CR@P!!!!! Newly set up 220g sw reef cracked tonight!!!!!

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Midnight - hear loud noise & then loud water spraying noise. Thought it was my return pump coming off the hose. No such luck!

The front Starphire pane cracked from the bottom left corner to almost the top right corner. Water shooting out hard enough to wet my couch. Carpet is soaked. Tile is wet & slippery. How wet & slippery? Enough to send me flying in the kitchen when I went to grab buckets. Left rib cage is hurt so Irene is stuck with alot of the heavy lifting. Only have one good side to help. She's such a trooper. Honestly don't give my loving wife enough props.

Pulled all the live rock, corals & fish & almost everything is now in the 120g which I luckily didn't sell off yet (it was pending). Turned off all power to the tank & added powerheads to the 120g & now got to add a skimmer too.

Back to the clean up.

Only silver lining is that it didn't happen while we were on vacation (got back Sunday afternoon).

Anthony

[Veng68]

Ouch......... sorry to hear Anthony.

The the glass actually crack or did a seam bust?

Need any help........ call just let me know....... I sleep late.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Vic

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Silicone is fine. The front pane completely cracked, in almost the exact same place as the original busted pane (this is a free CL tank that we rebuilt by replacing the front cracked pane with a sheet of expensive Starphire glass). I strongly suspect that there is some flaw in how the frame or the tank was originally manufactured that has caused it to crack in the same place & same way both times.

[Veng68]

Oh boy. So do you think your going to get another 6 footer?

Cheers,
Vic

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Looking for a 180g or tank with 6' x 2' footprint. Couldn't find any on BCA or CL. Going to check Canreef now.

Anthony

[snow1]

Well if there are any saltwater fish that need to be re-homed.......:wink:

[Skimmerking]

Wow what a kick in the face that was Anthony sorry to hear about it and the livestock and corals back in the water safe and sound. Imagine being a fish and hearing that. Holy crap someone is trying to catch us today again.:biggrin:

[Leah]

OH NO! Anthony that is terrible. :sad: I hope you find a tank quickly and get back to feeling better too. And YES, you are so lucky that Irene is such a wonderful wife and willing to help out. :biggrin:

[Doug]

Sorry to hear this Anthony. One of our worse nightmares I guess. Hope your side feels better soon and you find another tank for your fishies.

[apexifd]

that really sucks. I hope the cleaning up went ok.

[christyf5]

What a nightmare Anthony. Why do these things always happen in the dead of night? Hope your ribs are ok and you find a large tank quickly.

[banditpowdercoat]

Silicone is fine. The front pane completely cracked, in almost the exact same place as the original busted pane (this is a free CL tank that we rebuilt by replacing the front cracked pane with a sheet of expensive Starphire glass). I strongly suspect that there is some flaw in how the frame or the tank was originally manufactured that has caused it to crack in the same place & same way both times.

Soo sorry to hear about the tank. Bu I have to think it's the Stand, not the tank that caused teh crack twice. If you re-siliconed a new front pane on, then any internal stresses tnat may have been in the tank form a mis manufacture should have been eliminated with the new pane placememnt. Thus, leaving the stand to be suspect. Totally go through that stand to make sure it is not twisting under load. That can cause front pane to crack. Would hate to get a 3rd tank up there and happen again

[Leah]

Dan,

It is odd though, as I think it is a new stand.

[Mrfish55]

Sorry to hear, I know what you are going thru, Hopefully you get it all straightened out quick.

[hillegom]

Sorry to hear about that Anthony.
Luckily, you were home! The only good thing, besides Irene helping.
I have to agree with Dan. Check that stand with weight on it.

[Chaloupa]

OH NO...that's awful, but thank God you were home..what a disaster if you hadn't been. I think Bill (cprowler) still has his 180 for sale...at least it was just a bit ago....just an idea

[Chin_Lee]

Dude that's terrible. Call me when u get up. I'm planning to dismantlw my tank upstairs if u want it

[lastlight]

Thank frag you were home is all I can say at this point. Hope your cleanup goes well. The fact that you're even looking for a replacement speaks volumes about the wife =) Damn this is scary. So the stand is new? Wonder what about the tank could be bad? Maybe two end pieces are cut a little differently or something?

[globaldesigns]

This is everyone's nightmare! Sorry to hear about it, hope you are ok.

[Delphinus]

Yikes! :( Good luck Anthony.

That is definitely the nightmare scenario. I always worry about my DIY stands and then this happens with a purchased new stand?? If it's twice now in the same spot then it is definitely something beyond bad luck. Stand or tank; has to be something there in one of them.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

The tank was originally picked up off someone from Craig's List for free then rebuilt. The crack is in the same place as the original break, which leads me to suspect that somehow the framing or tank was built slightly off which causes the tank to burst in that same spot. The stand it is on is over-engineered using doubled 6x6 glued & screwed construction. It also has a full plywood top that I checked was level and perfectly smooth. The tank sat on it perfectly level and smooth. That's why I strongly suspect that the tank was originally built slightly off and why I will NOT be rebuilding this one again.

Irene WANTS another 6' tank to replace this one since this was her favourite tank that I've set up so far. Really lucky to have her for my wife. (Something I don't tell her enough).

It takes really bad things to happen sometimes to reveal the inner person and I must say, very impressed with Irene's inner person. Wayyyyy better attitude towards the whole disaster than I had any right to expect.

Anthony

[bvlester]

Good luck with everything, I can not imagine what it's like to have a tank crack like that.. I'll bet it's the tank and that all the glass pieces are not square on all sides. I would take it apart and check every part just out of curiosity and if it is the bottom pane of glass have it cut narrower or get a new piece that is narrower and get a new front pane. some times when they cut thick panes of glass the end will run in ward and that is what I suspect happened to that tank the last little piece ran toward the center and is not that noticeable and was missed at the manufacturers. If I were there I would get it off you as I would like a 6 foot tank that is what my stand is built for anyways. I over build things my self..

Anyways good luck.
Bill

[Lance]

Damn, but that sucks Anthony! Heal-up soon.

[dsaundry]

Sorry to hear about the tank Anthony, that really bites the big one! :cry: Hope you get it all worked out soon.

[fiorano]

o Anthony thats awful! i just saw this tank last week and it was so nice! at least your wife's game to try again!!!

[Myka]

Oh no!! I would be suspecting the stand. It sounds like the tank is twisting in order to produce that corner to corner crack. I wouldn't put another tank on that stand.

[Ron99]

Sorry to hear this Anthony! Let me know if you need a hand with anything.

[Veng68]

I don't think it's the stand....... I think it's the tank.

He got the tank for free because the previous owner had the front panel crack on him.

He replaced it with a new panel of Starphire glass and put it on a new very highly engineered stand and it cracked in the exact same way and area.

Like Anthony said....... no need to risk it a 3rd time. Time for this tank to become a reptile tank.

Cheers,
Vic

[Zoaelite]

WOW! So sorry to hear about this and the fall to boot. Hope the clean up goes smooth, I'm going to have nightmares tonight :neutral:.

[Myka]

I don't think it's the stand....... I think it's the tank.

He replaced it with a new panel of Starphire glass and put it on a new very highly engineered stand and it cracked in the exact same way and area.

I didn't realize it was a different stand this time. What exactly do you mean by "highly engineered"? If it is a standard rectangular shaped tank I have a hard time believing the problem is from the way the tank was built. Something would really have to be out of whack in the design, and one should be able to see it. It could very well be a case of coincidence too - weirder things have happened.

[kaboom]

wow that's is the worst nightmare a reefer can have. you are handling this disaster too well. Your living quarter is completely ruin and you're already thinking about a new setup. One tough and devoted reefer you are. I would be so overwhelmed and stressed I would throw in the towel until the house repairs are completed...but that's me. Kudos to you.

[kaboom]

wow that's is the worst nightmare a reefer can have. you are handling this disaster too well. Your living quarter is completely ruin and you're already thinking about a new setup. One tough and devoted reefer you are. I would be so overwhelmed and stressed I would throw in the towel until the house repairs are completed...but that's me. Kudos to you.

Do you think this would of happened to regular glass. Oddly my confidense with starfire is slowly deminishing. It is not as strong is it?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Trying to dry out the carpet, but looking into replacing our old carpet with some carpet tiles (if I can find some at an affordable price).

As for the tank, I have a line on a beautiful tank thanks to a true friend & fellow reefer. I will be ripping off the existing plywood and replacing any water damaged or soaked pieces with new sheets.

My left side is sore still, so I suspect cracked or strained ribs. Makes it hard to do the heavy lifting that I see in my very near future. Will be taking it easy till the old body heals & then go from there.

Gotta really hand it to my wife who really stepped up when I hurt myself and we had a fountain of sw gushing into our living room.

Anthony

[Veng68]

I didn't realize it was a different stand this time. What exactly do you mean by "highly engineered"? If it is a standard rectangular shaped tank I have a hard time believing the problem is from the way the tank was built. Something would really have to be out of whack in the design, and one should be able to see it. It could very well be a case of coincidence too - weirder things have happened.

Well...... more like very well built. Check post #21. I've seen the stand in person and he has 2 other stands that are of similar build (tanks have been on them for sometime).

[fkshiu]

I feel for you man. Been there and done that with a cracked tank in the middle of the night if you recall. ;)

I'll try to come by soon to give you a hand.

[gobytron]

:sad:

[fkshiu]

wow that's is the worst nightmare a reefer can have. you are handling this disaster too well. Your living quarter is completely ruin and you're already thinking about a new setup. One tough and devoted reefer you are. I would be so overwhelmed and stressed I would throw in the towel until the house repairs are completed...but that's me. Kudos to you.

Do you think this would of happened to regular glass. Oddly my confidense with starfire is slowly deminishing. It is not as strong is it?

It did happen to regular glass - the original panel cracked in exactly the same place. I highly doubt this had anything to do with the Starphire. For more likely it was caused by how the rest of the tank was put together since both cracks happened at exactly the same place on the front panel.

[Tom R]

Ha Anthony

What a mess.

Yes you are right, you are lucky to have such an understanding wife.

Most of our wives would have had us out of the hobby with a disaster like that.

Tom R

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I gave Irene the option of just keeping the 120g and spreading the fish between my existing tanks, but she thought the fish would do better in another 6' tank instead. Less than an hour after discovering this disaster & while still dealing with the water, corals, fish & live rock, Irene was asking me what I wanted to do about replacing the broken tank.

So yeah, this incident has really opened my eyes to how lucky I am to have such an understanding wife.

If the shoe was on the other foot, I doubt I would be nearly as understanding:redface:

[StirCrazy]

so where are the pictures? :mrgreen:

Steve

[targa81]

Sorry to hear of your tank, Anthony. This is my biggest fear as well, what with a 6 footer bowfront on my second floor . Was your tank in the basement? I also think the tank itself must be faulty to crack in the same place with a different stand, too coincidental. Best of luck with setting up a new tank.