Tank disasters (and near misses) survey

[zimmy]

Just wondering how many people on this forum have had the following happen in their years of keeping fish tanks:

1.

(a) Had a tank leak

(b) Had a tank have a seam split completely or the glass break and drain all the water to the floor (or it would have if you hadn't reacted quickly)

(c) Never had either of the above happen

2. For those who answer (a) or (b) to the above, I'd also be curious if respondents can identify the cause of the disaster (i.e. old tank, tank not on flat surface, tank stand not level, etc.).

It would also be helpful if you could indicate the number of years you've kept a fish tank to provide some context for your answer.

 

[johno27]

I have been keeping fish for around 15 years. When I first started I filled a 60 gallon tank with water that was too warm causing the glass to crack along the whole bottom of the front of the tank. For what ever reason I came up with the idea of throwing a garbage bag inside the tank along the crack. This slowed the water fall down a lot and gave me time to find something to hold the water.

That tank held reptiles for several years after that

 

[k0y0te]

i had a tank spring a leak. 55 gallons. the tank itself was very old. i got it used and had it up and running for 10+ years. the seams on the inside was peeling off the last few years it was up. then one morning i got up and saw a little drips of water running down the side of it. luckyly i had a spare so no real big deal.

 

[DMasker]

Option C, been fish keeping for 10 years never a problem. Guess I got lucky!

 

[kevinfleming21]

B) had a tank's bottom shatter and fish and water flood the bedroom....

 

[valderi123]

had a return line on an 80 gallon sump break. drained about 100 gallons onto the basement carpet

 

[Dark Jester]

C) Good luck so far in the last 6 months. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[fatdoggy89]

A)
my first 10 gallon, which was an old tank when i got it sprung a small leak overnight on one of the seams, luckyly it was towards the top of the tank and i only had about 2 gallons on my floor... i ended up emptying half the tank and sealing it up...

 

[ruckaisawesome]

b) tried to fit a homemade wooden separater in a 10g tank but was too wide. when i forced it into position, the glass shattered. ended up buying a 30g

 

[Dimity]

I had a 10G spring a leak along the bottom seam. I walked into the room and found the tank half empty of water, seemed it was not level.