General Care Discussion :: disaster! Broken tank

[turtle_nz]

i came home from being away for new years, and half of the water of my 500L tank is on my newish carpet! (my landlord is gonna kill me)

how long ill he be ok for in a temp plastic container do you guys reakon? tanks are pretty expensive here

[cam722]

He should be fine for as long as you need to take to get it taken care of As long as you have all the proper equipment.. like the lights/heater.. etc.

What happened to your tank, did it crack or just spring a leak? If it's a leak you may be able to fix it with aquarium silicone. Hmm if it cracked.. maybe you could take it to a window/glass place and have the side replaced?? Just trying to think of options other than having to put out the $$ for a totally new tank.

What a way to start the New Year.

[SpotsMama]

What bad luck! Hopefully you've now had all the bad luck you're going to have in 2007!

[turtle_nz]

its cracked... , on the end from top to bottom, I think something happened and nobody wants to tell me but oh well.. I've put his filter and heater and lights from his other tank into the new set up, so should be fine

will try to get it fixed i think but yeah. pretty bad luck...

[industrial_girl_2000]

Oh man! You have my sympathy!!!!

How was the tank supported from underneath? What was it resting on? Reason why I ask is because a tank that size needs *very* good support (especially since it is a HUGE tank!!!!). Was your tank-stand damaged in any way?

Cracks in tanks that large usually come from a lack of support on one side & the weight of the water cracks the tank. I have heard horror stories from the aquarium guys about this happening when the tank stand was not settled onto the floor properly. They tell me that if a large 100 gal tank is not on a good tank stand, it needs to literally sit on a concrete slab floor.

[Muirner]

If your tank is still newer, i'd contact the company. At the very least you will help new owners assure they have a safe tank. Another thing to look into if your keeping fish or turtles (not saltwater where u need to drill) pick up a aquarium that has tempored glass all the way around.

[daredevilgirl013]

Ok here's what I would do, get rid of the tank. Go to TSC and buy a stock tank. They don't break, they don't crack! And they are really light weight! The only downside is, no viewing from all sides, only the top. Plus side..no leaks, no breaks..no surprises when you get home..and they are very very cheap!

That's why I bought mine. I was cleaning a new tank I was given...and it just shattered right before my eyes..so nope..no more. I have a stock tank now!

[turtle_nz]

Ok here's what I would do, get rid of the tank. Go to TSC and buy a stock tank. They don't break, they don't crack! And they are really light weight!

I'm not from the states, and so I don't think we can get stuff like that.

Muirner: Unfortunatly, my boss gave me this tank, coz he got a new one for his turtle, and his turtle turns about 20 something this year, so the tank is quite old.

Industrial girl : the stand I made myself, its made from two pieces of wood, that cover the entire base of the tank and the same on the floor, held up by many pieces of wood in between the two big pieces (all the same length) , it was only standing 20cm off the floor, and there was polystyrene on the bottom of the tank. However I think the floor might slope toward that end, and I had rocks leaning on it, which I think it the most probable cause.

*sigh*... time to start calling glass companies

[turtle_nz]

Update :

after speaking to the person who made it, they gave me a company to call who will fix it for me.
gotta take it around there today.. lol who wants to help lift! (only took 4 of us yesterday!!)

[Kallistos]

That sounds good, I'm really curious if someone at your place broke it and was too afraid to fix it. Maybe tell everyone it was free to fix it then ask if anyone did something...I'm sure George is wanting to go back into that beast of a tank.

[turtle_nz]

well my sister was letting one of my dogs sleep in my room each night while I was away, so the dog might have bumped something making the rocks inside move, so they might not know anything happened... just one of those things I guess!

and yeah, im sure he really hates his tiny wee box that he's in now.. :S its not a very good home.. but it will do.. hopefully his tank will be fixed in a week.

[kikicool]

Um, I will help you lift your tank if it means I get to come to New Zealand! Seriously, that's scary. I found mine along the side of the road in the trash.... so far so good, but who knows??

[CountryGirl68]

If you have rocks piled up in the tank, that could have been what caused the crack. A small ding on the glass will cause a crack in no time with that amount of water weight. Although a bit more expensive, you might consider having the bottom of the tank replaced with acrylic to avoid something like this happening in the future.

[turtle_nz]

I've taken the tank to the glass place, the guy looked at it, and showed me that the person who cut the glass had done a pretty bad job of it, and so there was some weak points in the top of the pane, and the combination of the heat from the light bulb, and the rocks pressing on the glass, and the fact that the rocks hold the heat its caused it to crack.
Hopefully they will fix it hehe..
gonna look into getting a ramp made and flat glass area to bask.

[daredevilgirl013]

You can still get stock tanks over there I'm sure. Basically water troughs for animals.