My worst nightmare, and a powerful lesson!

TickleMyElmo

New member
So the day started with good news. I was to report to the police station to get fingerprinted and start my new job soon. All was well at work when I get a call at 5pm from my brother.

"You better get your *** home quick, your fish tank is leaking" Turns out he had stopped home before going to the gym instead of going directly their like he had planned. He began to walk to the bathroom when he stepped in a puddle and noticed. Thank god.

So I'm thinking, no big deal, plug probably fell out on the pump and it'll only be about 5 gallons of water or so and all will be well in my AGA 125 gallon thats been running for just about a year. Until I came home to this...

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my jaw absolutely dropped. I have 11 fish and over $6,000 into this tank. Now all 125 gallons are on the floor. The water has also drained into my basement and flooded that too. My fish are freaking out and with good reason, for they only had about 3 inches of water left. The temperature in the room was abhorrently hot. I noticed the power was off and asked my brother if he had turn it off. Turned out the tank had cracked on the very bottom and water was dripping onto an spider outlet under the tank. I then realized the GFI outlet I was so adamant about getting had saved the house from burning down for a mere $18. Let this be a lesson folks. Get a GFI and use it!

I immediately scrambled to take the water that was left and put it into three 2-gallon buckets. I put all 11 fish in one bucket and got my 38 gallon rubbermaid container I used for water changes and began filling it. I had just enough salt to get it to a 1.022 sg. Another lesson, always have salt on hand, you never know when you will need it. I let the salt settle in the container for about an hour and a half to 2 hours before I had to put the fish into the container with no acclimation because the ammonia buildup in the 2-gallon bucket was quickly becoming lethal. I put the live rock in the rubbermaid container as well. I tried to save the sand by putting in into another container with a bit of water to keep it moist.

My next thought was "My dad is going to be soooooo ****ed!" Turns out he took it better than expected. He just thought it was a "damn shame" because of how well everything was going and how quickly I managed to get it done in all relativity.

We spent from 5pm to jsut now at 10:45 shop vacuuming the floor and using towels, drying the carpet and using some industrial strength Pledge on the brand new wooden flooring. The basement is still flooded but it has seen worse, and there is a drain down there anyways.

My filter is still hooked up and even still has water in it. I did need to clean it anyways. So now I sit and wait. I have to go to work from 6am to 2pm tomorrow and plan to call AGA as soon as I get home as their hotline is open until 4pm. I'm just hoping my fish don't die in the mean time. The tank has a lifetime guarantee and was bought from a local shop and was sent directly from the factory still wrapped in cardboard and bubble wrap. They better be giving me a new tank or there will be holy hell. The tank was perfectly level and supported underneath by multiple jack stands that haven't moved an inch so I know that was not the cause. The crack is not very visible. Its more an imperfection in the silicone seal than anything. The tank came with a lifetime guarantee so it bette be replaced and quickly.

I'm a patient person, but this has left me slightly disgruntled, especially after all that time,money, and hard work. If the fish die, I will be absolutely livid

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:mad2:
 
WOW!! That's awful! Absolutely a fishkeepers worst nightmare! Was the stand also from AGA? I ask because some mfgrs void the warranty if you use a stand other than their own. Check on this. Will your lfs hold your fish for you?
Wishing you luck with the clean up and restoration of your system.
 
It sounds like there was minimal damage to your house. However, if the total dollar amount is big (like $10-20k+), then you might want to claim it against your homeowner's insurance.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13097172#post13097172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by limitdown
It sounds like there was minimal damage to your house. However, if the total dollar amount is big (like $10-20k+), then you might want to claim it against your homeowner's insurance.

Yeah my dad laughed and complained that I should have never got the GFI so the house would burn and he could start over :p
 
The same thing happened to my 200gl several years ago. I was living on the third floor. The people living bellow never spoke to me again!!
 
I'm so sorry! It's good that your dad was understanding. You thought fast and dealt with it with the right action.

Thank you for sharing your story. You have me scared. I'm going on vacation for a week this Saturday, and will be paranoid the whole time. I'm buying the GFI tomorrow!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13098219#post13098219 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LisaD
I'm so sorry! It's good that your dad was understanding. You thought fast and dealt with it with the right action.

Thank you for sharing your story. You have me scared. I'm going on vacation for a week this Saturday, and will be paranoid the whole time. I'm buying the GFI tomorrow!

It was certainly the best piece of euipment bought. $18 or a $400,000 house.....
 
Wow!

Wow!

What a bummer...

Tell us more about the crack on the bottom of your tank... that seems very rare... (hopefully)

Was there a factory defect? Issue with the stand?

Inquiring minds would like to know, so it doesn't happen to us! :)

Thanks.

LL
 
agreed! that's why I'm paranoid. I have a 210 AGA on an AGA stand. no warranty either, got it used from my mom.
 
I'm sorry.....can you tell us what company AGA stands for? I would like the brand of the stand and the tank so I never buy one!! Maybe we all would like this information.
Thanks, Lesley
 
AGA stands for All Glass Aquarium.

As it turns out there was no crack ,but instead an imperfection in the silicone seal near both cross braces that slowly led to the death of my tank.

Before I ever got started I test filled it and detected absolutely no leaks. Just goes to show that nobody is completely safe....
 
Since February, so about 6 and a half months.

Filled the tank on the front porch to find the leak today, and talk about catastrophic failure. It was leaking on both sides of each of the 2 cross braces on the bottom. This is the right cross brace. Every ripple you see, is a spot where water was gushing out of.

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I agree that is everyone's worst nightmare.

What I've done is hooked up a flood alarm to my house alarm. The flood alarm is always on, even if the door and window alarms aren't on. Should there be any leak my siren will go off and then the alarm company will contact me or my contacts by phone. That obviously won't prevent a leak but may let you know before a flood ensues.

I'd say that AGA owes you more than a new tank!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13102662#post13102662 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by squealy
I'd say that AGA owes you more than a new tank!
The sad thing is that AGA's warranty only applies if you keep the tank on a AGA stand, which he clearly wasnt from the pictures.
 
Re: My worst nightmare, and a powerful lesson!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13096999#post13096999 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TickleMyElmo

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that is an all glass stand you can tell by this pic.....
 
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