Suddenly, a crack

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.

 

you should be worried! Stress can do funny things to glass, and to us! A small nick that didn't show, and now......It concerns me that it could give way, if it does, the whole end could come out, and you will have fish on the floor.
This doesn't sound like a fixable crack either. I would start looking for a tank that will fit your flock, and get things moved over.

Land of the Midnight Sun 8)

 

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

 

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.

 

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?

 

As long as you keep everything moist, ie. put the filter in a bucket of water while you move gravel over which will take awhile. A quick rinse of gravel is going to be in order, since it will be foul. Just don't give in and do it with really hot , cold, and try to stay away from chlorinated, as these will kill the bacteria on gravel. If there is any way to save some tank water to rinse everything in that would be perfect.
You are in for a job, but with a bucket for fish and one for filter, then you should be ok. It wouldn't hurt to stick your heater and air bubbles in the bucket with fish just to keep them happy. Wish you all the best in this.

Land of the Midnight sun 8)

 

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

 

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

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.

 

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

 

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

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?

 

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. (ADDE 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.

 

I would get another asap!! I lost 29 gallon 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!

 

once you get a knew tank, (you deffenetly should)
dont throw away the cracked one,
you can seal it good easily,
just don't fill it up more than half,
it would make a good turtle or muddskiper tank,
I did this with a ten,

 

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 .

 

...............$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 .

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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!

 

I am so glad you got everything transferred over without having a disaster! Those kinds of cracks can fool you, and I thing it was really wise to get moved before it all gave way. Sorry it ended up in an expense but......better safe.

Land of the Midnight Sun 8)

 

Great to hear it all ended up well (if not heavy on the pocket).

 

I'm glad it held out long enough to get everything done safely. We look forward to seeing your bowfront 46. where'd you buy it? any plans for the cracked tank?

 

I'm glad it held out long enough to get everything done safely.  We look forward to seeing your bowfront 46.  where'd you buy it?  any plans for the cracked tank?

I bought it from my favorite LFS, New World Aquarium in Manhattan, NY on 38th and 3rd. I got a really fair price on it and it came with a stand, even though I'd to pass on the package special (which included a cannister filter) since I needed to keep my HOB filter to keep the Biofilter intact. I'm now running two Aquaclear 300 (or Aquaclear 70, depending on your generation). If you're in the area, I highly advise you check them out - the fish are generally a bit pricey, but the selection is truly uncanny.

I'll take a photo tonight and see if I can get it to take tomorrow.

I put the cracked tank up on the free section of the local craigslist as a potential terrarium. The crack is high enough that I think it would work for a small red eared slider or two, in the short run, also. The tank was a gift, so I thought it apropos to put it back out into the world for free. I just got an email from a guy who's into geckos for his kids - seems like that's where its headed. 

 

sounds good. i'd love to have a store like that near us.. all we have is a petco.

 

Update: Both Nitrites & Ammonia Still reading at 0ppm, Nitrates are down at 7 ppm, and the pH is at its usual 6.9. Looks as if everything went according to plan. I'm still waiting another week or two before adding any more fish just to be certain, and everyone's on a diet until then, too.

I'm going to gather some more rocks from a stream I know, and I'm thinking of putting in a good piece of driftwood in the middle of the tank.

Here's an .

 

looks great.. I want one of those!

 

So while I'm being flakey at work thinking about my fish, I'm contemplating how many of what kind I'm going to add. I think 3 more Silver Dollars, 2 more Dwarf Gourami, and 4 more Cory Cats.

Does a chart like this make any sense at all? If this is sensible - if not 100% scientific - than I'll be increasing the bioload by a factor of 1.7, while increasing my tank volume by a factor of 1.6.

What do you think about my planned additions?

 

Forget the chart, 1" to Gal rule is a better base to go from even if it isn't perfect. At your current load you are already at 47" of fish when they reach adult size.

2 Silver Dollars x 6" each = 12
1 Swordtail x 5" each = 5
4 Dwarf Gourami x 2" each = 8
4 Corys x 2.5" each = 10
6 Danios x 2" each = 12

12 + 5 + 8 + 10 + 12 = 47

I guessed at the size of the cory's as I didn't know which one's you had (not familiar with "armored" cory as it says in your sig) but it's a safe guess with them ranging from 2"-3" normally. In any event, you are already 1" over your tank size meaning you are maxed out on the amount of fish you can handle. If you went with the planned version you would be upping it to 79" of fish which would be way over. If you really want to add a few more fish then at most I would add the Dwarf Gouramis and maybe 2 of the cory's, or forget the Gouramis and get the 4 cory's. The cory's spend so much time stacked on top of each other that they have less of a problem with crowding and the other fish wouldn't be bothered by them since they are on the bottom of the tank.

 

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll probably just add the corys, in the end.

I came up with the idea for that chart based on wide ranging criticism on the 1" to 1 Gallon method, but you're right, its not any better.

The "armored" cory is the common name under which I bought the two, I realize its not really indicative of their genus. I think they may be trilineatus except they have clear dorsal fins. The other two are paleatus, the albino variety.

Update for the day: Both Nitrites & Ammonia Still reading at 0ppm, and I seem to have lost the card that indicates reading of Nitrates but it can't be more than 10 ppm based on the color and my memory.

 

Well done! It sounds like your bacteria survived the transfer and all is well! Good job! ;D

 

The problem with basing it on bio-load is that you can't determine what is a good/bad bio-load on your tank. As long as you have enough places for the good bacteria to grow, then eventually there will be enough to handle any amount of ammonia and nitrite you throw at it. But that's not the only problem in a tank. Just being a crowded space will cause as much stress as average water quality. When the fish get scared or want to get out of a situation (i.e. another fish in their path that they don't want to bother) they will dart off in another direction. If they dart off only to be stopped again or have to dodge in another direction this can make them want to just hid out most of the time and not move around. The other side is if the fish is too big for the tank then they don't have the room to stretch their fins. So although it isn't perfect, the 1" per Gal rule does the best job of at least giving you a starting point for stocking your fish tank.

Nice work with the tank though, it would seem like you avoided having to cycle again. Congrats!