Roommate's friend's kid scratched the hell out of my tank. Must vent before I scream.

[acanthurus]

following this thread, interested on the outcome. sorry about the damages, made me mad to read it.

[asylumdown]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I took a full day to cool off and watched several YouTube videos on buffing out scratches in glass before I brought it up. Most of them can probably be removed or drastically improved with the Cerium stuff Grizz mentioned.

In the grand scheme of things, I value these relationships a whole lot more than I value the tank, and everyone was suuuuuuuper apologetic and felt awful. They thought they were being careful enough and had no idea what was happening. My roommate insisted on paying for whatever materials were necessary to get the scratches out.

Replacing the tank is off the table - if I'm going to go so far as to pull it out of the wall I'm definitely not putting one back in - the space is perfectly sized for a deep closet and that's what it would become. This thing has given me enough heart ache in the last year for me to probably not miss it much.

This is one more reason to do the re-do I've been wanting for the last 6 months or so.

In order to make myself feel better and try and get excited about it again, I picked up three new fish today. First new additions in at least a year. Got a small Copper Band and two juvenile/female christmas wrasses (the Halichoeres kind, not the Thalasoma kind). Would have liked to buy three but it's all he had.

The copper band is tiny, but plump, and was plucking mysis right out of my fingers 2 hours after going in to quarantine, and the two wrasses are passed out in a bowl of sand I put in the QT tank after what must have been days of not sleeping in the bare-bottom tank at the store. They make me care about the scratches a little less.

[e46er]

Originally Posted by gobytron

Except if it went to court, ever single person there would be subpoena'd and have to say what happened under oath...

The question isn't whether they would testify, as witnesses to a crime, they would have no choice.

The question is whether you think your roomie likes these people enough to commit perjury and lie about it.

The judge could easily put the responsibility on everyone in attendance if nobody fesses up.

you give people too much credit for being honest and able to accept responsibilty.

all roommate has to say is I dont know what happened. shy of a video of roommate saying "oh crap its scratched" even if he was looking in the tank with the kid you cant prove neglience. or for that matter that without dated pictures of the tank taken as your walknig out the door the damage wasnt done by you.

roommates easiest way out without picking sides is to say he was drinking (im assuming at a superbowl party he was) and it voids his credibility.

I feel bad for you, everyone that comes to my house always grabs the damn magnet regardless how many times they have been told.

Im not sure exactly how I would handle the situation all I know is I'd blow a gasket.

[lastlight]

Adam you're the calmest one here. You're sorta killing our momentum lol. You punched SOMEONE right?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by lastlight

You punched SOMEONE right?

That would have been my first response

[rishu_pepper]

The OP is a bigger man than 95% of the world. Good on you for keeping your priorities straight. Tanks are replaceable (if expensive!) but friendships are priceless. Big thumbs up for you.

[ensquire]

Not sure if this will work for your tank, But I have Tunze Care Magnets in all my tanks and I am impressed by the quality design. They can be left in the tank, and you would have to work really hard to scratch a tank with one. They also do a great job on the glass which is another plus
I know J%L sells them. Not sure if anyone in Calgary sells them.

http://reefbuilders.com/2014/06/05/t...le-brilliance/

[lockrookie]

I have been following this without comment and I will say good on you shrimp happens.

If I may make a slight suggestion for you tho as most know scratches are our worst nemesis but maybe have a custom decal made up for the worst of the lower area a cross the bottom of the tank to make it look sandy or blend in like a wood trim to match your decor. Scratches will still be there but behind the decal

Just a thought.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by rishu_pepper

The OP is a bigger man than 95% of the world. Good on you for keeping your priorities straight. Tanks are replaceable (if expensive!) but friendships are priceless. Big thumbs up for you.

Agreed. Okay Canreef lynch mob, we can all put away our torches and hanging ropes and go look at our tanks again under blue LED. Ahhhhhhh.

[mike31154]

Unfortunate, but perhaps a lesson learned. May not be feasible or convenient for folks with in wall tanks that are not easily accessible, but personally the only time my cleaning magnet is in the tank, is when I'm using it. Once done, the thing is outta there. Main reason for me is I kind of think the abrasive side loses much of it's cleaning capability by being squished against the glass 24/7/365. Also fortunate in that my daughter & son in law take care of things when I'm away for more than a few days. Daughter was very distraught on one occasion when she broke off a piece of coral that had grown too close to the glass with the magnet. Told her not to worry, it happens, have done it myself. Will grow back, there are worse things that could happen to my house while I'm gone! Scratched glass definitely sucks though, I can relate. Maybe another solution would be to raise the sand bed a bit to cover the scratched areas?