My Worst Nightmare Came True Last Night... Living Room and Downstairs Flooded....

[CharlesCrews]

My roommate woke my up at 5am yesterday morning yelling the aquarium! the aquarium! We live in a 3 story condo, I'm on the 3rd floor, the aquarium is on the 2nd floor, and my roommate is on the first floor. He woke up to water hitting him in the face... coming through the ceiling. When I got to the tank there was about 4 inches of water left, did I mention this is a full planted 140 gallon discus tank! In the front center of the tank the seam had broken (no cracked glass etc) theres about a 1/4 gap inbetween the floor glass and the front panel. Needless to stay you can see the glass all bowed out. I grabbed buckets and started to try and minimize the damage, my girlfriend started grabbing fish and throwing them in buckets. This wasn't an easy task given it was dark and all the plants were down since the water level was low. We saved all 9 discus, 2 angels, 4 loaches, in-fact everything except 2 tertas and 3 otos.

The water filled the living room and ran through the ceiling in my roommates room and the garage, the biggest mess I have ever seen. I never thought this would happen to me, I've heard other people's horror stories but... man you just cant believe it till it happens to you. All the fish are in an old 55 gal I had in the garage, and the plants are in a bucket.

Couple of questions, I have been looking on the local forums and craigslist. I have found a few takes that should work. The biggest thing I need to make sure is that I dont have the tank break again. What is the typical lifetime of an aquarium that is 100-200 gallons? What can I do to make certain it doesnt break a seam again? What should I do with the current tank? Can it be fixed? 556590_10100287585717776_6519030_42277579_1926193360_n.jpg

[aquabee]

Oh my God! I don't know that I have much information to offer in the way of practical advice, but I know lots of members will. I can only say... I'm so sorry this happened! Keep us posted, please!

[algarciajr]

I don't know what the lifespan is but I have a 150 gallon that is 9 years old and a 125 gallon that is probably 10-12 years old and the silicone is still in excellent looking shape on both of them. They are both freshwater, I have seen a lot of saltwater tanks that the silicone seams are very deteriorated. I am not sure if this is because of salt being corrosive or from some the very high power lights that are sometimes us.

[sunkenmetal]

Man that sucks. The front glass is bowed?

[supadave]

Does this tank have a center brace ?

[Darbex]

In short there is no answer on how long a tank will last. It all depends on many factors to name a few 1) Quality of seal work 2) How the tank is handled 3) normal maintenance routine 4) chemicals used 5) How long its been empty. On average a tank should last about 10 - 15 years under normal conditions from what I have read. Just like a car it all depends on many factors and your handling of it. A blow out would lead me to believe it was poor quality or severe use by owner.

[nightster]

Maybe a plants root got adventurous and you tank payed the price...

[Darbex]

Glad you were able to save the fish.

[CharlesCrews]

Does this tank have a center brace ?

The tank has euro braces, three running across the top. It is a DAS (Dutch Aquarium System) tank as well, I believe they are made here in texas. I am just worried because so many of the tanks on here and on craigslist are around 10 years old... I need to replace it soon, and am not really in a position to drop 3k on a brand new one.

[armthehomeless]

The tank has euro braces, three running across the top. It is a DAS (Dutch Aquarium System) tank as well, I believe they are made here in texas. I am just worried because so many of the tanks on here and on craigslist are around 10 years old... I need to replace it soon, and am not really in a position to drop 3k on a brand new one.

I have a 55 that I can let you borrow if you need until you get a new tank. If interested, just PM me. Good luck. I'm eglad to hear that you saved most of the fish.

[eklikewhoa]

I have an old Oceanic 135g that is about 20yrs old now and still up and running.

[CharlesCrews]

I have a 55 that I can let you borrow if you need until you get a new tank. If interested, just PM me. Good luck. I'm eglad to hear that you saved most of the fish.

Thanks a ton for the offer, I had my old 55 in the garage so the fish are in there right now. Going to look at a couple big tanks so I can get all the fish somewhere they have some room to move around soon.

[Totenkampf]

wow, thats terrible...the tank was looking great! i had a canister filter fail recently and dump 40 gallons on my floor so i kinda know how you feel, only mine was on a concrete slab. My 75g oceanic is 14 years and the seams look great, i still trust it. I have had a couple 55g fail after about 15 years but i am sure that was because i moved around alot back then and every time you move a tank you risk the chance of loosening a seam. Its realy odd that it leaked there in the middle due to torsion though, have you ever moved it with the substrate still inside? That would probably do it. Can it be fixed? Sure, I fixed my two 55g but I never really trusted them again...they became paludariums until i sold the frog business. If you are really concerned about it then you may want to find a stopgap tank until you can buy a newer one or at least that will give you the time until you find a used one that you can trust. For new, I always use City Pets since they normally have decent pricing on aquaria.

[troy tucker]

+1 on the glad you saved the fish. I would like to see the tank. I can tell you if it can be fixed but I need to see it or real good picture.

Maybe a plants root got adventurous and you tank payed the price...

Could be...

[armthehomeless]

Thanks a ton for the offer, I had my old 55 in the garage so the fish are in there right now. Going to look at a couple big tanks so I can get all the fish somewhere they have some room to move around soon.

Best of luck. Keep us updated.