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by **Kyle6621** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:07 am

Well, I guess i am the ultimate newbie right now. I got my first fish tank last weekend. Brand new 29 gal from PetSmart, with a stand, filter, light, decorations the whole bit... I have been researching what fish I want all week just letting the water cycle in the tank.
Tonight, I go buy fish and put them in the tank... SWEET...
Then, in the middle of the night (2am) a boom wakes me up and I hear gushing water. (That is a terrible sound to wake up to)

The back of the tank cracked open and all the water ended up on the floor. I wonder what caused it. Any ideas? Maybe too much gravel? temperature change in the house? The new tetras trying to bust out? The water level was about 2.5 inches from the top, the gravel was about 1/2 inch on one side and maybe 2 inches on the other side. It looks like the crack started from the side with the 2 inches of gravel. Weird thing is; why did it wait 5 days til after i put fish in to burst on me?

Im debating if I should attempt to return all the stuff to petsmart, and give up on the fish tank idea. Or, if I should hope for an exchange and try again.

Good thing I was home, and woke up. It was on the 2nd story of my apartment.
Good thing I listened to the instructions and used a "drip loop" with the power plugs.

by **Zambize4899** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:06 am

Wow, I'm a newbie but I haven't heard anything like this yet. I've read that today's tanks are much more leak-resistant than older tanks. Can you sift through the mess and see if you can isolate the point of failure?

dYou're thinking that the tank cracked open, but maybe the stand collapsed and caused the tank to rupture when it hit the floor. Some of those PetsMart stands are el cheapo.... I would suspect the stand first... That seems far more likely than a tank bursting. And I'm no expert, but if the tank were weak I would think it would happen at a seam and not a crack across solid glass.

I would definitely take it back and start over and get a more solid stand. The hobby is too enjoyable and satisfying to let this fluke prevent you from sticking with it.

Zambize

by **Tmercier834747** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:46 pm

First, i'd like to rule out your tetras, cause that's just impossible. lol

Second, it would take a pretty fast and drastic change in temperature for the glass to shatter. Like say..you weren't cycling your tank, but an icecube.

Third, your problem is pretty uncommon. I doubt with any standard tank that such a small amount of pressure on the sidewalls of a tank would cause such a catastrophe and thus would lead me to believe that Z might be right..could've been your stand was a POS.

Buuuut----I'm wondering did your tank come with a crossbrace, or a ''lip'' at the top? By lip I mean a rectangular piece of vinyl or wood finished covered plastic w/e that goes around the lip of the top of the tank to firmly hold the glass panes in place? The only tanks I'm familiar with that don't have them are usually acrylic and not glass, as glass has seams and acrylic (which is also 17x stronger, pressure-wise) does not...But perhaps this brace was removed and you didn't notice it..?

You also have to be sure your tank is near perfectly level before you start, and as you're filliing it with water. You may need some sort of plywood cut to fit the base as that would be easier to shim than carpet. Not saying you didn't have it level, just a recommendation. =P

Tanks breaking in such ways is very uncommon, in fact I've never met someone/heard them say they had a tank bust in such a manner.

by **Kyle6621** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:25 pm

Well, the tetras are sitting in a glass salad bowl now, and the bowl didnt break over night, so maybe it wasnt the tetras fault after all. ;)

The stand actually seems pretty solid, but the tank not being level would kind of makes sense. The tank is set up on a hard wood floor, so it feels like it is sitting sturdy, but I will have to bust out a level to see if it is actually level.

So you dont think it was too much rock? I have seen pictures on here with people who have more rock than I did. This was always something i worried about but didnt think ever actually happened.

by **Sumthing_Fishy** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:58 pm

Maybe someone at petsmart or the trucking company that was unloading the merchandise truck bumped the box the tank was in on something and caused a hairline fracture or a nick in the glass and that after a few days of the water pressure finally gave out, like a little nick in a windshield during the winter time that spreads into a huge crack. I would take it back to petsmart and tell them or call the manufacturer, probably has a waranty.

by **a1k8t31524** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:12 am

could there have possibly been something under your tank.... mabey a pice of gravel or small rock or something?

by **gumbii** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:21 am

it happens... my friend's 125g tank didn't crack untill three months of the tank running... wierd...

but did it crack on the bottom plane of glass...?? his did... fail... sorry bro... but you can take the tank to get repaired at some LFS... they charge me like 10 bucks for a small tank like that...

by **ChristinaBug2890** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 4:32 am

You've got me paranoid now...my tank is old...i dont know how old but old. Every time i go to do a water change or move stuff around im being sooo gentle.

by **Kyle6621** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:27 pm

It didn't crack on the bottom, which was surprising to me. The only thing I could think of would be I had too much gravel in the tank, but I would think the bottom would have given out first. The back of the tank crack from bottom right corner to top left corner. water came out like a waterfall.

Well, I took the tank back to PetSmart and exchanged it no questions asked. I got the new tank set up with significantly less gravel. I am paranoid now too. I also made sure the stand was completely level (bubble level) and it was sliiiightly off, so I stuck a piece of matte board under the leg. its perfect now. Hopefully that will never happen again. At least the fish lived through everything.

by **zambize** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:14 pm

I seriously doubt it was too much gravel.

by **miami754** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:12 am

Yeah, there is no way it was too much gravel. I have over 130 lbs of lace rock in mine plus 30 lbs of gravel and it is just fine. It was more than likely either an unlevel tank or just a malfunctioning one. Do not worry about your gravel and put as much in as you want.

by **spongebob4460** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:06 pm

I heard of a similar thing happening to someone else with a new tank... they ended up filling up their tank, not knowing a small piece of gravel was lodged underneath the tank before they filled it. Once they filled the tank, it exploded. However, it exploded very soon after they filled it. My guess is that yours held for a few days, and once it shifted to a different point (maybe from evaporation, etc. anything really)... it then exploded. Stress causes such things, even humudity and pressure shifts in a room, from heat. Sorry for your loss, don't give up though, go get an exchange from petsmart, tell them it was a faulty tank and take in the pieces. Like everyone says, this is raaaaare.

by **zambize** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:12 pm

I've only had one tank explode into a million pieces. It was empty (thankfully) in my office on a 36" table. I left my 10 pound dog in there for a couple of hours while I ran an errand. When I came back the tank was on the floor in zillions of pieces. There is no other possible explanation than the dog....damn, he must be strong. Oh, and he's only about 8" tall.

Kyle --
My tank was a beautiful new 28 gallon bow front. It was beyond painful to see it on the floor like that. I feel your pain.

Zambize

by **gumbii** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:08 pm

i use egg crate under the sand when i use alot of rock work... my 60g has about 200+ lbs of rock in it... plus the slate background and 50lbs of sand...

by **adamnorrad79** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:51 pm

because it was one piece of glass i should feel confident in saying the glass was baked for to long and became brittle for over heating. glass is made from glass and need a alot of heat to form glass. but like metal if over heated can become brittle and lose its assumed strength

Forums • General Community Discussion • Why did my fish tank explode in the middle of the night?

Why did my fish tank explode in the middle of the night?

Why did my fish tank explode in the middle of the night?