Sarcastic

Its odd - I swear there was no sign of any cracks in my tank until this last week. Now, there is a small (1") X shaped crack about 2/3 from the bottom on the short side of the tank. No leakage, just a crack. It can be felt by running a finger over it.

Nothing has changed. I moved the tank in October of last year from one apartment to the new pad, and its been stationary since then. The tank is away from heat/cold fluctuations and isn't near anything that might have fallen against the tank. I wonder what caused this. And how worried I should be.

susitna-flower

Gargoyle

Crack in tank = Get a new tank and FAST!! If it gives your gonna have a heck of a mess and some dead fish...

COBettaCouple

Yea.. it could spider fast, especially if it's subjected to temp changes, etc.. If you can get another tank going and/or put BioSpira in that'd be great. Then you can get the fish out & start removing the water so you don't get flooded out.. maybe you know some tanks or a tank that your fish could call home temporarily to get them to safety until you can have a new home for them.

I'd say try the glass sealant but susitna-flower's been at this longer than me and i'd trust her that it doesn't sound fixable plus if the crack let any of that stuff into the water, i don't think that would be good for the fish to say the least.

Sarcastic

Thanks for confirming my worries - even if I wish they weren't confirmed. So far no incident has occurred.

In another thread, I was asking about the possibility of keeping the biofilter hale & healthy if I move everything from the current tank to the new tank. The consensus seems to be that this should work - but not to take it for granted and do very regular checks on water quality. Any opposing thoughts?

susitna-flower

Sarcastic

Thanks for the tips. I hope I can get to this before its too late.

COBettaCouple

Has the crack expanded any? You could use a sharpie & circle around the crack area to keep a watch on it's progress. Hopefully you'll have plenty of time to spare and it won't expand anytime soon.

Sarcastic

I marked the crack with a piece of Gaff tape - the crack has grown to 1.5" as of this morning. Still no leak.

COBettaCouple

Glad no leaking yet.. wish i knew a way to temporarily reinforce the area of the crack, but i slept thru engineering class. How goes things on being ready to getting that tank emptied safely?

Sarcastic

Talked to one of the LFSs an hour ago - they have a 50 Gallon w/ a nice wooden stand that will fit in the same place waiting for me to pick up. They also said they'd cut the lid for the second filter. (ADDED: Not that this is currently w/in my budget, of course, but nothing happens at the most convenient time.)

I'll need to pick up three more buckets, too.

I'm planning on keeping all the tank water. Since I'm upgrading size by 20 gallons, adding new water will be as if I'm making a 60% change, anyway.

However, what with the demanding work schedule this week there's no way I can do anything about the tank swap until Saturday - and that may be optimistic.

So here's hoping that this holds until Sunday.

capekate

I would get another asap!! I lost 29g of water due to a crack. Thank goodness there were no fish in at the time. Stress cracks.. I found that I had used a piece drift wood that wouldnt stay down by itself so I lodged it, one end on the bottom, the top under the frame lip, standing up end to end. In two days, I had the crack and the water leaked out slowly. Nothing on the floor, it all went into the basement. What a mess! Good luck to you...hopefully you will get another tank before you lose your fish and damage the flooring!

youngest-fish-nerd

once you get a knew tank, (you deffenetly should)
dont throw away the cracked one,
you can seal it good easily,
just dont fill it up more than half,
it would make a good turtle or muddskiper tank,
i did this with a ten,

Luniyn

The water isn't as important as the gravel and filter media is. The water doesn't really contain that much of the good bacteria to do much of anything. If you keep the water but use all new gravel and filter media, you will be starting the cycle all over again as if you had just used all new water as well. Just be sure to keep the gravel wet while you transfer it from one tank to the other and the good bacteria in it should remain fairly well. Also be sure to use the same filter media or at least seed the new filter with the old one by placing it next to (or at least a piece of it) the new filter and bio media.

And I hear ya on the never a good time for having to spend more money. When I bought my fish tank all of a sudden the garbage disposal stopped working a day or two later. Of course I didn't have the cash for a plumber but had to get one cause the sink wasn't draining either. So out he comes, spends less then 10 seconds fixing it and reaches in and pulls out..... a piece of gravel . I was so careful while washing out the gravel for the tank, but it seems not careful enough. $95 and a couple of wacks of my head against the wall later I found a book on my bookshelf. It was called "How to fix things around the house" and under page 265 "how to fix stuck garbage disposals".... almost make a hole in my wall with my head on that one .

Sarcastic

Thanks for the reminder of one of life's constants.

Update for the day - the crack has not grown any, and there are still no leaks. Back at my desk and keeping my fingers crossed until I get home. I'll be making the transfer tomorrow.

capekate

I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you as well! good luck!

Sarcastic

By Sunday morning the spidery litle x-shaped crack had grown to just under 3", and a compatriot crack of less than 1/2" had emerged near the bottom molding. Still no leaking.

By Sunday afternoon, the water, gravel, filter & fish had been relocated to a new Bowfront 46 Gallon aquarium. I added some new gravel, and a second HOB filter, and saved about 70% of the water from the 30 gallon tank.

As of Monday morning, still reading zero on both Nitrites and Ammonia.

capekate

Great news! look like you got it solved in the 'nick' of time...and a new tank shape to boot! kewl... Those bow fronts are nice looking. Send pics when you can!