Ever wonder what happens if a big 200plus tank blows

[Dearth]

Originally Posted by WarDog

Who has 650 gallons of saltwater in a recently renovated house without adequate insurance?

That is the $64 question

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by WarDog

Who has 650 gallons of saltwater in a recently renovated house without adequate insurance?

Don't forget those fancy hardwood floors.

Originally Posted by Dearth

That is the $64 question

[gobytron]

I've had 100's of aquariums.

Literally.

None have EVER done what this cadlights tank did.

Insurance or not, if a company can't own up to this kind of failure, they are best avoided.

The freaking silicone is still firmly attached to the front pane!!!!

Pile on the guy all you want.

I'd be ****ed off and looking for some culpability too.

Insurance when it comes to an aquarium failure like this doesn't guarantee you anything anyways, the same way a "lifetime" warranty on a tank can mean nothing.

[The Grizz]

From building and cutting apart several tanks, this one was a definite manufacture defect and a very poor quality silicone used for sure.

[ReEf BoSs]

Not saying i agree one way or the other.
Did anyone even ask if the tank was level? Stand may be built nice but what happens if the floor changed a bit .... He did just have his floors redone.Not one person asked a question about the floor. Grab a level, take a pic would be my advise to the guys on the forum. I couldnt even tell you if the floor under tank was concrete or carpet... Was the stand leveled like crap or done rather exceptional? Or maybe im just over thinking it.

I dont know tank construction, i just know when people just side one way without even questioning anything they are usually missing something important. Learn from all your mistakes even if its just buying from the wrong company in the end.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by ReEf BoSs

Not saying i agree one way or the other.
Did anyone even ask if the tank was level? Stand may be built nice but what happens if the floor changed a bit .... He did just have his floors redone.Not one person asked a question about the floor. Grab a level, take a pic would be my advise to the guys on the forum. I couldnt even tell you if the floor under tank was concrete or carpet... Was the stand leveled like crap or done rather exceptional? Or maybe im just over thinking it.

I dont know tank construction, i just know when people just side one way without even questioning anything they are usually missing something important. Learn from all your mistakes even if its just buying from the wrong company in the end.

Don't want to stir any sand over here but when a glass pops up like that, its not about the floor level but the perpendicular pressure exerted by the water from inside. A non level floor would have been more believable if the glass cracked from the seem and eventually causing the catastrophe. Plus he wrote that he got an engineer to judge the fault and no registered engineer would just visit a site and conclude something without a proper validation.

Steven (sphelps) will probably be able to give a more firm insight on this.

[spedly]

That's pretty scary. I've had some big ugly messes to clean up. Most recently when I was monkeying around with my media reactor and neglected to put the output line back in the sump. Luckily my wife caught it after only 15g hit the floor but that could have been disastrous if she didn't catch it. Had to get a leak detector for my Apex if I wanted to stay in the hobby.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Steven (sphelps) will probably be able to give a more firm insight on this.

An interesting math/science problem for young students would be to prove an unlevel tank would actually apply less pressure to the vertical panes of glass regardless of the angle. The highest pressure on vertical panes occurs when the tank is level, so aside from the obvious this type of failure mode can't be caused by an unlevel stand/floor.

Tank builders should consider offering an option to hydrotest large custom tanks to at least 1.5x design. It's a simple test that would add significant value by virtually ensuring the tank is free of defects capable of causing premature failures like this. For example I know my tank sitting a 1/3 full will never break as it was tested to 3x that. Personally I'll never setup a large tank again without similar assurance.

[videosilva]

Note the Manufacturers post regarding the tank belonging to someone prior. A tank that size and............................. No one knows what stress the tank went through prior to the second owner.

[sphelps]

I think some people need to realize that manufactures aren't liable for this type of thing. They may offer a warranty but like all warranties they are limited and up the discretion of the manufacture, anyone that's actually read the fine print in a warranty agreement would know they mean relatively nothing. While a good builder will stand behind their work and would offer something in cases like this there's often more to these kinds of stories and even how you approach the builder or manufacture is critical. Also with such a large amount of additional damage no manufacture with a lawyer on speed dial will ever admit fault as it could force their hand to cover additional damages which I would argue is in no way their responsibility. In the end best case they should or would cover the tank by either replacing it or fixing it but after such an incident who would honestly want that... So really this is a shitty deal type of case, live and learn, move on with your life.

With no design standards applied to aquariums its up to consumers to specify design requirements. This whole going big as possible on a budget is really just a recipe for disaster. You want hundreds of gallons of salt water in your house? Be prepared, this type of disaster probably occurs a lot more often than you may realize and in the end the consequences are your own.