my loss ....any ideas

[shaz]

well i thought i would share my sad news with u all. Last night i went out to my garage where i have my new 3 tier 3 x 3ft set up (only got it a few days ago ) only to find water everywhere and all my fish in my middle tank dead the heater had even melted after checking all my adult mainganos i was lucky to find my male had survived but all his females had passed( so sad as it has taken my ages to find adult females ) including my electric yellow male who was about 12.5 cm and his female all up i lost about 9 fish *cries* after taking the rocks out we found a very large crack going right across the bottom i am still unsure how this could have happeneed all my tanks have rocks in them and we have been very careful when we put them in. My thought was that the glass may have been to thin for a base and maybe the foam should have been thicker.The stand doesn't have a brace underneath each tier which i was told would be ok  but i still have 2 more of these tanks and i'm worried they might do the same thing i''ve taken almost all the rocks out and my other fish are quite unhappy with them gone .anyone have any ideas what i should do or why this might have happened.

Hi Sharmayne

I'm sorry to hear about your losses. Assuming there was no crack in the tank when you set it up, I can only think of two possible causes :

(i) you may have dropped a rock when setting up the tank which has caused a small crack which has subsequently increased due to the weight of the water.

(ii) the tank may not have been level when you set it up & filled it.

The first thing I would do is check that your stand and the tanks are level. If not, you may need to empty the other 2 tanks and adjust the stand until it is level & then fill them again.

A crack in the base is not that hard to repair. You need to get a piece of glass cut to the right size and then silicon it into the tank over the top of the cracked base. What are the full dimensions of the tanks?

Cheers, Doug

[caryb]

Sharmayne,
                   I put 16mm melamine under the foam to support the base of the tank. If you have rocks on the bottom & only support the edges any twist in the stand will transfer to the bottom of the tanks. Make sure you paint the edges of the melamine with some acrylic paint so it doe not swell.




Cary

[dammwoman]

If it was a heavy rock placed somewhere without support from underneath it will have resulted in a stress point and hence the glass has cracked.
The base of the tank is possibly a little inadequate at least for the weight of rocks and would suggest that maybe you look at adding a cross bar to the stand to help relieve the pressure on the bottom.
Sorry about your losses and hope this helps to avoid further accidents.
Cheers Linda

[aquariumwarehouse]

hi

rocks are light underwater we put 150 kg rocks in tanks with no problem.

a 100kg rock can be lifted with one hand under water...


what is the size of the tanks and how thick is the glass

regards kev

[here fishie fishie]

Sorry to hear about the bad news, :(  has happened to one of my 4 foot tanks in the past. Couldn't put our finger on it either.{the cause} My female calvus stayed in her shell, clever lass..unlike the male :roll:  who died, as with a few others. :(

A suggestion; Could the tank have got a bump or a knock while in transit :?:

Ironic, luck....This by no means is a sales pitch.
While in Aquariums Alive yesterday, a friend of the boys dropped off a few 20lt buckets cichlids.

Amongst them is a breeding colony of 11 Mainganios. In good shape, still young fish, sex ratio I didn't ask.....
Brad being the nice guy he is  ))o cough cough. I am sure he can work something out with.

I just rang & asked if they were still there & they are. So if you want them you have first dibs. I believe.

Frenchy :D

[ice_man]

[quote:63f7e380ff]rocks are light underwater we put 150 kg rocks in tanks with no problem.

a 100kg rock can be lifted with one hand under water... [/quote:63f7e380ff]

thats going a but far isnt it??   yes rocks are lighter under water but you reckon you can pick up a 100kg rock in 1 hand under water??  :roll:   :roll:  

  sorry if im doing the wrong thing by dissagreeing with a sponsor im not too sure on the rules in here.

[aquariumwarehouse]

ice man

i can pick up 100kg of the ground one hand

would you like to come and see.


small  bet  if you like it is anzac day...............


kev

[Savage_roo]

like most of the guys have been saying a cross bar would be a good thing
and some of that egg crate mesh stuff to help with the wait of the rocks
It only takes a scratch and a bit or weight and you can be in all sorts of trouble
Andrew

[Ronin]

I had the same thing happen to a 4ft many years ago, stand  was braced , only had gravel in the tank, 6hrs after filling it it cracked diagonally across the bottom, no idea why. Could have been just a flaw in the glass?

[Cichlidkeeper]

Shaz, Sorry about your loss, Let me know when you are back in action and I will replace your electric male yellow for you! free of course but will not be 12.5cm, more like 8.

Cheers Jeff

[here fishie fishie]

Thats nice of you Jeff.
Gold Coast does have some decent & lovely people in it.

Frenchy :D