The Planted Tank Forum banner

My fish had a bad day...

967 views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  ianp123 
#1 ·
Damn Algae!

I've been lurking here for a couple of weeks so I thought I would pop my head up and say hello. I was going to post pics of my finally completed tank today but I didn't expect this...

I was at my LFS today picking things up... a few fish, a couple of plants (plastic has finally been banished! Hooray!) and a chunk of driftwood to replace the rocks I had.

Once everything was ready I siphoned off a couple of gallons of water (needed to do a partial change anyway) so I could get my hands in there without overflowing the tank... don't need a flood on my hands after all. As I'm removing one of the rocks, which I should mention has a bit of algae on it, it slips out of my hands and hits the side of the tank... hard. I look and see a lovely star shaped crack near the bottom of the tank... arrhgghhhh!!

Ok...quick, get the bucket... get the hose (where's the hose??), grab a towel and put it right up against the cracks... lots of leakage. Siphon off a bucket full of water and then move the hose to the bathtub. Grab the net and get the fish out... don't let the hose suck them up!

Once all the fish are out and the tank is empty grab some towels and clean up the mess... only a couple of litres on the floor... thank God I don't have carpet. There is a benefit to these hideous floors I guess (my apartment building was build very quickly for Canadian Forces personnel in 1938 as part of the buildup for WWII).

Next up: Call the fish store... "Do you have a 20gal hex tank in stock? Yes? I'll be there in 5 minutes!". Once I get there they are a little confused as to why I need this tank right away, why I don't want a hood, stand or any other accessories, and why I'm not overly concerned about colour (my old tank was black, they didn't have black so I got cherry... they kept offerring to order one for me... should be in by Wednesday) and why I wanted it right now. "Look buddy, my 20gal worth of fish are in a 2gal plastic pail right now, just give me the tank!"

Drop $100 I wasn't planning to spend, especially since I picked up the broken one only a few weeks ago... ouch. Get it home, clean it, fill it, declorinate the water, move the gravel (hope the bacteria survived in sufficient numbers), decorations, and plants. Grab the bucket and pour the fish in.

As you can imagine they're a little traumatized by the whole thing... first a visit from the arm of doom, a ride in the net, hang out in a very small, dark and blue environment then being poured into a completly new environment. I really didn't like putting that many fish into an uncycled tank but there wasn't too much choice.

Here's hoping everyone makes it.

Ian

 
See less See more
1
#3 ·
That sucks. You can repair it. Take a razor blade and cut out the silcone that seals it and remove the broken piece. Then take measurements and have a glas shop cut you a piece to replace the missing one. Seal it up with some aquarium sealant and there you go. A second tank.
 
#4 ·
yeah fix it so you can get two tanks running!
 
#6 ·
a tank of that size would be easy and cheap to fix. Definatley thinl you should fix it and really hop into the hobby with 2 matching tanks
 
#8 ·
That is every tank owner's nightmare. I can understand how you feel about it,had a similar experience once too. Boy was the cleanup job a chore. All the best with your new tank though.
 
#12 ·
ianp123 said:
Get it home, clean it, fill it, declorinate the water, move the gravel (hope the bacteria survived in sufficient numbers), decorations, and plants. Grab the bucket and pour the fish in.

As you can imagine they're a little traumatized by the whole thing... first a visit from the arm of doom, a ride in the net, hang out in a very small, dark and blue environment then being poured into a completly new environment. I really didn't like putting that many fish into an uncycled tank but there wasn't too much choice.
You'll be fine if you used the gravel, wood, plants, and filter from the broken tank :thumbsup:
 
#13 ·
Gravel, plants, filter and some of the water. I didn't have wood previously, only rocks (you can imagine I'm a little gun-shy about rocks right now :icon_redf). I'm sure we'll be ok.

I'll be testing the water in a couple of days but I'm not panicked about it.

Thanks to everyone for the advice and consolation. I'm able to laugh about it now.

Ian
 
#15 ·
Ian,

What a nightmare!!! I agree, tho, since you used so much of the older stuff you should be fine. Go ahead and try your hand at fixing the old one. It wont cost much and you could get a QT or hosp tank out of it if you dont want to set up another one just yet.

I just tore down my 90G today and put in a new substrate, Soil Master Select, so I can TRULY say, what a day!!!!! I feel for you bud!!

Glad it worked out so for you though. The store could have been closed or out of that tank!! ****ums!!!!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top