It happened, a reef keepers worst Nightmare!

mbowker

mbowker

Member
While I was admiring my beutiful 150 gallon reef yesterday, a crack started from the bottom corner and ran diagonally up to the top of the tank. fortunatly i was home and only lost about 80 gallons of water. We scrambled to get rubbermaid totes and bins to catch as much as we could. I snapped a few shots to share with you. I did an all nighter drying and replacing carpet in the living room. " I want vinyl tile put down" and I say this with a squeeky voice. says my wife. all the corals are opening up in the containers, I put small filters and My pc lighting on them (4 large bins), two 45 gal tubs for the live rock, and two more containers for the live sand. All with powerheads for movement. I hope to start putting the tank back together in about an hour. Any suggestions on adding things back in to the tank would be helpful. And a little pity wouldnt hurt either, IM TIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! , I love my reef, Oi!
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Ouch!!!!!
Hopefully you'll locate a replacement quick!!!
That is definitely a nightmare.....worse things can happen....but not many!!!!
 
mbowker

mbowker

Member
about one hour ride for the nearest tank, had to spend 600.00 for new tank and stand(didnt need the stand as much but I liked it). its ready to go back together shortly
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
WOW, that "sucks"...
How did that happen..?
Where you just "standing there" and it cracked in front of your eyes, or did something "hit, chip, fall or lean against it"...??
And why did you hack into the carpet...? (unless you wanted to replace it anyway)...A wet/Dry vac through the night and a good "Carpet Cleaner" with a power vac" in the morning, could have saved it...??
 
mbowker

mbowker

Member
I was literally sitting on my couch admiring it, and out of the blue, BANG, a crack and waterfall.
MY wife(I call her Godzilla)s sqeeky voice, "That carpets it coming out., im not gonna smell that forever". I think she wanted a new floor anyway.
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Gotta love them squeaky voiced wifes huh?!!?
Mine is short and blonde and mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully everything will survive the transition...best of luck...
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member

Originally posted by MBowker
I was literally sitting on my couch admiring it, and out of the blue, BANG, a crack and waterfall.
MY wife(I call her Godzilla)s sqeeky voice, "That carpets it coming out., im not gonna smell that forever". I think she wanted a new floor anyway.
Ah Ha...

It's all starting to come together now....:thinking:
Better check her kitchen drawers for any blunt or heavy "instruments of destruction" she might be trying to hide...
Probably "buried" under the carpet and Tile "samples"...:D
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Gasp *
I can't imangine, and I wouldn't even want to. Thats horrible. I agree that I hope you find a replacement ASAP. Thats just gotta make your heart sink. mine did.
Best of luck MBowker.
 
soapbubble

soapbubble

New Member
Just awful. On the bright side?? It happened while you were there and not while you were sleeping. It could have been worse if you didn't catch it right away. Sorry to hear about it.
 
caillou

caillou

Member
Happened to me about a year ago in my 75. No reason at all just cracked in the back. Luckily like you I happened to be right there when it happened. On the plus side I keep the tank in my office in the basement(no carpet and a floor drain near by) Waht a bummer. The girl at the LFS is a girl I went to high school like 15 years ago and when I walked in and told her she dropped everything she was doing and helped me pick out the new tank and gear to get me out of there ASAP. Thank god. Didn't really lose anything except a nice Sunday. Hope all works out for you.
 
scoobydoo

scoobydoo

Active Member

Originally posted by NM reef
Mine is short and blonde and mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They ALL are, you make us that way!
 
colcoral

colcoral

Member
I have great sympathy. I had a similiar experience, but mine was a slow leak through the corner in the bottom. I had a little more time, but ended up spending way too much on a bigger tank that I like much better. I have also had the flood scene. I have my sump under my tank and I had a snail get stuck in the tube that goes from my overflow down under, my pumps don't turn off and just kept on pumping........ what a mess. Now I have a screen on it. Good luck and on the bright side, I found a lot of stuff in my tank, (a few sallylight foot crabs) and some other critters I hadn't actually seen for a while.
And my husband in his not so squeaky voice said, How much was that? To which I responded - Don't worry I got a great deal.
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
Make sure the new tank is level. Unlevel tanks can cause glass to crack. A friend of mine had his tank break in two ..he was only out of level by about a 1/4". I believe it was about a 240 gallon aquarium. BIG FLOOD ...lost everything as he was not home when the tank glass cracked.
 
mbowker

mbowker

Member
things are starting to shape up a little, this little break (no pun intended) in the action(posting) is keeping me sane.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top