Wow. Bullet dodged.

by GaryE Sun Oct 05, 2014 7:03 pm

Sometimes, we dodge bullets.

I have had an old tank here for ages - a 15 gallon that housed my Trinidad guppies. A few days ago, I noticed a slow leak to the basement floor. A closer inspection showed the frame, a very thin plastic one not at all like the ones good tanks have now, had separated at the top corners. I removed the fish to another tank and siphoned out the water.

When I got to taking a closer look, a slight tug left the entire front plate in my hands, an intact, rectangular piece of glass. It slid out into my hands, with no effort. That tank was held together by the desperate wishes of the fishes within it, I guess.

It is incredible that it even held water. Wow. I think I might be a little less cheap if I ever move back into a place where I don't have my tanks over a cement garage floor. It might be time to take down and resilicone a few of the oldies.

by Starfish Sun Oct 05, 2014 7:53 pm

Wow, you were lucky with that one.

by **Sbenson11** Mon Oct 06, 2014 4:55 am

If that was me I would have fish and water everywhere,

Steve

by Dan_R Mon Oct 06, 2014 5:30 am

Impressive save.

by Fores41 Mon Oct 06, 2014 10:51 am

I`m the same as Steve,Good luck and good timing Gary

by **hello_rockview12** Mon Oct 06, 2014 11:28 am

Talk about a close call... that's one of my biggest fears, coming home to 75G of water on the floor/leaked into the basement.... what a cleanup/repair job that would be. Glad you dodged it!

by nyleveiam Mon Oct 06, 2014 12:28 pm

When I redid the 29 and came home to water all over the floor I was panicked until I realized it was only a drip, drip from a leaking filter. Still scared me!!!
Tis a dangerous hobby we pursue!!!

by Alexpatrascu Mon Oct 06, 2014 2:02 pm

GaryE wrote:That tank was held together by the desperate wishes of the fishes within it, I guess.

That made my day....but good thing you dogged this one.

I had 30 gal of salt water in my apartment when the tank cracked just as I was cleaning out the buckets that I used to fill the tank up.

Mind you, it was midnight and good thing I had a big carpet in my living room that sucked almost all the water so it was a pretty quick cleanup(carpet on the balcony and a quick mopping).

I wasn't too lucky the next time it happened with a 40 gal(FW) that cracked ~5AM and by the time I got to it, it was half on the floor and it went through the wall on the hallway.....good thing I had a small Shop-vac that I used to vacuum all the water.

I guess we'll have to deal with these things as they come and learn from our mistakes.

by Orlon11 Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:32 pm

My 10 gallon has been slowly leaking more and more each day. I've had to keep it filled up only half way, which can't be very good for the poor fish. I think it may be close to the "falling apart in my hands" stage.

Luckily yesterday a friend gave me an old frameless tank he had lying around! So tonight I will transfer the fish- and hopefully stop worrying that I'll come home to an empty tank.

Unfortunately the leak already damaged my floor before I noticed I'd filled up the tank too high. Sigh...this hobby really can be risky Wink

by GaryE Tue Oct 07, 2014 5:06 pm

The moment you see a flaw, the tank goes if you are in an apartment. You can resilicone, although I lack the artistic touch and slather the stuff on like it's going out of style.
I have a 15 that leaks high, and has for 12 years. I use it for killies, so the water level stays lower anyway. Plus, it's over a cement floor with a drain in it.
If it were over hardwood, it would be gone.
Generally, tanks warn you with high leaks. As well, tanks over 10 years old have to be monitored, as have tanks that were kept uneven for any length of time. It's pretty rare to have problems with a tank under 10 years old, although the new rimless ones leave me skeptical.

Only one of my tanks has been here for more than 20 years, and that one has been resiliconed.