seam failed on 220gallon Marineland aquarium

[Sounds Fishy]

I managed to save my adult female Bluespot ribbon tail Stingray.My aquarium lost out to gravity yesterday.I noticed the failure when the aquarium had only 20 gallons left.This is something I always worried about.The aquarium was 3 yrs. old.Thank God I was home.

 

[BZOFIQ]

One Marineland after another..geeez

Sorry to hear; I hope I dont ever have to deal with such a disaster.

 

[shaginwagon13]

I managed to save my adult female Bluespot ribbon tail Stingray.My aquarium lost out to gravity yesterday.I noticed the failure when the aquarium had only 20 gallons left.This is something I always worried about.The aquarium was 3 yrs. old.Thank God I was home.

I have never bought Marineland so not sure, but any chance there is warranty?

I had a seam blow 5 years ago and I had to fight with my insurance company for a while before they covered it and the damage fully.

 

[fishguy597]

I had a seam blow 5 years ago and I had to fight with my insurance company for a while before they covered it and the damage fully.[/QUOTE]

Out of curiosity what was your stance with the insurance company? Do you have special coverage? I guess I never thought of the possibility of hundreds of gallons all over the floor.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

I used to have a 180.There was a crack in the glass,and they(Marineland via Big Als lfs) replaced it.That was 2015.At that time I upgraded to a 220.The claim is being made for a warranty replacement.No damages.I have only made contact with the lfs at this point.They take each claim and review it.I know it has a lifetime warranty however I must be patient.My lfs doesn't stock Marineland currently and that will make this claim a bit different.Tlhe 180 gallon aquarium claim was handled by the lfs when they were still selling Marineland.As they do not stock Marineland currently,it changes things a bit.Since the lfs doesn't deal with they can't just take one from inventory and this time the process will not be as streamlined..Anyway,if this does get sorted out,I really want my stingray back home.The lfs is holding her for me for about 2 weeks.If there is no decision by then by Marineland I will need to sell the stingray because it takes up a whole aquarium at the lfs,which the store should be using as retail space.That is the best fish I ever had,and I started keeping marine fish 40 years ago.She had a great appetite (especially for a Bluespot ribbon tail, which are hard to feed in captivity according to Live Aquaria's website).Very gentle,disposition, letting me stroke her with my hand during feeding.I really think she knew who I was.My aquarium is set in the wall of my winterized cottage and the stingray was like the heartbeat of the room.Very cool fish.It doubled in size in one year,and cost a ton of money to feed.If they cannot replace the aquarium under warranty, then I won't be replacing it.A very interesting thing did happen when the aquarium broke.There was no water to clean up.All 220 gallons went directly into the floor,directly under the 220 and did not soak the new hardwood floors that are 4 weeks old.As I mentioned earlier, it is a cottage and there is just dirt under the floor ( no foundation).That saved me having to mop up 220 gallons of salt water.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I used to have a 180.There was a crack in the glass,and they(Marineland via Big Als lfs) replaced it.That was 2015.At that time I upgraded to a 220.The claim is being made for a warranty replacement.I have only made contact with the lfs at this point.They take each claim and review it.I know it has a lifetime warranty however I must be patient.My lfs doesn't stock Marineland currently and that will make this claim a bit different.Tlhe 180 gallon aquarium claim was handled by the lfs when they were still selling Marineland.As they do not stock Marineland currently,it changes things a bit.Since the lfs doesn't deal with they can't just take one from inventory and this time the process will not be as streamlined..Anyway,if this does get sorted out,I really want my stingray back home.The lfs is holding her for me for about 2 weeks.If there is no decision by then by Marineland I will need to sell the stingray because it takes up a whole aquarium at the lfs,which the store should be using as retail space.That is the best fish I ever had,and I started keeping marine fish 40 years ago.She had a great appetite (especially for a Bluespot ribbon tail, which are hard to feed in captivity according to Live Aquaria's website).Very gentle,disposition, letting me stroke her with my hand during feeding.I really think she knew who I was.My aquarium is set in the wall of my winterized cottage and the stingray was like the heartbeat of the room.Very cool fish.It doubled in size in one year,and cost a ton of money to feed.

Again, Really sorry to hear

 

[Sounds Fishy]

Thank you xoomer.This is my 3rd large tank that burst since1982.It is something that is feared by everyone in the hobby but not talked about too much.The previous aquarium failures took me away from the hobby for fear it would happen again but I always come back with a bigger tank when I return

 

[shaginwagon13]

Out of curiosity what was your stance with the insurance company? Do you have special coverage? I guess I never thought of the possibility of hundreds of gallons all over the floor.

As this instance was also my first tank I did not have a special policy for tank and water coverage.

After the tank broke, about 220 gallons of water ended up on the floor, drywall.... you can picture the mess. Everything inside the tank (corals and fish) were all dead when I got home on the floor.

The insurance company, naturally, tried to insist and wiggle out of compensating for the tank and it’s inhabitants, the damage to the house the had no choice but to pay for. After 5-6 months of arguing and back and forth I was fully compensated for all fish, corals, livestock and equipment that was ruined or damaged. The only item not covered was the glass tank itself since it was what caused all the damage to behin with. I was more than satisfied with how I ended up settling.

After that experience, I added a policy specifically for my current tank, all equipment and livestock should it ever happen again no questions asked. Well worth the small price increase in monthly insurance payments.

I also now get my tanks made so I can ‘secure’ both the top and the bottom of the tank with custom steel framing. I do a lot to try and prevent it from happeneing again.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

After reading your reply Shaginwagon , I'd like to ask you who makes your custom aquariums and are they local to you in TO.
Are they glass?You must have a very nice reef display,with over 600 gallons.

 

[shaginwagon13]

After reading your reply Shaginwagon , I'd like to ask you who makes your custom aquariums and are they local to you in TO.
Are they glass?You must have a very nice reef display,with over 600 gallons.

I get them made at Miracles Aquarium. Honestly their quality is top notch.

www.miraclesaquariums.com

I have a local CNC shop I always use to build my stands and canopies to how I spec them out. If you notice in the pictures, I get about 4" on the top and all around the top of the aquarium framed it. There is about a 0.5" space between the tank and the metal stand which I pump full of clear acrylic. This basically sandwiches the tank inside the stand, while allowing for the acrylic to allow the glass to flex as its worn in and water is added. I also get the stand, bracing and canopy powder coated.

Below are some progress pictures from when the tank was brand new. I will take some tonight for you as I now have a lot more fish, and I am almost at the point of getting my water up to coral standards.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

I have heard nothing but good feedback about Miracle Custom Aquariums.They have a solid reputation.Also having added step of adding the frame must give you an indistructable glass aquarium.What are the dimensions.That is a great looking aquarium.The glass thickness on my 220 was only a 1/2"thick which I thought would pose a problem,when I purchased it,because the hieght dimension was 30".
I spoke with the lfs today and they are going to replace and reinstall a new aquarium unit in my wall..... a 210 gallon Aqueon (I think the lfs is doing this on their own,because if they were having Marineland replace it, then I would expect them to give me a Marineland aquarium).
I am looking forward to the future delivery of this new replacement aquarium and getting my stingray back home.I am hoping for better luck this time.Since I am retired and money is tight I am thankful they are covering this because there isn't enough money in my bank account to do this on my own right now.
When I moved into my cottage I tried to obtain flood insurance for an aquarium disaster but I was limited to what the standard policy calls for (insurance companies try limit their responsibilities and because so many of there policy holders have flooded basements in the big cities).I think I was told they would cover a flood from my aquarium up to $1000.00.Since my deductible is $1000.00,I assume they are not very helpful ..

 

[OrQidz]

Sorry to hear about the tank! Sounds like it would be a huge shame to lose the sting ray...if you can't get a new tank sorted maybe look into alternatives? There are people who have built plywood tanks, or used kiddie type pools, all kinds of stuff. Might be worth going outside the box to keep her. Just a thought. Good luck whatever you decide on.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

Thanks OrQidz,
I think a replacement aquarium is going to get sent to me,but it's not in stock at the moment,so there is going to be quite a lull in time before I can get the stingray back.As of Friday the lfs looking after my warrantee and stingray seems to be optimistic this will all work out successfully when all is said and done.They seem to be happy looking after her (they also have a sea urchin and racoon butterfly fish I saved...however I only care about the stingray).
I thought of using a kiddy pool however my living space is limited and I have 3 cats ,who would love to investigate anything swimming in it.Also the stingray creates a huge bio load,which would cause issues in anything but a very well filtered environment.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

Well after 3 months ,I finally have my stingray back home.I have just put her in her new aquarium.The lfs took very good care of her while the new replacement aquarium arrived and was set up.While I picked up my stingray I also purchased a very nice zebra moray eel.It is terrific to have everything put back in place.My stingray has expanded it's repertoire of food which now includes anchovies.

 

[R1ant04]

Congrats man....We need pics!

 

[rvareef]

I managed to save my adult female Bluespot ribbon tail Stingray.My aquarium lost out to gravity yesterday.I noticed the failure when the aquarium had only 20 gallons left.This is something I always worried about.The aquarium was 3 yrs. old.Thank God I was home.

this happens a lot, good thing you were home!

 

[Ramracer32]

wow sorry to hear. I had the dumbest thing happen to me 5 years ago. I had a 180 fresh water aquarium that had an air line pop off the air pump and over the 12 hrs i was at work about 160 gallons siphoned out of the tank messing up main floor and finished basement. i never felt so dumb for not using a $5 air line check valve..............