Mini External Ruined Planted Nano :(

[nurglespuss]

Hi All,

I've been running a mini planted hi-tech nano for a while now, it was all growing well, and my inline CO2 diffuser finally arrived...

The 15L nano was filtered by an external zoomed 501, which was running great.

I went to my room after work to fit the diffuser and the #41#### thing had sprung a leak around the base of the outlet pipe, suffice to say I cought it just as the last of the water was being sucked out of the tank...

I did my best to repair it, but to no avail, the plastic nut where the leak was coming from just would not come of, it unthreaded part way, and now just spins, I even tried gently coaxing it with a pliers, and no joy...

The whole thing cost me a fair bit of money to set up and plant...

Its now been stripped, cleaned etc. I'm not sure if I'll set it back up or not, I might just sell it as a complete kit.

 

[KittyKat]

No offence, but I am struggling to see how the filter striped and cleaned the tank, after draining it? Or did you not have the water to re-fill it?

It sounds to me like you gave up because one piece of equipment broke, which is not an unusual occurrence. I recently had an external break on a 215 litre tank, does that mean I should have drained the tank and sold the fish right away, instead of running tank on airpumps for 24 hours, while the broken part was repaired? And one year ago, one of my really old externals broke, and when I bought a replacement, it had been mis-assembled, so I needed a weird screwdriver to repair it and the fish were for 48 hours without a running filter.. should I have given up at that point too?

If you're really into keeping an aquarium, you've given up far too easily, but you actually make it sound like you don't care.

 

[nurglespuss]

If you're really into keeping an aquarium, you've given up far too easily, but you actually make it sound like you don't care.

Wow thats a hell of a helpful response, lots of support there!

No, I didn't give up easily, I've been fish keeping for many many years, and am running two other 'low tech' nano tanks.

There were no fish in the tank, there were 2 shrimp, that unfortunately perished as the little water they had left was getting CO2 pumped into it.

To clarify, the filter essentially syphone all the water out of the tank, and sprayed it allover the floor, and the extensions lead (positioned on the opposite side of the stand).

The resultant lack of water caused the heater to break.

As i'm not made of money, I cannot afford to pruchase a new external filter at present.

I've redistributed some of the plants to the other tanks.

I posted up a run through because I was rather disapointed after all my efforts, and in the quite large expenditure, in the hope that (the usually helpful) responses might be a little theraputic.

Don't worry I shan't do so again, this is often the reason I take hiatus from forums as it is easy to encounter people such as yourself.

 

[KittyKat]

If you're really into keeping an aquarium, you've given up far too easily, but you actually make it sound like you don't care.

Wow thats a hell of a helpful response, lots of support there!

Ah, were you looking for compassion? Yes, it is #105### that it happened to you, and it happens to everyone else too sometimes. But I'm afraid I can't fix your tank up for you, so I'm not really sure how else I can be helpful, except to suggest that it might be a good idea to keep a spare set of equipment, at least a spare heater and an airpump.

No, I didn't give up easily, I've been fish keeping for many many years, and am running two other 'low tech' nano tanks.

Well, it's definitely good to hear that you didn't give up!

There were no fish in the tank, there were 2 shrimp, that unfortunately perished as the little water they had left was getting CO2 pumped into it.

To clarify, the filter essentially syphone all the water out of the tank, and sprayed it allover the floor, and the extensions lead (positioned on the opposite side of the stand).

The resultant lack of water caused the heater to break.

So, what will you do differently in the future to prevent this happening again?

As i'm not made of money, I cannot afford to pruchase a new external filter at present.

Yes, I know what you mean, have you considered at least temprarily running it filter-free? Again, a pump or some air-based filter is a good enough temporary solution, especially if there are no animals about because then you don't need the functionality of a filter, do you?

I've redistributed some of the plants to the other tanks.

Again, it's good that you managed to save some.. why not say that earlier?

I posted up a run through because I was rather disapointed after all my efforts, and in the quite large expenditure, in the hope that (the usually helpful) responses might be a little theraputic.

Helpful? But hun, you didn't ask anything, you only said that you were giving up! I can suggest how you can store the equipment, but I don't think that would be particularly helpful or what you're looking for.

Don't worry I shan't do so again, this is often the reason I take hiatus from forums as it is easy to encounter people such as yourself.

Oh, I'm not worried: plenty of others will do instead.. but I am disappointed that you don't see the futility of moping around. There are plenty of things you can still do with your tank, maybe you should consider setting up lower-tech coldwater planted tank, maybe with a couple of small snails. The plants should provide enough oxygen for the snails and you wouldn't need a heater then.

 

[Tizer]

Mean kitty, booo! hiss!

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Hi All,

I've been running a mini planted hi-tech nano for a while now, it was all growing well, and my inline CO2 diffuser finally arrived...

The 15L nano was filtered by an external zoomed 501, which was running great.

I went to my room after work to fit the diffuser and the #41#### thing had sprung a leak around the base of the outlet pipe, suffice to say I cought it just as the last of the water was being sucked out of the tank...

I did my best to repair it, but to no avail, the plastic nut where the leak was coming from just would not come of, it unthreaded part way, and now just spins, I even tried gently coaxing it with a pliers, and no joy...

The whole thing cost me a fair bit of money to set up and plant...

Its now been stripped, cleaned etc. I'm not sure if I'll set it back up or not, I might just sell it as a complete kit.

sorry to hear about your tank! i know it can be a huge downer when something like that happens!

could u have filled it back up with water and at least had the plants and stuff be ok for a bit? they dont really need filtration?

 

[Geoff-]

what a major downer, first your tank breaks and then Kitty takes a big steaming dump on you


how about replanting the tank, cheap sponge filter + air pump and light stocking until you get the external sorted? Plants will help keep the waste products in check a bit.

 

[Fyurae]

I think that's one reason that I don't think I'll ever go into high tech setups. If something happens to my equipment, I want the comfort of knowing that I can throw everything in a bucket for a day or two if I have to!

 

[nurglespuss]

Thanks

I've taken a step back, and have started to re-set up the tank.

I'm still trying to repair the filter, and have contacted the company to see if they can supply some new plastic nuts (so if anyone knows where I can buy replacements please let me know!).

I'm going to try the hi-tech setup once more and see how I go.

Anyway, once its set back up I'll post some pics,

(Edit) - ah I checked the zoomed website, its in America, but I can order all the replacement parts I need.

Thanks for your help!