Broken Aquarium - Not A Fun Phone Call To Receive While At Work

Today I come out of a meeting and happened to check my cell phone .... see about a half dozen missed calls from my husband and my sister in law. Never a good sign.

I excused myself and went into the hall to return the calls - (There were no voicemails which is another BAD sign).

My husband answered sounding very out of breath - - "Can you come home??" is the first thing he says.

Then, before I can even utter "why?" - he tells me what happened. His sister and my nephews were over today because my sister in law's laptop had a virus (my husband is in IT) so while he was checking on it and doing his techy thing...my nephews were playing around the house. The boys were home from school because they had been to the dentist that morning and were being allowed to play hooky for the rest of the day.

To keep them entertained and out of the way, they were playing WiI Sports...
Unfortunately - - one of them got the bright idea that if you tape the wiI remote to an actual baseball bat for "realistic swings". So they took my husbands autographed RedSox 2004 World series bat and taped the WiI Remote to it.

Somehow - - (it depends on if you ask the 7 year old or the 9 year old - each one is innocent apparently ) The bat and my tank met...the bat won - Right in the middle of the front panel.

As you can - - water came cascading out - the nine year old somehow managed to keep the fishes from falling out while the 7 year old ran for my husband and sister in law.

It was almost 2 hours after the incident when I noticed the missed calls. By the time I got home it was almost 130, so over 2.5 hours since the accident and they had the fish and liveplants in a bucket with the filter in and out take in the bucket, the water mopped up, the rock substrate in a container, the decor laid out...and were now waiting terrified for me.

I kept my composure because really, at this point in time what else can I do? I surveyed the damage - at that point it did not look that bad because the mess had been cleaned up and the hardwoods dried.

I looked at my husband and said - - "Well, Christmas is coming early this year apparently - - go get me a new tank!"

A four foot tank is the most we can fit at this time in the spot we have arranged for the tank - the space is about 4 feet and 6 inches so a 4 footer fits nicely.

My husband and sister in law come back 2 hours later (they took her ford explorer because my husband and I have little sedans, and her boys stayed with me - they are unharmed!!)...nearly 4pm (after going to 6 pet/fish stores) with a 72 Aqueon gallon bow front that had been a floor model (had a few scratches on the stand). Kissing up to me, he and his sister also picked up all the black sand they had (eight 5 lb bags, probably not enough but I appreciated the gesture) and bubble wands because I had mentioned to them that I wanted them when I rescaped my tank - - the rescape was originally going to be done in December/January when I got my holiday bonus.


So...now at 615 pm, the tank is filled, filter re-set up, bubble wands in place, fish back in the tank. I am going to worry about the sand tomorrow - I am too exhausted to do much more tonight!

Here are a few pictures - my camera died and I got it charged just enough to take a picture of the fish in the tank before it died again.


Picture of the rock substrate, and decor

My larger rocks - my nephews thought they were helping by organizing them into color categories, "stripey, red-ish, black and white-ish"

And here is the picture of the new tank (only 3 gallons smaller than the previous tank....both were 4 feet long but this tank is apparently 1 inch taller and the same or similiar width in the center of the bow. So not much of a downsize). I put the old tank's back ground on taped to this tank for now.

Now sitting down to the pizzas my sister in law picked up for dinner and maybe one...or a few....glasses of wine!

 

Is the bat ok?

lol sorry but someone had to say it.

Great start to the week, glad the fish seemed to have survived ok.

 

my husband and nephews appreciated that, thanks.

Yes, to those concerned - the bat survived unscathed.

I will take a picture of it later for proof

I was not a huge baseball fan before -even less so now.


The fish all seem to have survived their ordeal in stride - no scrapes, good color, no torn fins, and happy enough to eat!

 

I don't actually watch baseball I just had to ask lol

 

Well, I'm glad everything ended virtually ok. I had to laugh at the rock organization though- sounds like something my nephews would do to try to help. Good thing you could get out of work early! Hope you rest well tonight.

 

Oh my! What a story!! Glad the kids, ur, exhem, fish survived.

 

Well... Time to move the wiI lol. Glad everyone's ok!

 

Oh my goodness!! Talk about heart sink straight on down....that is just...wow.....glad you didn't have any casualties. I think a group hug is in order...

What did we learn here today.......make sure wiI is far away from tank(s).

Yeah, that would make me want at least 2 glasses of wine. Wait a minute....just give me the whole bottle....who needs a glass at a time like this! lol

 

O_O Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I'm so glad you were able to get a new tank set up so quickly and that everyone survived!

 

Thanks guys - - never had a problem with the WiI until a real wooden bat came into play - - btw, here is a picture of the bat they taped a wiI control to -

I did just lose one of my mollies - With in the past few hours it passed - I just found it and netted him out. Poor thing.

Did a check over everyone else and they are still all looking good. God help them if I lose one of my goldies!

 

as a die hard Red Sox fan, I would of been more frustrated that they touched the bat than the fish tank I'm glad there wasn't much water damage.

 

The bat is usually kept in it's plastic sleeve (pictured on the floor beneath the bat)

We are probably going to be mounting it somewhere in his office soon. But for now it is moved to the top of the closet.




**** funny story behind the bat....it actually was my Step father's - - now my ex-step father, my mother took great joy in giving it to my husband ha!

She also had a yard sale - - post on craigslist - "Divorce sale - Come get his stuff CHEAP!"

 

as a die hard Red Sox fan, I would of been more frustrated that they touched the bat than the fish tank I'm glad there wasn't much water damage.

actually, I was really surprised about how well everything was cleaned up by the time I got home - - until I went in the laundry room and discovered every towel and spare sheet/blanket crumbled in a wet mass in the corner.

 

Glad the bat survived unscaved. GO SOX!

I'm also glad that your fish survived.

 

Stripey rocks..... I love the things kids do sometimes. But If they were my family..those kids would be getting a grouper upside the head.

 

woke up this morning and took a peek at the tank - every one seems to be doing well...maybe tonight I will start putting the sand in.

 

Hello Lil,

I'm so sorry you had to experience all of this. However, you do have a new tank which is great! I love the 72g bow fronts.

Hopefully the rest of the fish will be fine. I'm glad that you held your composure. I'm not sure how well I would have handled the situation myself. I don't think it would have been pretty . So...kudos to you!

I would consider removing the WiI from the room with fish tanks.

Best wishes and keep us posted.

Ken

Here's one for you, below:

 

Forget the bat! Is the WiI Remote okay?!?

Glad the fish are OK! Great story!

 

I would consider removing the WiI from the room with fish tanks.

I would consider sending both boys to boarding school until they reach the age of 35.

Seriously though, what punishment did the kids get? That's what I wanna know......

 

Wow ..some story...I'm glad all is well....new tank is great....just not the way to get one.......lol...see now that's why kids should be playing outside...

 

lol the kids punishment was making their favorite aunty a nervous wreck.

In all honesty, they are really good kids. Just a bit too creative for their own good sometimes. They were really all over the place drying stuff, picking up rocks, checking on fish, clearing dishes after dinner...lol

And they were very apologetic...but somehow they are both innocent? The 9 year old says the 7 year old came up with the idea and was demonstrating his creation when the tank broke....the 7 year old says it was the other way around....

The world may never know.

oh, and yes....the wiI remote also survived lol...

 

holy bologna. my heart did flip flops just through the course of reading this! I am about to put a tank in my family's family room, and my sister brings her 3 kids (3, 6, and 8) over all the time. My tank is a 75, and it'll house comets, loaches, and a plec... my brother was talking about leaving his wiI at the house for the kids to play with... in the room where the tank is going to go... i'm thinking I might just have to find another space for my tank set up. I don't think my heart could take a phone call like that! i'm so glad your fish seem to be doing well (I was sorry to read about your molly), and that you were able to restrain yourself from murdering your nephews, husband, and sister in law, and also that the sports memorabilia and game controller were unharmed (although i'm about to head home and hide all my nephew's hockey sticks!).

 

You are the favourite now for allowing them to live lol I have heard of many injuries/damage caused by the wiI but not in such a creative way. To bad the space is only 4ft wide, could have upgraded tank sizes.

 

Oh no! I'm so glad all your fish are ok. I'm not sure I could have kept my cool! Lovely new tank though Hope all your fish settle in well.

 

That's why my kids are not allowed to play in the living room with anything that can hit like that. My oldest girl had the bright idea of taking a yo-yo and spin it in circles my the string until I screamed STOP from the other side of the house and they all ran into one room. hahaha Hope everything goes back to normal soon.

 

eh, who cares if that stinky old bat is ok. hahaha. glad to hear things are all ok though. now i'm kind of worried, not because my child is out of control crazy, but one tank is in the great room....and accidents do happen. hmm. at least it's kind of tucked back into a corner....away from the wiI and xbox

 

That WiI thing is a menace! It destroys tv's, walls, people, and now fish tanks.

I got both turkey and xmas at my house this year and I know will be freaking out. Thought about putting a little fence around the tanks to keep little hands away.

 

That WiI thing is a menace! It destroys tv's, walls, people, and now fish tanks.

I got both turkey and xmas at my house this year and I know will be freaking out. Thought about putting a little fence around the tanks to keep little hands away.

Lol. Better add some barbed wire just to be safe And maybe a trip wire that sets off an alarm lol

Wow, what a story! It's too bad the molly didn't make it, but its great that the rest did! And you get your new tank!

 

Sounds like you guys who have a problem with people keeping people away from your tanks need this...



I have these stickers. Works great because people think it's funny but they do become hesitant to mess with tanks after seeing them.

 

I LOVE these...I may have to pick some up!

 

Here is a video of the tank with some black sand in it - - only 4 bags used so far - seems to have given me a fair amount of coverage.

It is still pretty barren but I will hopefully be testing a piece or two of my driftwood soon.
removed

 

Looks really nice, how did you keep the water so clear after putting in all that black sand? Anytime I have messed around in my own tank with black flourite it makes the water cloudy.

 

I put the sand in a 3 gallon water change bucket, set the hose down in it and kept stirring the sand with my hands until most of the water ran clear. Then I poured out most of the water that was sitting on top of the sand, carried the bucket in the house, and using a plastic party cup, scooped sand slowly into the tank.

I slowly submersed the cup of sand, sunk it to the bottom, then poured the sand out.

The fish stayed in the tank the whole time and besides being very curious, could not have cared less.

 

What did we learn here today.......make sure...

...the in-laws are far away from the tanks.

Everything bad that happens to me, I blame on my in-laws, whether they are here or not.

 

Here is a short video of the tank with one of my "driftwoods" added - - notice the clown pleco munching away
Excuse my cat yelling at me in the background towards then end of the recording!


removed

 

I started a new thread under my blogs to track the progress from here on out - I am not going to look at this tank as a "disaster solution" any longer...

Opinions and suggestions on decorating are very welcome!