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Death of the Big Clear Kahuna

75K views 388 replies 116 participants last post by  leoslizards 
#1 · (Edited)
:( I was sitting in my home office, on a conference call, when I heard the distinct - LOUD - sound of rushing water. I got up and glanced in the kitchen. Nope, no one in there. So, I stepped away from my business call and found - to my great dismay - 75 gallons of water RAPIDLY exiting my home built all glass tank.

The failure was nothing less than catastrophic. No slow leak here. It probably started slowly, but the water pressure pushed the back glass panel a good 1/4" away from one of the side panels. Once about 65 gallons was out, the water stopped leaking. It took about somewhere between 30 and 90 seconds. Sorry I was too busy to get a good picture.

What you see below is the aftermath. 6 discus and a whole lot of plants and driftwood crammed into a 40g garbage can - hoping for no deaths.









I'll need to post links to this in all my "Kahuna" related threads. Both the DIY and Photo Album threads. But that will have to wait. The day after this happened I had to go on a 3 day business trip. So these poor fish have been without food for 4 days, crammed into a garbage can. This weekend will be dedicated to buying and setting up a new tank. No time for posting.

I'm bummed that this happened, and think I know why it happened. IMO it was not a random event. But that speculation will have to wait. I've got to go get a tank. No time for crying now... I'll do plenty of that later. Now I've got things to do... :(
 
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#6 ·
That just terrible. I'm sorry that happened to you and your fish/plants.

On a positive note, I know you'll outdo it in your next revision, though!

I've read a majority of your "Big Kahuna" thread, like many other here, and learned lots. You've contributed so much. Thank you.
 
#12 ·
holy crap! Steve that totally sucks!!!!!!
The fish will hopefully be fine...What can we do. I am not far from you, let us know if we can help in any way. So sorry!
 
#13 ·
Whooo. Hope all survive. That is terrible news. Good luck with the new tank.
 
#15 ·
One thought Steve. While you are gone, maybe your family could transfer the plants to another garbage can with some regular water from the house - the plants will be fine - to give the Discus more room in the main temporary can.
 
#21 ·
Holy S**T wow that sucks majorly!!! i feel your pain on a lower level though my betta breeder ( 5 gal ) i siliconed together broke a leak awhile ago it sucks... good luck fixing it or doing well what ever your planing to do... may the silicone gods be with you !
 
#23 ·
What a pain! Well all hope for the best Steve. Good luck on the cleanup.
 
#26 ·
Thanks!

Hey folks! You've been too kind. Your outpouring of well wishes, advice, and compassion means a lot to me. Thank you.

I've also gotten significant help from people that have contacted me directly. You know who you are. Thank you too.

I don't have any news yet. No tank purchased. I've narrowed things down to a few options, but I'm not going to know which ones are truly available for a couple of days (waiting for distributors to open their offices and such).

So I've come to the conclusion that I've got to make this work for a while longer - whether a few days or a week. So I'm gonna go get another trash can and move some of the plants in there. They aren't getting much light now, 'cuz they're piled on top of each other. And the discus are really crowded.

So I'll have more news in a couple of days. Though if things work out like it looks like it might (fingers crossed!), I just might be able to turn this tragedy into an opportunity.

Thanks again for all your support. For everyone to be so supportive of such a cranky old fart... well I've always said - this is a really special community!
 
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