Heart Stopping Moment

[Akasha72]

So tonight I was stood talking to my Dad when we both heard a noise from my tank ... it sounded like cracking glass ... I think my heart stopped for a second or two.
 
My Dad helped me to start checking the tank over looking for any signs of cracks. We could both see what could be a crack on the rear wall but it could equally be a sratch ... after thorough checks we're both in agreement it looks more like a scratch.
 
It's been almost 2 hours and my water level isn't going down so it looks like it's fine but I'm still concerned. This tank is 2nd hand so I've no idea how old it is - I've had it almost 3 years.
 
I've checked my brace bar - that's fine. The only thing I can't check is my tank base. What's the chances the base has cracked and if so would it be spewing water?
 
I'm not gonna sleep well tonight 

 

[Chad]

It would not necessarily be spewing water. If it is a crack it may widen over time and eventually open up but that doesn't always happen right away. 
Unless you are 100% sure it's a scratch and not a crack, not sleeping well is probably a good idea. You can get water alarms for the tank which will alert you if they get wet, that might be worth looking into. But in the mean time the most through examination of the scratch/crack is highly advised. 

 

[LyraGuppi]

Oh dear...hopefully it's just a scratch, and not something bad.

 

[Akasha72]

this tank is covered in scratches ... they are everywhere and I blame my snails. In the area where we thought there was a crack there are several scratches and they are all 'wiggily' which suggests more scratches by the snails.
 
All I can do is keep a close eye on things and check this 'scratch' daily - several times a day. 
 
Where can I get one of these water alarms from?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Do snails scratch the tank?
 
I have had, ramshorns, assassins, nerites, MTS and pond/common snails, none of these have scratched my tank tbh.
 
But on a more serious note, i hope this is indeed just a scratch but is it  a deep or superficial scrath on the glass?
 
I have never had a tank crack on its own and my tanks are mosty second hand and its not something I've encountered or ever wish to encounter

 
Good luck !

 

[Chad]

A lot of hardware stores sell them. They are meant for basements but work great for fishtanks as well. Of course they sell them on Amazon too. You're in the UK so this isn't the right link for you, but it still shows examples of water alarms. 

 

[Akasha72]

that's great thanks! 
 
I've never had my snails scratch any other tank except this one. It's absolutely covered in them. You can feel them when you run your finger over them so they are fairly deep. I don't know if it's my nerites doing it or my trumpets. I'd guess the trumpets are more likely as they come from the sand and my guess would be that they are dragging some sand and it's actually that that's scratching not the actual snail.
 
One problem I have is that this tank is aging and it's making noises. The light fitting is sagging in the middle and that makes noises when it first comes on and soon after they go out too ... it's the heating and cooling thing. When we heard this funny noise this afternoon my lights had been on about 15 minutes - the light tubes was one of the first things I checked as I thought perhaps one had cracked and that was what we heard.
 
Another problem is my flat also has wafer thin walls and so the noise we heard could well have been something from the adjoining flat too. My tank is against the adjoining wall so it may not have actually come from the tank! 
 
I've already asked my lfs how long it will take to get me a brand new Rio 240 and they say a week so if this scratch turns out to be something more I'll have to rush out and order a new tank!
I have my 100 litre tank in the shed and so in an emergency I'd have to utilise it

 

[Chad]

I've never had that happen either. My only scratches have come from either me scraping algae wrong or a rock rubbing against the glass. 

 

[Mark Z.]

I actually had a 3-gallon betta bowl crack on me recently. It was very surprising. I heard what sounded like a stone thrown against my office window and later discovered a crack ALL THE WAY AROUND the bottom of the bowl. The bowl is actually an antique peanut jar with very thick glass. It actually only leaked a tiny bit and lasted a few weeks for me to find a replacement.
 
 
There is also something called a water level alarm that you could look into. You suction cup two sensors on the inside of your tank and when the water goes below them, an alarm sounds. I bought one for my outdoor fish pond, but haven't installed it yet. I think I will now use one of these or the water alarm for my tanks now.  I bought my water alarm at Radio Shack (not sure if you have them in the UK) and the water level alarm online somewhere. I use it in the laundry room in the basement of the house. 
 
Good luck.

 

[Akasha72]

thanks for the replies. I've checked on the mark/scratch/what ever it is and nothing has changed. My water level hasn't moved at all either so I'm now leaning towards the mark being a scratch and the noise we heard being something else and not the conclusion we jumped to. Of course that doesn't mean that I'm not going to keep an eye on things because I am but right now I'm feeling more relaxed about it that I was yesterday
 
Common sense would say that it should take a lot of force to crack glass that is more than a centimetre thick. It wouldn't just crack all by itself. 

 

[NickAu]

Just because I like you and want you to have a good nights sleep.
 
 
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8WDP5b2xqA

 

[Akasha72]

wow ... cheers Nick 

 

[NickAu]

 

[Akasha72]

lol 

 

[Chad]

Common sense would say that it should take a lot of force to crack glass that is more than a centimetre thick. It wouldn't just crack all by itself. 

 
It does. From my experience reading about failures it's most often due to stresses put on the glass, not by the water and decor, but by the tank not being level.