Fish Tank Problem

ajstoner21

ajstoner21

Cleared for Takeoff
Joined
Oct 31, 2010
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1,344
Location
Fort Worth, TX
Display Name
Andrew
Home Airfield
GKY, FWS
Well, its not much of a problem any more.

I get a call from my fiance around 1 today crying. Somehow our 10 gallon tank got a leak and drained 10 gallons of water onto our living room carpet, and consequently killing the few goldfish we had in there. :confused:

I test the water weekly. The water wasn't too hard/soft, it had a normal ph level, normal alkalinity...

The tank was only a year, or 1 1/2 years old.


Anyone ever have a similar problem?

I just love rushing home from work, to spend the rest of the afternoon with a rug doctor trying to suck up 10 gallons of fish water, and then re-shampoo our carpets.
 
I had a 35 gallon spring a leak and drain down to a few inches of water once. Took the gravel out, drained it down a bit further and the few fish in the tank just had to deal with it untill the sealant cured. My old 100gal always had a slow leak, but it was an inch or so from the top and so slow that the stand never go wet.
 
Whenever I look at aquarium stuff, I am struck with how flimsy it all looks these days. Probably made in china like 90% of the rest of consumer goods. When I was a kid, I had a 50gal tank. My dad was so paranoid about the thing, he welded a stainless frame and bedded the bottom of the tank in it using a slow-setting silicone.

I remember answering 'no' to a question about fishtanks when I bought homeowners insurance. If you get a bigger tank, you could do some serious damage to your home. May be worth looking into whether you are covered for tanks (or whether there is a size limit for coverage without a rider).
 
And to think, my journey with fish tanks all started because of my fiance winning a few goldfish at the Fort Worth Stock Show..... lol

I can't ever imagine going to a bigger size than the one we have now. I have no idea about insurance though.
 
weilke said:
Whenever I look at aquarium stuff, I am struck with how flimsy it all looks these days. Probably made in china like 90% of the rest of consumer goods. When I was a kid, I had a 50gal tank. My dad was so paranoid about the thing, he welded a stainless frame and bedded the bottom of the tank in it using a slow-setting silicone.

I remember answering 'no' to a question about fishtanks when I bought homeowners insurance. If you get a bigger tank, you could do some serious damage to your home. May be worth looking into whether you are covered for tanks (or whether there is a size limit for coverage without a rider).
Click to expand...

I had a 125 gallon aquarium in my living room for years before I finally came to the conclusion that the beauty was not worth all the work, so I gave the whole thing to my son.

I guess it was about five years later when I had all of the wall to wall carpeting torn up and had the oak hardwood floors sanded and brought back to life.

The area extending out about five feet from where the tank had been, the hardwood floor was completely shot. It cost me an extra five hundred dollars to have the boards replaced and toned to match the rest.

I had no clue that the damn thing was even leaking, the carpet never seemed to be wet around it. I think it was probably a very slow leak, or even condensation from the tank that slowly wicked through the hardwood.

-John
 
I have a friend who dislodged a heavy bookend from a shelf above his 15 gallon tank. Somehow it cracked the glass and the water was pouring out. Thinking quickly, he removed his pet boa constrictor from his terrarium (aka a fish tank without the water) and poured the residual water and fish into the former snake habitat.

By the time this was done, the snake had made an escape. It was an old house - we suspect he ended up in the walls or floorboards somehow, likely surviving nicely on the mice therein. The snake (named "legs", of all things) was never found. My friend moved out of that house about 3 months later.

We had fun speculating that the snake would make a sudden appearance and the new owners would [insert speculation here!]

Ah, the good old days! -Skip
 
John Baker said:
I guess it was about five years later when I had all of the wall to wall carpeting torn up and had the oak hardwood floors sanded and brought back to life.

The area extending out about five feet from where the tank had been, the hardwood floor was completely shot. It cost me an extra five hundred dollars to have the boards replaced and toned to match the rest.
Click to expand...

A slow leak is bad enough. With the glued aquariums, you sometimes have catastrophic failures. If that happens on the second floor, you can end up pulling a lot of carpet, pad and drywall.
 
I had the kids throw something that cracked the smaller ciclid tank we had. Fortunately, we saved the fish.
 
ajstoner21 said:
I get a call from my fiance around 1 today crying. Somehow our 10 gallon tank got a leak and drained 10 gallons of water onto our living room carpet, and consequently killing the few goldfish we had in there. :confused:
Click to expand...
So....was she crying about the deceased goldfish or the cleanup?
 
Fearless Tower said:
So....was she crying about the deceased goldfish or the cleanup?
Click to expand...

Ha, both. She doesnt care so much just because its just a goldfish but she thought it was a crappy way to go lol. We got over it quick. The cleanup sucked but could have been worse.
 
I had a 400 gallon saltwater reef tank. 8 feet long and 3 feet deep. One night the plumbing on the main 2000 gph pump let go and was shooting saltwater at the roof. If I hadn’t been home at the time, it would have emptied the entire tank in about 10 minutes. As it was I had to stand in saltwater to turn the pump off, not a good situation. By the time I got it turned off there was about 100 gallons of saltwater dripping from the ceiling, running through the house, and soaking into the bottom of the drywall.

You had it easy.
 
Last edited:
ajstoner21 said:
Well, its not much of a problem any more.

I get a call from my fiance around 1 today crying. Somehow our 10 gallon tank got a leak and drained 10 gallons of water onto our living room carpet, and consequently killing the few goldfish we had in there. :confused:

I test the water weekly. The water wasn't too hard/soft, it had a normal ph level, normal alkalinity...

The tank was only a year, or 1 1/2 years old.


Anyone ever have a similar problem?

I just love rushing home from work, to spend the rest of the afternoon with a rug doctor trying to suck up 10 gallons of fish water, and then re-shampoo our carpets.
Click to expand...

What was the tank sitting on? A possible culprit is if the tank wasn't supported evenly on the bottom. The weight of the water can stress the seals and pop them. I had the exact same thing happen to a 29 gallon salt water tank.

Edit: just noticed this was necropost. Oh, well.
 
I had a 90 gal salt water fish tank for a few years....like for many, it was more work than I was willing to enjoy.
 
Of course, while we were out of the country in February, the 500 gallon aquarium that was the home to Margy's cooter turtle busted and flooded our downstairs. Fortunately, our neighbor had been checking on things and recovered the turtle and many of our neighbors attacked the place with shop vacs before ServPro got there and did the rest of the remediation. The turtle is now having a great time living in the garden pond though Margy's not sure what we'reg going to do this winter.
 
Salty said:
I had a 400 gallon saltwater reef tank. 8 feet long and 3 feet deep. One night the plumbing on the main 2000 gph pump let go and was shooting saltwater at the roof. If I hadn’t been home at the time, it would have emptied the entire tank in about 10 minutes. As it was I had to stand in saltwater to turn the pump off, not a good situation. By the time I got it turned off there was about 100 gallons of saltwater dripping from the ceiling, running through the house, and soaking into the bottom of the drywall.

You had it easy.
Click to expand...

Well that explains your username...
 
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