Exploding Tank

[lgarvey]

Hi guys,

What a bad day...

I was sat in front of my compute working today when I heard a loud BANG! I looked to my right and saw a huge crack down one side of my fsih tank and it was spewing water all over the laminate floor.

It took about 10 seconds of staring at it for it to sink in, then i went on a manic dash to rescue fish, water and laminate floor. All seem to have been saved, and in a mad rush I had to go buy a D&D 24g from the LFS for £200 =(

I've looked at the tank, and it wasn't evident but the back left side was not seated correctly. I assume this put strain on the glass. Lesson learnt! I'm just thankful I was sat in front of the floor, or else i'd be holding a fish funeral and order a new laminate floor.

Oh well! Hopefully the fish will recover from the debacle and they're in a nice new nano cube.

However, I didn't manage to rescue the substrate -- which was dirty anyway. So I purchased two bags of colal sand, which I will rinse thoroughly this evening. I now have the fish in the tank which is currently bare bottomed, with the rocks in.

I don't want to disturb them too much more as they've been through enough! But I need to somehow get this substrate into the tank. I was wondering if I could do it a handful at a time and drop it into one corner of the tank? If the substrate is clouding the tank at all, I can stop and let it settle then resume dumping 1 handful a time into the tank.

L

 

[GlidergirlUK]

you could attach a hose to a funnel and pour it in straight on to the bottom, this would minimise clouding.

 

[Trod]

I can see no problem with adding sand while fish are in there. It will just be like a very windy day in the ocean the sand gets churned up all the time

Sorry to hear about your tank, but glad you got it sorted quickly

 

[TigerIssey]

If you use a small tub such as those you get with xmas pud in, fill with sand then allow it to fill up with water as you lower it gently to the bottom and tip it out, it will minimise the amount of debris you get, as long as it is well rinsed. I have added sand to a FW set up this way. Turn powerheads and filter off to do it though, leave for ten-20 mins after adding sand then turn back on.

If very cloudy you can use fine filter wool to remove most of the particles. A week or so after ensure you rinse the propellors in filters and powerheads as they sand can damage them.

 

[lgarvey]

Phew - thanks for the support guys!

I've just tried washing a few handfulls of substrate throughly and then putting it in by hand creating a mini snow storm. To be honest, the female maroon clown loves it. She seems to dash about in the sand.

The sand is wet with chlorinated water so a small amount of unsalted chlorinated water is getting into the tank, but it's miniscule. Also, I'm washing it with warm water, as I hear that chlorine evaporates from warm water (that's what teh guy at the LFS said).

I'm just glad that I can get the tank configured without moving the fish again. Although I'm going to have to go back to the LFS and buy a D&D stand at some time (arrgh more expense!) and empty a load of the water out to put teh tank on the stand.

The maroon female maroon is about 4" in size and now the tank looks quite small with her in it. She's very peaceful tho, so we'll have ot see how she fairs. Trying to think positive, at least with this tank (which has a hood) I could in future keep something like a purple firefish or a jaw fish, which would likely have gone catapulting out of the now broken open top tank.

Another question - I have the established fluval internal filter. It's currentl/y sat inside the main tank running. I plan to take all the filter media out of it and put it in the back of the tank. Do you think this could/would upset the nitrogen cycle? (The tank is Fish Only so there's definately no LR)

Finally, I've noticed that when I feed frozen brine shrimp it's very messy and i imagine that if the has a weakened bio filter, uneaten food could cause problems. So I've been thinking about getting some marine flake food and feeding that to them for the next couple of weeks, to reduce the mess and hopefully control teh tank a bit better. Another option would be to get a couple of hermits and a shrimp to dispose with any leftovers. Does this sound OK?

L

 

[lgarvey]

Phew - thanks for the support guys!

I've just tried washing a few handfulls of substrate throughly and then putting it in by hand creating a mini snow storm. To be honest, the female maroon clown loves it. She seems to dash about in the sand.

The sand is wet with chlorinated water so a small amount of unsalted chlorinated water is getting into the tank, but it's miniscule. Also, I'm washing it with warm water, as I hear that chlorine evaporates from warm water (that's what teh guy at the LFS said).

I'm just glad that I can get the tank configured without moving the fish again. Although I'm going to have to go back to the LFS and buy a D&D stand at some time (arrgh more expense!) and empty a load of the water out to put teh tank on the stand.

The maroon female maroon is about 4" in size and now the tank looks quite small with her in it. She's very peaceful tho, so we'll have ot see how she fairs. Trying to think positive, at least with this tank (which has a hood) I could in future keep something like a purple firefish or a jaw fish, which would likely have gone catapulting out of the now broken open top tank.

Another question - I have the established fluval internal filter. It's currentl/y sat inside the main tank running. I plan to take all the filter media out of it and put it in the back of the tank. Do you think this could/would upset the nitrogen cycle? (The tank is Fish Only so there's definately no LR)

Finally, I've noticed that when I feed frozen brine shrimp it's very messy and i imagine that if the has a weakened bio filter, uneaten food could cause problems. So I've been thinking about getting some marine flake food and feeding that to them for the next couple of weeks, to reduce the mess and hopefully control teh tank a bit better. Another option would be to get a couple of hermits and a shrimp to dispose with any leftovers. Does this sound OK?

L

OK I have taken the filter media outta the fluval and put it in the middle chamber at the back of teh D&D. Am a bit worried about whether there's enough water flow through the back chambers. Hm.

Poor fish.

L

 

[bagu]

wow...

im sorry to hear! at least the fishes are fine!

£200.oo ouch!

I hope all goes well! personally, i would just use the funnel idea! sounds very cleaver indeed.

 

[lgarvey]

wow...

im sorry to hear! at least the fishes are fine!

£200.oo ouch!

I hope all goes well! personally, i would just use the funnel idea! sounds very cleaver indeed.

A handfun at a time seems OK, as long as the sand is well rinsed. If it's not working out I'll get the funnel.

I ended up returning to the LFS to get the stand for the D&D nano. Total cost of today's exploding tank: £275 (tank + stand + two bags of coral stand) and a whole day's working lost.

I love my fish though! They're worth it.

L