Have you ever had a tank crack or explode?

[AydenLincoln]

This is one of my irrational fears that one day I will end up with a flooded floor and dead fish/inverts. How rare would you say it is? What’s your tank horror story? Besides seeing it happen to Red Sea which to be honest I feel has to do with the fact that the very front is not supported by the stand at all.

 

[Kellie in CA]

I think about this a lot, especially living in earthquake land. But I have been doing this a long time and it’s never happened *knock on wood*.

 

[maroun.c]

Have had my 400G leak but not explode. I've seen a 400 tank burst and the front panel fly off (acrylic) and that was scary.
Not a common thing to happen with quality manufacturers and if stand is well designed abd installed.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I think about this a lot, especially living in earthquake land. But I have been doing this a long time and it’s never happened *knock on wood*.

Well that’s good and that’s a reason California scares me. I’d love to go or live there one day but for now I’m happy to live in one of the safest areas from natural disasters according to FEMA.

 

[Kellie in CA]

Well that’s good and that’s a reason California scares me. I’d love to go or live there one day but for now I’m happy to live in one of the safest areas from natural disasters according to FEMA.

Well, I’ve been here 30 years and haven’t experienced any quake big enough to really scare me. But again…. *knock on wood*

 

[Dustye]

I had the bottom of a 29 gallon crack once and another tank spring a leak.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I bought a used tank fifteen years ago and it burst its seams in the middle of the night. That was pretty traumatic -- I lost everything -- and it caused me to stop reefing for the next thirteen years.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I bought a used tank fifteen years ago and it burst its seams in the middle of the night. That was pretty traumatic -- I lost everything -- and it caused me to stop reefing for the next thirteen years.

And this is why I prefer not to buy used tanks!

 

[davidcalgary29]

And this is why I prefer not to buy used tanks!

The experience gained was priceless, though: I now know what to do when the worst happens, and that's saved me a lot of heartache when I started things back up again.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I’d love to go or live there one day but for now I’m happy to live in one of the safest areas from natural disasters

 

[AydenLincoln]

I was talking about cities being Allentown, PA very close to me and considered the same area.

 

[MiniGbr]

This is one of my irrational fears that one day I will end up with a flooded floor and dead fish/inverts. How rare would you say it is? What’s your tank horror story? Besides seeing it happen to Red Sea which to be honest I feel has to do with the fact that the very front is not supported by the stand at all.

Yes. It was terrible.

this was what it was:

Became a big S crack 6 months after running:

Lost some coral and fish, but luckily had a friend that had a spare tank I could put everything in while I replaced the glass. But now every time I hear any noise from the tank I wake up or freak out. Not sure if I’m being irrational or not…

 

[killer2001]

Yes. It was terrible.

this was what it was:

Became a big S crack 6 months after running:

Lost some coral and fish, but luckily had a friend that had a spare tank I could put everything in while I replaced the glass. But now every time I hear any noise from the tank I wake up or freak out. Not sure if I’m being irrational or not…

Wow, that is unfortunate. Whatever you do, don't get a pistol shrimp! My little guy snaps every night, sounds like a rock is being thrown against the inside of the glass lol.

 

[TopClamSkoo]

Have had my 400G leak but not explode. I've seen a 400 tank burst and the front panel fly off (acrylic) and that was scary.
Not a common thing to happen with quality manufacturers and if stand is well designed abd installed.

How did u fix it? Did u had to empty it out and reseal it? Please tell me no .... Lol!

 

[MiniGbr]

How did u fix it? Did u had to empty it out and reseal it? Please tell me no .... Lol!

I had to empty it, cut the cracked panel of glass out, clean the edges of old silicone, have a new piece of glass cut, and then I resiliconed it into place. Took a couple months to get it sorted. Not fun at all! Next time I’ll just buy something normal instead of custom building ‍

 

[Fishy888]

I was talking about cities being Allentown, PA very close to me and considered the same area.

I used to live just outside Philly and have been to Allentown more than once.

I have been keeping fish off and on (much more on than off) for about 30 years. I had one tank crack and leak because it was a 10 gallon sitting on a window sill in the basement and the window was drafty. Enough cold air got in to crack it. After that I had my 75 gallon spring a leak. That happened a few days ago however I happened to catch it rather quickly. I doubt even a gallon ended up on the floor. The only way a tank is going to just up and crack is if it's exposed to sharp temperature contrasts or if something hard hits it or if something is thrown at it. Other things can cause catastrophic failures but usually there's plenty of warning first.

 

[maroun.c]

How did u fix it? Did u had to empty it out and reseal it? Please tell me no .... Lol!

I had signs that it was going to fail.and had a replacement tank being made on same day it failed. Unfortunately was on travel and it popped at 2 am. So was lucky that my wife heard it in time and that lfs responded fast so tank was drained and all stuff was moved to a tank I had prepared.

Discussed it here on my build thread.

Monster Build - Maroun.c 400 G build thread

Purple Haze Montipora Oct 2015 Mar 2016 June 2016 Mystic monti and Tyree Undata post quarantine 25-oct-2015 mystic is one on Right 2-Nov 2015 my SSC falls on mystic and this is what remains of it. 16 Jan 2016 Mystic recovering beautifully Undata Attributed the growth...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Garf]

This is one of my irrational fears that one day I will end up with a flooded floor and dead fish/inverts. How rare would you say it is? What’s your tank horror story? Besides seeing it happen to Red Sea which to be honest I feel has to do with the fact that the very front is not supported by the stand at all.

I’ve had the end panel fall out of a 6’ x 2’ x 2’. The wife broke the center brace a while before and I guess the stress was just too much, especially with my toilet flush actuated surge system, lol.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Well that’s good and that’s a reason California scares me. I’d love to go or live there one day but for now I’m happy to live in one of the safest areas from natural disasters according to FEMA.

Meh, earthquakes aren't the end all be all (quietly waits for the big one). I've been around a few rollers with aquariums: Whittier '87, Landers (Big Bear) '92, Northridge '94, and a few others that broke 5.0 on the richter scale since high school in the early 1990's. Northridge was a nightmare and a LOT of water hit the floor @ my parents house at the time. Usually by the time we feel it, decide to maybe wedge under something or the old get in the doorway mantra, it's over.

The hardest shake I've been through wasn't a earthquake, it was the noise of a DC9 aircraft falling from the sky and slamming into the ground, three blocks from my grandparents house.

We had a good shaker a few years ago, (2019 or 2020) where I did see the tank begin to slosh water a bit (total wave action), I was gonna throw the circuit breaker to kill the power, but the quake was over by the time I walked over to the panel to kill the power.

In the end, Californians are aware of earthquakes, but it doesn't consume us, we can't allow it to.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

To actually say something on the thread, yep, two failures: one glass and one acrylic. Glass was a seam failure at the top, old Leemar @ the point in time 12+ years ago. The acrylic was a catastrophic failure, front panel blew off my old 150g and pushed me out the hobby (along with a divorce).