Woke up to this...

[magplate]

Luckily just water on the floor. This 40 breeder had a pair of Kenny's Leopards with eggs on the cone, but there was still about 60% of the watering the tank and the water was trickling out.


105266

[Second Hand Pat]

Ouch but glad there was no fish loss. :( Hope the cleanup was easy with no damage.
Pat

[PAR23]

Oh. Don't need coffee when you wake up to that. That's every fish hobbyists' nightmare.

[Neptune]

ohhh no!

[Jack L]

ouch..hate to see that!!!!!
any idea how it happened?

[Phillydubs]

Been there! Not fun at all, feel for you! Glad to hear no losses, that is the best news. Tanks can be replaced water can be cleaned but the loss of a prized fish is a real blow, so be thankful!

[magplate]

Yes, I am very glad I didn't lose the fish. I have no idea how it happened. The tank is about a year old. I painted the bottom and sides when I got it and just recently insulated it.

In 1990 or 1991 I had a 70 gallon tank in my condo with 6 discus. I came home around 5pm in the winter and it was already dark and all of the lights were out. The bottom of the tank shattered and my wife was trying to save the discus and an arowana but got shocked. She shut off all of the breakers and got the fish into a couple of 20's I had, one had the mesh from the net on him that she cut with scissors because she couldn't get it out of the net.

I sold the fish and forgot about discus until a year ago. Now I have 11 tanks with over 600 gallons and a lot of fish! So far I've bought discus from Kenny, Hans, Uncle Ned's Fish Factory (via Chicago Discus), Martha, Prabhu and 2 other local guys.

[Phillydubs]

Wow you got back into the game with authority !!!

Any threads showing off all you have ??

[warblad79]

That's one of the reason I prefer acrylic over glass tank.

[atlantadiscus]

That's one of the reason I prefer acrylic over glass tank.

Agree 100%. Once you live through the massive damage to flooring/walls/furniture a large leaking glass tank can create,you look for any ways to reduce that possibility again.

[magplate]

So, the cone in the broken tank went into a tank with another pair that had eggs on a cone. I put a third cone with eggs on it from my big tank (that pair causes problems when they have eggs). Now with 3 cones from 3 pairs at least two hatched and there are wiggles.

I do not know if the first hatch was from the cobalt or the leopards. They are attached to the cobalts. The wigglers from the big tank are still on the cone but are being watched by the cobalts.

Will have to wait and see what I have.

[Candydiscus]

Iv had a 44g pentagon spring a leak through the seal. I was watching t.v downstairs, i go up to go to bed and half the water was leaked out of the tank on my bedroom floor.. on the third floor of the house. It leaked through the ceiling and everything.. thankfully it wasnt enough to need to completetly tear down the drywall ceiling or anything like that.

I've never had a glass tank c rack before though. I have an angle iron stand on my 135g.. and the previous owner had it for 32 years. the tank is 34 years old.. and i recently got it.. so i doubt itll crack lol.. but to be sure i noticed two sections of the stand where the tank sits had small gaps in the corner.. so i used 26GA steel and put it on the corners so the tank doesnt settle down on the gaps in the corner and possibly cause the glass to crack.

Cracks like this are due to uneven stands. specially in corners. So you might want to look at that stand you have, there is no other way it could have cracked like that. I garuntee if you look closely at the tank/stand youll see gaps between the tank and the stand bottom which when full the tank flexes down on the stand to fill the gaps and causes pressure points

[atlantadiscus]

Yup,why many place a styrofoam sheet between tank/stand to even out the weight imbalance.

[Candydiscus]

Styrofoam can make it worse actually IMO. Just find the sections that have gaps and put whatever (like my 26ga steel i mentioned) in those gaps only. If you put foam under the whole thing, youre just lifting the tank even higher in the high spots.

Here are pics of my 135g when it was completetly empty.. See those gaps between the stand and the tank ? When its filled the tank will flex down and could cause it to crack... I measured the gaps and found 26GA steel would fit.. so i got some cut it with sheers and sure enough it slid right between the tank and stand... I only had these gaps on 2 oposite corners of the stand.. meaning the front left and rear right on the tank/stand. So i simply just put some 26GA shims under the tank corners on those sides.. since its the corners that see all the stress.

I thought about doing foam, but like i said foam will just flatten like a pan cake and wouldnt give any support... You would need the bottom to be rubber for this to honestly work.. The steel i used is a better support then foam would ever hope to be..

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j385/enclave12/picture%202%20fish_zpsowj9oefs.jpg

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j385/enclave12/picture%20fish_zpskmcduqii.jpg

[magplate]

Wow you got back into the game with authority !!!

Any threads showing off all you have ??

Some of my stuff is here:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?123106-Magplate-s-Discus

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?123106-Magplate-s-Discus/page2

Most of my tanks are in my basement and floods are not a big deal, just a hassle.

I am taking the acrylic tank thing seriously. I bought the wife a Sawstop Professional table saw and just bought two 4x8 sheets of acrylic. I'll start small and follow Joey's instructions. Ultimately I would like to make an 8 foot long breeding tank with movable dividers for 4 to 5 pairs at one time.

[Second Hand Pat]

...

I am taking the acrylic tank thing seriously. I bought the wife a Sawstop Professional table saw and just bought two 4x8 sheets of acrylic. I'll start small and follow Joey's instructions. Ultimately I would like to make an 8 foot long breeding tank with movable dividers for 4 to 5 pairs at one time.

Does your wife use the Sawstop Professional table saw? :)
Pat

[magplate]

Oh yeah, she was afraid, and rightfully so, of our other table saw.