near tank catastrophy

[sharkbait]

Came home last week from a pub quiz in Brighton, midnight.
Watch TV for 30 mins and just as I am about to turn the light off and go up to bed I notice THE POOL OF WATER forming under my 22 gallon tank
ARGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!
TO cut a long story short, two hours later my wife (I got her out of bed) and I had put the kids goldfish back into their little tank and all tropical fish survived transfer to a 2 foot tank.

Moral of the tale IMHO : Don't bother trying to repair cracked tanks as the crack can propogate through the repair. Even if lightly stressed.

However it has got me thinking (paranoia perhaps) What if?

What if the heater went. I guess it depends on the size of the tank and the room tank temp. difference, but surely heaters burn out eventually, is it worth having a backup?

 

[Alien Anna]

I have successfully re-sealed old tanks. But the secret is total paranoia - fill the tank with water and put it on newspaper or other absorbant surface for a fortnight. If it doesn't leak then add some rocks to weight it down and if it still doesn't leak (after 3 weeks of waiting), you can be pretty sure.

Anyway, to answer your question I think it's essential to have a spare tank (doesn't have to be posh - and old, scratched one with a condensation cover and no hood is fine), a spare heater (try Ebay), an air-pump, some air tubing and a sponge or plastic corner filter (keep the filter sponge or some floss in your main tank for such emergencies).