Omg Tank Explodes

[Judgejudy]

Last night while i was cleaning my tank luckaly i had put 4 guppies and my honey gourami in a bucket in the kitchen, so i heard this loud noise that came from the living room and one of my tanks ( my 37 liter one ) had shattered all over the floor so i had to put the fish in my 47 liter tank ( few they didnt die ) so now my tank is overstocked and have

- 4 guppies. ( 3 are pregnant )
- 1 honey gourami
- 2 harlequin rasboras. ( i know i should have more )
- 2 gold barbs. ( i know i should have more )
- 1 platy. ( is pregnant )
- 4 neon tetras. ( wich i am selling very slowly )

So its way overstocked.

Cant belive it. Stupid tank

 

[bae1994]

That sucks What make was it and wa sit on a even surface ?


What filters on your 47?

 

[Judgejudy]

The make was an aquavital, wich is about the only one around in spain LOL
It was on a cabinet from ikea. And yes it was on a even surface.
The filter is called a wave niagara 300 POWER FILTER and does 300 liters an hour.

Thanks.

 

[bae1994]

Ahh fare enough never heard of that make (I'm in uk so makes sence lol)

Keep up on the water changes and the tank should be fine while you sort something out

 

[Judgejudy]

Thanks a lot.

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

WOW!! Aquarium glass will normally shatter/crack etc when exposed to drastic temperature changes, was this an old tank?

Dean.

 

[Judgejudy]

Its about 3 months old. So its not old

 

[CezzaXV]

Does it have a floating base? I.e a plastic frame around the bottom which means the bottom of the tank doesn't actually touch the surface that it's on. If not you need to put polystyrene underneath it or the tiniest irregularity can cause the tank to crack over time.

It could also be the case that the cabinet it was on just doesn't support the weight of the tank. A 37 litre tank with decorations and equipment is going to weigh in at around 50kg. Although it might have appeared to be sturdy, the material it was made of might have flexed over time, meaning uneven support to the tank which ultimately caused the tank to smash. It's usually a good idea to put a tank on its specific stand, just to be safe.

 

[Peter C]

My 90 litre tank is on a 120 litre stand and it's got a floating plastic bottom so should be ok. My uncle had a huge tank that was about 8 or 9 foot long and that burst one day, flooding his entire downstairs

 

[Judgejudy]

I put a cloth underneath it i dont know how much the cabinet holds thought.

 

[OldMan47]

Take a nice flat item like a spirit level and check that stand in all directions, including across the diagonals. I would bet good money that stand was not flat when it was carrying all that weight. The Ikea items I have seen are not very strong, they are furniture not tank stands, so I would almost bet your stand was warping under the weight of over 40 kilograms. Glass will shatter when subjected to a bending moment over significant time, even if they survive it quite well for a shorter period of time.

 

[Judgejudy]

OMG it turns out my floor wasnt level

 

[AXIS]

Yeah its pretty important to shim a stand to level for this exact reason.


Pity you had to learn the hard way.