55 gallons worth of disaster.

2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///forum/thread/381486/55-gallons-worth-of-disaster/20#post_3323995
So do you give up finding the cause? LOL...I only buy dog toys at Pet Smart.
1/4th glass is for a reptile tank, the 3/8th glass is for keeping fish. They may sell it for fish, but I always make sure I get the thicker glass for fish, the10g tanks I never paid attention to, I have never owned an acrylic tank.
For now I give up! I can't think of what else it could be other than the seal giving way. Perhaps the 1/4" glass could have flexed causing it to happen but I'm not sure if I'll ever know. Those perfecto tanks are sold everywhere...petsmart, *****...walmart. I think they sell them to the various manufactureres and then they put a sticker with their name on it. They are definately marketed as fish tanks but I know I'll never own another one. I think the 1/4" is fine for the smaller tanks but anything above 30G I think should be manufactured with 3/8". JMO
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/381486/55-gallons-worth-of-disaster/20#post_3323955
Al...I am usually always diligent in checking my tanks...I check them at least 2-3 times a day if not more. The tank was full when I went to bed at 11 the other night. But I didn't sleep well at all. I was very tired that morning and admittedly I didn't check the tanks that morning before I headed out for work. The wife called me just before 9 in the morning when she noticed. So there is a 10 hour window of when it could have happened.
I was only asking - I wanted to make a quick calculation to see what size of a hole it would take to drain it, I figured it over 8 hours and the equivalent diameter would be 0.69 inches. The formula is for a constant head over the outlet or leak. Plus it ddn't have the weight of the sand on it. Well sounds like I am babling, have a good night and sorry this happened to you again. But here is the formula it is a good one for figuring out bulkhead sizes for overflows, incase you already didn't have it.




55 gallon tank







































I assumed leaked out in 8 hours



































Leakage rate (flow) = 6.875GPH = 0.0153 ft3/sec



























18" high tank = 1.5 feet











































































Formula for flow through a hole basically - this formula is for a constant level of water over the hole - as the tank drained this number gets smaller - I just used the 18" height so this number is conservative, I didn't want to use a really complicated formula
















































Q = 0.6 X A X (2gh)1/2















































































where











































Q=flow rate = 0.0153 ft^3/sec



































A = area of the hole, feet



































g = acceleration due to gravity 32.2 ft/sec^2































h= height of water above hole - as I said above I used 18" which is conservative, 1.5 feet for this formula

























































A = 0.00259 ft^2 = a hole diameter of 0.69 inches
 
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