them into a mostly empty frag tank that I have in hopes of saving something. Things are not looking good at the moment. The water has turned murky and the room is starting to smell like low tide.

Tonight while cleaning up what was left of the old tank, I found the cause of the catastrophe. The tank had a crack running the entire length of the bottom pane of glass, right in the center of the glass.

Pre-disaster pics

Wish me luck in the salvage operation.

Scott

 

[anative]

Ouch! That stinks. I've got a 25 gallon tank that I just took down. You are more than welcome to use it until you get something more permanent.

Jon

 

[Boostable]

WOW, very sorry to hear that Scott. Any idea how it got cracked? Just strees?

Good luck...

JW

 

[underground]

hey scott was that the tank u bought from maria? i hope everything turns out alright, i know u wasted a lot of money the setup and time, good luck

 

[onehundred20]

thats to bad, any idea why it cracked yet....How long was it dry.

 

[sttaylor]

After spending the better part of the last 24 hours fighting the good fight, I am throwing in the towel. It looks like I have lost everything in the 20g except for a couple of caps and most of the frags that I had in the 30g.

Jon - thanks for the offer, but it looks like I am going to clean out the 30 and start over. The few remaining corals are in an 18g Rubbermaid bucket with a powerhead and my big skimmer.

Jack & 120 - My best (and only) guess as to why the tank cracked is stress. The crack occurred underneath the 2" sand bed. Maybe the stand is slightly out of square??? It had been set up on carpet before. I had it set up on a bare concrete floor. Maybe the carpet had allowed the stand to give slightly, where the solid floor would be totally unforgiving. The tank could have been dry for 10+ hours but I have no way to tell. The last time I saw it was 9:00 pm Thursday, and discovered it empty at 8:30 am Friday. The two small fish we pretty crisp, but not totally, at 8.30. The sand was damp, but not wet.

Underground - Yes, no, yes, yes and yes.

Thank you all for your sympathy and support. I will begin again soon.

Scott

 

[anative]

Scott,

Give me a call when you get setup again and I will replace those frags you bought last week.

Jon

 

[sttaylor]

Thanks Jon, that is very generous.

Scott