135 Gallon turtle tank busted in my living room

[snakeguy101]

Some of you may already have seen the pics or my posts on facebook but here is the full story.

I had a 135 gallon enclosure from Glass Cages that I got about 3 years ago and have been keeping my adult mata mata in. I recently moved from a one bedroom apartment to a two bedroom in order to accommodate my expanding menagerie. During the move, I cleaned out the tank and carried it into my new place. Before I got the tank into the new apartment, I had set it on the ground that was damp. A small amount of dirt stuck to the bottom of the tank when we picked it up and set it inside on the stand.

Fast forward 3 weeks. The tank has been full and is clear and running smoothly now and I have just finished getting everything unpacked and the new apartment cleaned up. I was in the bedroom grabbing a jacket about to head out the door when I hear a pop and some water start to flow. My initial thought was that the outflow hose popped off the filter some how or there was a problem with the wet dry. I went to check underneath the tank and what I saw gave me the biggest adrenaline rush I have had in some time. There was a crack roughly 6 feet long running the length of the tank and spewing water onto my living room carpet.

After screaming for help from my boyfriend and a short lived panic attack I grabbed buckets and towel and a hose and got to work. I started a siphon using my hose and grabbed my neighbors hose as well since they were nice enough to leave it where I could grab it from their gate (they were not home at the time) and started another siphon to drain as much of the water out of the tank before it had a chance to flow through the crack. Luckily the wet dry filter was positioned in a way that caught a lot of the water that was pouring out so I used the return pump to push water from the quickly filling wet dry into a bucket to carry outside. Once all of this was done there was not much that I could think to do other than call for help.

I gave 2 of my friends a call and they each showed up with 2 or 3 more people. By the time they all show up- each with a hose and a plethora of towels, I have 8 people working to bail the tank that was about 1/4 of the way full. I moved the fish into an outside pond that I had been dumping tank water into and start scooping sand out of the bottom so that we can move the tank outside once it finishes draining. We finally get it out of the way and move the stand and wet dry so that we can get to work on drying the carpet. We use a shop vac to suck up the puddles and the few remaining dry towels to get as much water as we could. The damage was not as bad as we thought. We estimated about 30 gallons made its way onto the carpet which is great considering it could have been over a hundred gallons. The rest of the water was either siphoned out or drained into the wet dry or other buckets set underneath the tank.

Currently I have a small desk fan blowing underneath the carpet and the shop vac set to blow air that is being turned on and off in 15 minute intervals so that it does not overheat. I also set up a small under tank heater under the carpet to get it to evaporate some of the water and heat the air being blown in there. The water damage is minimal but here is why this is so devastating. I cannot afford another tank that is large enough for the mata mata or the fish. I did not have a place to put them either since the pond cannot be moved and it is dropping to 40ºF tonight. I made the tough call to abandon the idea and sell the fish and mata. I took them to the local fish store and reptile store and worked out a deal I got $20 for the fish and $250 for the mata. I will be patching up the tank and turning it into a vivarium now but will miss having my mata. Professor Chaos (mata) was one of my favorites and I will be missing him.

Here are some pics when it was set up and while we were draining it.

The tank when I first got it:

The tank 2 days BC (before crack):

While scooping out the sand after it cracked:

If anyone has any ideas on what to do with the cracked tank, let me know. I am open to ideas currently.

 

[Bderick67]

Sorry to hear. If you could see the crank in the bottom of the tank then it seems you failed to follow Glasscages setup recommendations.

SET UP INSTRUCTIONS

All aquariums must be set up on commercially manufactured stands only. A sheet of 3/4" Styrofoam (reaching completely side-to-side and front-to-back) must be placed between the tank and the surface of the stand. Aquariums should not be set on wood furniture, stereos, televisions, or other surfaces that have not been designed to support an aquarium. Setting up the aquarium on a homemade stand or on a surface such as the ones mentioned above can result in stress breakage of the side or bottom glass panels of the aquarium. Breakage is NOT guaranteed. It is very important to follow the INSTRUCTIONS:

Each leg of the aquarium stand must sit flat on the floor.
Each corner of the aquarium must sit flat on each corner of the top of the aquarium stand.
If either the legs or the corners of the aquarium do not sit flat then proper shiming is required. The shimming referred to here is the placing of thin strips of tile, wood, or paper under the leg or corner of the aquarium to make the leg or corner sit flat.
IMPORTANT!!

Special setup is required on a carpeted floor due to the fact that carpeting tends to cover up uneven floors which can cause stress breakage. If the aquarium is set on carpeting, the carpeting should be pulled back to expose the bare floor. Then follow setup instructions above. After the stand and aquarium have been checked and proper shiming done, if necessary, the capeting can be put back in place and the stand and aquarium should be placed in the exact same position as before on top of the capeting. The stand and aquarium should be reset up using the same shims, if any were needed, in the same position that was used when the stand and aquarium were set up on the bare floor.

 

[snakeguy101]

I forgot to get back to the dirt on the bottom of the tank. We found that there was a rather sizable clump in one of the corners when we lifted the tank and moved it outside. I did not notice it when we set it down. I am willing to bet anything that this is what caused the crack. It made sense based on the pattern of the fracture and the location of the clump.

Also, the stand was home made but the tank has been sitting on it for 2 and a half years. I am not blaming Glass cages for the break at all.

 

[Creek_stomper]

That's a real drag. Hindsight is 20/20, eh? I'd see about getting a dehumidifier for that room. Keep closed any doors that you can. I poured a few gallons out of a faulty stock tank onto my bedroom floor a few years ago, and the dehumidifier was the only way I ever got it dry again. Good luck!

Josh H

 

[rudukai13]

That's a bummer about the tank, and sucks you had to give up your turtle because of it. He looked to be quite the impressive beast before you had to let him go.

That being said, may I be the first to humbly submit the suggestion that you turn it into a naturalistic desert vivarium for your beaded? And if not that, what will you be keeping in a tank of that size?

 

[joe jaskot]

Sorry to hear about your tank. I would be willing to bet that more tanks manufactured by GlassCages break or leak than any other brand.

 

[Pharaoh]

Sorry to hear about your tank. I would be willing to bet that more tanks manufactured by GlassCages break or leak than any other brand.

A lot more goes into tanks cracking than just the manufacturer. The setup can play the most vital role. As the Op stated, it appeared to have debris under the tank which could have caused the crack.

 

[joe jaskot]

I've heard of plenty of disaster stories with tanks made by GlassCages. I lost a tankful of fish with the one I owned when it failed.

 

[A. gigas]

Like I said on Facebook, buy one of these:


Fill it with water and sand, add a filter, and get back Prof. Chaos! Those troughs are like $40.

 

[Wiggles92]

That sucks, man; hopefully you can work something out to get another mata mata someday.

Like I said on Facebook, buy one of these:

Fill it with water and sand, add a filter, and get back Prof. Chaos! Those troughs are like $40.

Needs a liner or else Professor Chaos would develop neurological problems due to the zinc leaching into the water.