195 gallon Split at Seam

mikeandannie · Aug 29, 2008

Not so great news. While surfing Failblog.org ( a website showing pictures of people who have failed, kinda humorous ) I heard the worst noise ever. It was almost like snap, crackle, POP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Water just started Pouring out the bottom of our 195 gallon tank. Immediately, I started getting the fish out, which was all four O's, the water was draining FAST. I started cleaning up the huge mess of water, which thankfully this setup was in the basement so most the water went right to the 2 drains. After getting all the sand out of the tank I started to look for the problem. The tank was not cracked anywhere, so I looked at the silicone seals. I noticed that the bottom piece of glass of the tank... where it meets the back wall of the tank... the silicone bead had split. I could actually stick my finger in between where the silicone should have been sealed. Not really sure what the heck happened. Not sure if it was a faulty seal on the tank or the cinder block stand minus the stryofoam(didn't know any better at the time).... Any Ideas??? I am hoping to just reseal the tank and build a stand, but our poor fish... 2 O's in a 120 gallon with one juvenile JD, one adult JD, a smaller convict and TWO plecos. The other two O's are sharing a 50 breeder. We do not have the money to go out and buy another $400-$500 tank right now... Errrrr I guess that is what I get for laughing at people who have failed. F is for Fearful Freshwater Fish Flood From Faulty Fixture Failing.

what can i say may as well laugh

Bderick67 · Aug 29, 2008

Sorry for your debacle. Does your tank have any of the plastic framing on the`bottom?

TankBuster · Aug 29, 2008

This brings up one of my concerns I stated over a year ago. I do not like styrofoam under tanks. It also puts stress on the "higher" areas where it is under pressure. It still creates an uneven platform. Hence, you are right back to where you started. I am sorry to hear about the tank and hope it works out for you and the fish. Try getting a level stand when you get this or another tank set up. Good luck man.

mikeandannie · Aug 29, 2008

Yes its plastic frame

i think that my cinderblock stand could have been a little off when i put tank up in the beginning i leveled it but not that good water was off 1 inch on the other side lol, i did fix that a.s.a.p because i knew that was no good, so i drained everything in the tank and got everything level or at least i thought, the water line was even on side to side if anything the tank leaned a little forward enough to throw water line off from front to back off about 3/16 which must have been my gap, but the thing i kick myself most about is i never added Styrofoam and always had that thought in the back of my head that its going to break isn't styrofoam supposed to be under the tank or what does everyone else put under it to support the stress..well you live and learn and if you don't learn the first time the second time is even harder lol, so what i think i am going to do is just build a nice wooden stand i will probably go with the plans on garf.org and alter them a little i have to be able to fit a 55 sump under it and make it halfway appeling. So if i have a stand that is nice and level and i buy some styrofoam and reseal tank i should be all good in the neighborhood. Question about resealing the tank when i get it back down on the ground to work on it, cause my dad is only one that can help me pick that thing up which will hopefully be sometime soon, should i reseal the whole thing by taking all silicone out...or should i just reseal the bottom? if i scrap silicone off on the bottom all the way to the corners will the new silicone stick to the old silicone good in the corner where they meet? If not i will have to do whole thing but not sure which option is the right way to go.. also if i do end up taking all the silicone out will my glass panel want to fall out when i'm working on it or will the frame hold the tank together still? Also do i have to take the frame off the top and bottom to reseal?(i hope not lol)

Knowdafish · Aug 29, 2008

Plastic totes at Walmart work in a pinch! Sounds like the stand is VERY unlevel if you can put your finger through the gap! It sounds like the bottom piece of glass is tempered (luckily for you!) and it flexed away from the rear piece of glass. Make sure the stand is flat and level before starting any repairs or this will happen again!

chesterthehero · Aug 29, 2008

cinderblocks are great stands.. however they need to be level.. dont try to level the blocks thats just asking for trouble.. make a frame on the top out of 4x4s or something and level those with shims..

chesterthehero · Aug 29, 2008

also.. post some pics so i can submit it to failblog

TankBuster · Aug 29, 2008

mikeandannie;2134023; said:
Yes its plastic frame

i think that my cinderblock stand could have been a little off when i put tank up in the beginning i leveled it but not that good water was off 1 inch on the other side lol, i did fix that a.s.a.p because i knew that was no good, so i drained everything in the tank and got everything level or at least i thought, the water line was even on side to side if anything the tank leaned a little forward enough to throw water line off from front to back off about 3/16 which must have been my gap, but the thing i kick myself most about is i never added Styrofoam and always had that thought in the back of my head that its going to break isn't styrofoam supposed to be under the tank or what does everyone else put under it to support the stress..well you live and learn and if you don't learn the first time the second time is even harder lol, so what i think i am going to do is just build a nice wooden stand i will probably go with the plans on garf.org and alter them a little i have to be able to fit a 55 sump under it and make it halfway appeling. So if i have a stand that is nice and level and i buy some styrofoam and reseal tank i should be all good in the neighborhood. Question about resealing the tank when i get it back down on the ground to work on it, cause my dad is only one that can help me pick that thing up which will hopefully be sometime soon, should i reseal the whole thing by taking all silicone out...or should i just reseal the bottom? if i scrap silicone off on the bottom all the way to the corners will the new silicone stick to the old silicone good in the corner where they meet? If not i will have to do whole thing but not sure which option is the right way to go.. also if i do end up taking all the silicone out will my glass panel want to fall out when i'm working on it or will the frame hold the tank together still? Also do i have to take the frame off the top and bottom to reseal?(i hope not lol)

Sorry, I misunderstood your first post. I was thinking you did have styrofoam under it. Alot of people do use it but myself and a few other do not agree with the benefits from it. I use a very sturdy and level tank. If its not level, then I fix it by redoing the wood to level it. Styrofoam will compress just so much before it become just another rigid peice under the glass so you are back to square 1. Sorry if I derailed here from the original problem and the plastic tote is great advice like Knowdafish said. Or even a cheap kiddie pool.

mikeandannie · Aug 29, 2008

lol about the failblog pics when the tank was down to about 20 gallons left i grabbed the video camera and took a 20 second video, it was too dark too see so the video did not work, but there was some pretty good irony in all that.

The tank was on cinderblock stand with 2x4's across the length of the tank and above the 2x4's was 3/4 plywood sheet with and then tank set up on top, also when i did level it out the first time i did level out the blocks which i find is a no no, so that could have been my problem i did not level where the wood was, the tank is in the basement and everything has a slight unlevel lean to lead towards the drains..i have done alot of reading on DIY stands and garf.org. i will build it on level ground in the garage and transefer it to the basement where then i should just need to lay some shims under it...Do you suggest styrofoam for under a tank or is there anything else out there that works better, or is the styrofoam not needed if you have a perfect level stand? also if it is good to add styrofoam under the tank does that tank sit on it? or does the styrofoam just support the glass and not the frame? also heres some pics of what i'm working with..

Before

After me cleaning up the water and takeing the sand out of bottom to find out what happened. There was another center cinderblock but i had to move out the way for me to move the sump out to keep meadia alive...my sand even drained out

Split Seam is a good foot long, and there is another one about 5inch from that one, that is about another foot long

Just grabbed something slim to show you that i can stick it right threw the seam

Stand, i guess at one point i did shim the left side above the cinderblocks but also shimed the cinder blocks in other places.

Wood support for stand

TankBuster · Aug 29, 2008

When you shim the stand on the floor, remember that wood shims will slightly compress as more wood shims are added so keep that in mind. Maybe you could find a used stand somewhere and that would give you more support than cinder blocks.
Man, you got so lucky being right there near the tank when it let go. It might help to put a brace on the bottom of the tank also, just another peice of glas in the middle going from front to back and siliconed in. I have seen that done before on a 225 g. tank.


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195 gallon Split at Seam

mikeandannie

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Bderick67

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TankBuster

" I feel violated "

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Knowdafish

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mikeandannie

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