Well... lost my 60 gal cube tonight

[scott4077]

So there I am at 1130 pm getting out of the shower to go to work (working mid shifts right now) and I hear what I can only describe as a severe rain storm in my living room. I run in and check the 150gal first... no issues thank god, and then i look at my 60 cube and see the water level is low... kind of odd so I open the cabinet and see that the bottom of the tank is cracked from one end to the other and water is rushing out. This being my first time dealing with this kind of thing i was justifiably very stressed, but all in all the process was not too bad. Luckily my sump in this tank was about the same dimension as the display so the water was mostly leaking back into the sump, the return pump was doing its job and bringing it back to the display so I didn’t end up flooding my sump. I unplugged everything else i could and got the gravel siphon out and began draining the tank. Took a while but I got the display nearly empty, I cut the hose of the return pump and used the hose to drain the sump. Total process took about 15 minutes to get all of the water and the tank/stand/sump outside, the carpet was pretty wet but nothing I couldn’t dry up with some towels and carpet cleaner.

I’m not really sure what caused the crack I have a pretty dang think sand-bed so if a rock shifted I don’t really think it could have cracked the glass, but who knows...


A few things to be thankful for-

1) I was on mid-shift so i was actually awake when this happened and able to handle, rather than waking up at 8 am to a flooded house.

2) The sump was the same size as the tank allowing the leaking water to go back into the sump.

3) The tank was still cycling and there wasn’t anything in there (except for a snail that i had added the day before to see if the water was inhabitable)

 

[NY_Caveman]

Holy cow! That is terrible, but it sounds like you had some luck with any damage to the room.

 

[scott4077]

 

[NY_Caveman]

Such a sad look on the dog. Guessing you have the same look.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

Very sad. Sorry to hear this happened.
I saw the crack on one of the pics and it looks like it goes up towards the bulkheads which means they were over tightened.
Just to put a light on what may have caused it.

 

[Katrina71]

Oh no! I'm so sorry

 

[Ron Reefman]

Just a few questions for my own curiosity, the 60g was a rimless tank, right? Was it just sitting on the edge of the stand without any other support for the bottom? I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just curious. Also, how thick is the bottom glass? Are you absolutely sure the stand was level and square when the tank was set down and checked again after it was filled. If it was a little out of square diagonally from corner to corner that could have put stress on the bottom and caused the crack which appears to run more or less diagonally across the bottom glass.

I ask these questions for two reasons, 1) so I can learn and 2) maybe others will learn and/or be more careful when setting up a similar tank. I have a 50g cube that is 3/8" glass and it sits on a yoga mat which sits on a thin sheet of FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) which is glued to a sheet of 3/4" marine plywood. It's just a personal decision, but I wouldn't set a rimless tank down on just the edge of a stand. But then I had a failure similar to yours with a 180g tank that the back glass and bottom glass separated in the middle of the back and leaked 30+ gph and I couldn't do anything to stop it. It was out of reach from behind and under a huge rockscape from inside. Oh, and mine happened at 5am and we woke up to the sound of water spewing out the back of the tank against the wall and splashing all over the place!

Best of luck and hang in there.

 

[tripdad]

Sorry to hear about the crack. I think that water sound is every reefers nightmare. Neat pup you have.

 

[acro-ed]

If that was a "frameless" tank (no plastic trim at all) it needs to be supported underneath, not just on the edges. A "framed" tank (like a Deep Blue 60g rimless) could be supported with a stand like yours.

Hope that helps for the future.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

flat bottom tanks need a flat, solid surface. that was a disaster waiting to happen, just sorry it happened to you!

 

[ca1ore]

Yeah, that sucks. Usually it’s a result of the stand not being coplanar, and the stress on the bottom panel eventually results in failure. Whether not having had the full bottom supported was the reason for failure depends entirely on how the tank was designed. After all, rimmed tanks are only supported on the perimeter, but the glass thickness accounts for that.

 

[wesman42]

Would the glass being tempered have allowed for a stand such as the one OP uses? Obviously if it was tampered I feel like any break would have been a complete shatter.

 

[Billldg]

Glad you caught that in time, could have been far worse, sorry that it happened though.

 

[hart24601]

Holy cow! what luck!!!!

Happy you caught it and would agree with the other comments about the support/lack of and foam being the issue.

 

[scott4077]

Just a few questions for my own curiosity, the 60g was a rimless tank, right? Was it just sitting on the edge of the stand without any other support for the bottom? I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just curious. Also, how thick is the bottom glass? Are you absolutely sure the stand was level and square when the tank was set down and checked again after it was filled. If it was a little out of square diagonally from corner to corner that could have put stress on the bottom and caused the crack which appears to run more or less diagonally across the bottom glass.

I ask these questions for two reasons, 1) so I can learn and 2) maybe others will learn and/or be more careful when setting up a similar tank. I have a 50g cube that is 3/8" glass and it sits on a yoga mat which sits on a thin sheet of FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) which is glued to a sheet of 3/4" marine plywood. It's just a personal decision, but I wouldn't set a rimless tank down on just the edge of a stand. But then I had a failure similar to yours with a 180g tank that the back glass and bottom glass separated in the middle of the back and leaked 30+ gph and I couldn't do anything to stop it. It was out of reach from behind and under a huge rockscape from inside. Oh, and mine happened at 5am and we woke up to the sound of water spewing out the back of the tank against the wall and splashing all over the place!

Best of luck and hang in there.

rimless, pretty thick and i measured every corner and side to make sure i had the tank even. I'm guessing the other comments are on point thinking back i should have really considered putting something under the tank to brace it more. got it from a shop up in phoenix as a set so i didn't put a lot of thought into that as it was sold like that. won't make this mistake again, luckily i got it used for a pretty good deal and didn't lose to much $$ in this.

 

[Reef Dude]

I think I recognize this setup because I used to have he same thing... until the thin glass (I could easily see visible bowing) and unsupported bottom panel began to scare the crap out of me. So I put it up and took it down 2 weeks later lol. Wife wasn’t too happy I wanted a new tank after just setting up a new tank.

This is a Marineland 60g cube on the stand they manufacture for this tank, right? If so, this is the stand the manufacturer provides for this tank, and it is the stand that they warranty their tanks under. Although it looks scary, this is the system they manufacture and you really can’t find many instances of these tanks failing like yours did. Which says a lot since these are mass produced tanks.

Your situation is my worst nightmare, and I’m so happy for you that this worked out about as good as it could have.

 

[Nate77]

Dang that suck big time , however the pic of the tank and dog is priceless

 

[vetteguy53081]

That just sucks!!! By chance a Marineland tank?

 

[Coralreefer1]

That sucks and I can feel your pain, stress and anger. I had metal halides pendants that on two separate occasions fell into my 125 gallon reef tank. Fortunately, nothing died, no fires just damaged halide bulbs and cracked glass protective shields! Are you going to get another tank?

 

[scott4077]

Yes this is the marine land 60 gallon, i still have my 150g tank so I'm going to just stick with that for awhile. not sure if ill ever be ready to do a cube again after this. My dog might be more upset than i am, he spends his whole day watching the fish and he was very confused why his new fish tank was outside.