I was re-modeling the room behind the tanks to replace the old linoleum with tile and to replace the original rubbermaid sumps (each tank had its own 100 gallon sump) with one 200 gallon sump. I was shutting down one tank at a time to refurbish that half of the room. I had just finished one side and got it back running, when I noticed that the tank was not completely level and that one of the cross braces had a crack in it. I believe the crack in the brace was do to deterioration from heat and so age.
I lowered the water level in the tank and used all thread to shore up the brace. With the water level lowered I used some shims to level the tank forgetting to release one of the return lines to the sump. This put excessive pressure on the bulkhead on the tank and poof the tank cracked. when it broke it sounded like a 22 going off. Luckily the glass didnt blow out it only leaked a small stream right into the sump, I moved everything in to the sump and a couple of trash cans. I got really lucky on that aspect. The new tank will be flexible PVC.
