# 75 gallon Marineland bottom collapse and shatter



## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

Hi guys, this happened last Friday morning:





I've seen other posts on Marineland bottoms breaking. To be fair this is a old, used tank I bought when I first got back into the hobby. I was under the impression that the bottom plate was the same thickness as the side. Not so. The sides are 3/8 annealed and the bottom was 1/4" tempered. Also, the "brace" across the middle is just flimsy plastic. It doesn't actually brace the bottom but rather seems to be aim at hold the sides together.

What I think happened is the Mbuna dug out around a few too many rocks which led to a slide or some other event that triggered the breakage. Or maybe temperature related? High was 78 low 73 for the day in the tank so that doesn't seem right either.

Anyway, incredibly I was up and sitting in the next room when this happened. I heard a loud "POP". The video ends when I turned off the breaker to the room. Only 2 fish out of about 70 actually died. I moved them to a sump I've been working on pre-cycling then modified the sump to support the population until I can finish the 200G tank the sump will attach to. Overall damage wasn't that bad. The fishroom is bare concrete on a slab and all AC/electronics are suspended. But still... scary night.

Stream here:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCichlidShow/live


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## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

Here's an update. It's easier to explain when you see it...


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## HumbleBilly (Jan 6, 2014)

so your thinking a rock maybe hit the glass too many times over time? from the fish moving it around?


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

Probably the rock only hit it once. Sorry, for the disaster.


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## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

Yeah I think there was already a lot of stress from the weight of the rock work. Then a sharp ding from a falling rock just put it over the top. Some critical point was crossed. I think I came across a bit harsh on marineland in the video above - I mean the dang tank was built in 2001. I just don't get the "thicker sides than bottom" strategy.

Anyway, I've really enjoyed modifying the sump to support the fish. It's been a challenge but they seem to be doing well. Come by and chat if you get a second. We mostly just talk about nerdy fish diy stuff.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Sucks to have that happen - tempered glass does not need to be as thick as plate glass to have the same strength, also you are correct, the plastic braces effectively are only a way to hold the glass in shape, the glass will move if they break - I had a 150 lose one of the top cross pieces a while ago and the tank side bowed 3/8" or so with it compromised.

On the plus side, it is a great excuse to get a bigger newer tank!


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## Vociferus (Aug 10, 2016)

I have that exact same tank and you freaked me out, but I don't have any heavy rocks in the tank so hopefully this won't happen. Once my fish get bigger maybe I'll transition to a larger tank with a thicker bottom though so I can sleep at night.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Vociferus said:


> I have that exact same tank and you freaked me out, but I don't have any heavy rocks in the tank so hopefully this won't happen. Once my fish get bigger maybe I'll transition to a larger tank with a thicker bottom though so I can sleep at night.


Don't be too freaked out by a single instance of a failure, Marineland sells 1000's of tanks, reading about an unfortunate failure someone else had is not really relevant to your situation.


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

True, also if you do feel nervous, add egg-crate under the sand.


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

Tempered glass will shatter on it's own sometimes, with out any help. It is the nature of the beast. As far as marineland is concerned, don't worry about bashing them. This is a way for the tank makers to build at a cheaper price.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

:thumb: Well, unless they support the site by advertising.


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## LXXero (May 4, 2016)

I had read about a similar incident on another forum with this same tank, and had been chatting with Adam about it, so it almost seemed like a pattern, but it's also a 15+ yr old tank, had rocks that may have been on sand (that the fish could have potentially dug under, and apparently may have...) and etc, etc...hard to point a direct finger, but the fact that manufacturers are using thinner and thinner panels is a bit scary. I have seen some 3ft 65G's at my LFS that are probably 25+ yrs old and the glass is like as thick as my 120G aqueon, lol. he's still using most of them too. they just don't build em like that anymore. mind you though, he's also the type to cut out the silicon and repair tanks if they go bad, he builds custom tanks on the regular, so who knows what battle scars some of those tanks may have, haha.

I've always thought aqueon a tad better than marineland, but that's just me. I say that having just bought a 60g rimless cube from marineland, lol, so don't let that cut too deeply...I think marineland also makes a better/wider range of stands than aqueon....they also make different sizes, marineland does a few more oddball sizes and aqueon is pretty famous for their curved corner tanks....once you step up to custom or some of the more reef specific tank brands, the prices can get crazy but quality definitely seems to go up with it....less likely to see marginally thin glass panels and stuff...or say, an all tempered 55G (yeah, marineland makes that one....err uh yeah, i'd probably not want that one, personally)

I ended up eggcrating my new tank though. It was a last minute decision, but things like this make me all the more confident in that decision. It's hard to ever be "too overkill" on anything with fishtanks. Well, except maybe with feeding, lol, but it's hard to take too many precautions I say....


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

The egg crate is a very good idea to help protect the bottom. We have it in all of our tanks. Picked up this tip right here on this site. :thumb:

I saw some 100 gal.tanks a few days ago, they had 3/8" glass for the front and back panels, the ends were 1/4" and not sure what the bottom was. Thought it looked mighty strange, I guess it's all about profit. When it comes to making a fish tank of decent size, I'll take 1/2" annealed glass over 1/4" tempered glass all day long.


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## LXXero (May 4, 2016)

wow that's pretty wimpy for 100gal....my 120g aqueon is 1/2" sides and 3/8 tempered bottom only...i know cause we drilled the back, lol. took forever...would have rather seen a thicker bottom regardless of the tempering, but the fact i know this is all the more reason why there's eggcrate down there, lol. Pretty much all the major manufacturers use tempered bottoms though. Not sure what the trend is, maybe weight reduction? Needed nearly 3 people to carry the 120g as it was....

funny you picked up the tip here, cause just as many people here will say you don't need it....personally, i'm kinda sold now. I think i'm gonna do it on all my tanks too. Especially that new rimless marineland i just got...prolly will have sand in that tank too, which i say is even more reason to have the eggcrate since it hides well in sand.


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## Melanddave6571 (Jul 5, 2016)

OMG! Okay, I'm a girl so seeing that just about made me cry!  I'm so glad you got them all moved to the sump and set up! You said you lost fish? Then sounds like you didn't? Was the catfish okay after all. So heartbreaking.

Well, I decided I'm using egg crate.


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## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

Hi Melissa, I did lose 3 total. The pictus shown in the video and then two small juvenile Socolofi. The pictus is more of a loss to me personally because he has been in the tank since day #1. The two Socolofi I didn't "know". There were many many juveniles in the tank (all of which born there) some of which I have never even seen.

I'm really glad I didn't lose any of the three synodontis catfish though. They are my favorites!


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

I'm one of those who does not use eggcrate under my rocks. My opinion, is that the weight of the rocks themselves even if the tank was full of rock is not sufficient enough to cause breakage of the bottom. I set up my tanks with a lot of rocks, and ensure they are stacked with no substrate between them and the bottom, and such that they don't wiggle/move. This reduces enough of the risk for me, that I don't find eggcrate necessary.

Once the rocks are in the tank and don't move, fish cannot undermine them by digging, the only real risk is that *I* drop one during a re-scape or other maintenance.

There is a theory that a rock could have a high spot which could cause a pressure point, which could cause the glass to break. Can't say that I've experience that one.

Knowing the root cause of why tanks fail, and taking the steps you are comfortable with to reduce your risk is what it is about. Clearly there are several ways to approach the problem.


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## LXXero (May 4, 2016)

I agree the weight by themselves is not sufficient. That old youtube video of the guy standing inside of a 10gal with a bunch of rocks stacked in it, is likely proof enough of that, haha.

My theory is that it could be a combination of factors, like, say rock scratches glass, then rock bumps into scatch after maintenance or fish delodging, etc. Think about how they cut glass with a scratch tool, it's totally plausible.

A pressure point could in fact, add to this theory. A single pressure point could also make a real big scratch or gouge pretty easily, compared to weight spread over a wider area, which would be less likely to create a scratch like that. Again, think about glass cutting tools, for the typical drag/snap type cutters, it's usually a super fine point that you apply pressure and drag...much like a pressure point on a rock, say, being dragged around during re-positioning.

Or, it could just be spontaneous tempered glass explosion, which does happen albeit infrequently....not much you could do in that case other than never used tempered? you'd pretty much have to go custom for that, none of the major manufacturers use non-tempered bottoms for anything much over 40G...not sure that's worth it.


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## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

Hi all, for what it's worth here's a quick video showing the bottom 1/2" plates on the new tank. This is UPDATE #2 of many more as I make my way through construction. If any of you old pro types have any suggestions, corrections, etc PLEASE let me know ASAP before I get too much farther in. This is the first time I've attempted anything even remotely this ambitious with tank construction. I think I'm on the right track but if you see something I've missed let me know!

UPDATE #2: STAND AND BOTTOM ASSEMBLY - 200G Supermassive Malawi Mbuna Corner Aquarium:


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