# My 55 gallon broke last night :-(



## elgenyo (Feb 26, 2004)

Irony has it I was filling up one tank upstairs in my house when my brother asked me if it was normal that there was a puddle of water on the floor in the den. Needless to say I had a pretty big leak. Within a couple of minutes I was standing in about an inch of water. Shop vac and all the towels in the house got the water up and out before it could soak into the walls. Shortly after I broke down the one upstairs in the dining room for fear of the same thing happening.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Oh man............. I've been there.......... Good luck to you!


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## elgenyo (Feb 26, 2004)

it sucked cleaning it up. I moved my 55 upstairs downstairs just in case and moved my fish into that tank....lot of work. Now I have a broken tank that I don't know what to do with. I suppose I could try to find the leak and fix it but I don't want to mess with it...its and old tank I'll probably put it by the road.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Those are the ones I pick up then reseal! :lol:


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

How did it break? The glass go or a seal leak? What brand? Just curious . . . that sounds like a nightmare.


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## elgenyo (Feb 26, 2004)

The seal broke. It was an old hand me down tank so I couldn't tell ya the brand. It had barely any rocks in it, no substrate and the 3 rocks I did have in it were resting on eggcrate so it had to be from age. The only thing I can imagine is that when I cleaned the algae off the walls with the magnetic scrubber it put stress on the seam and it finally gave.

Yeah, it was a nightmare, its a special kind of panic....lol.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

I feel your pain. I had a 40 long break on me shortly after I set it up. I filled it up with water and let it sit for 3 days and it still gave out on me.
I moved the fish in and went to the bar to wet the old whistle. About 20 minutes later I got the news. My brother called me and said " Hey, your fish are freaking out and there is more water on he floor than in the tank!"
You are right on the money elgenyo, on my way from the bar I experienced that special kind of panic.


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## elgenyo (Feb 26, 2004)

I guess the moral of the story is if you have an old tank......reseal


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## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

how old is old?
i have a 10 year old Hagen 77 gallon..should i start to worry?


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## elgenyo (Feb 26, 2004)

wish i could say, it was a hand me down so I'm not sure


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## Afishionado (Jun 6, 2006)

elgenyo, sorry for your troubles, I always cringed when reminded that these things happen.



Mudkicker said:


> how old is old?
> i have a 10 year old Hagen 77 gallon..should i start to worry?


Mudkicker, I asked Hagen that question about this very tank (77g). They cover their butts by saying 'we recommend our Customers replace their tanks every 10 years'. Well, mine has been running 15 now. I just had to reseal the top rim as it was coming apart but the rest still seem solid and watertight. I also asked about the glass bowing and they said a certain amount was normal for this tank, which makes sense given there is no center brace.

PS: I also have a few smaller tanks that are watertight after 20+ years without re-sealing. I think it's partly luck of the draw but mostly making sure you've set them up on steady and perfectly planar support.


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

Mudkicker said:


> how old is old?
> i have a 10 year old Hagen 77 gallon..should i start to worry?


In my opinion you're approaching the end of life of the silicone. The oldest tank I've got has leaked twice in 30 years, the first leak was about 15 years ago, the second leak about 5 years ago. I never did strip the entire tank and reseal every seam, some of the silicone is 30 years old. It's a gamble but it is easier to prevent a leak when it's convenient for you than to repair a leak or replace an aquarium when it's leaking, this will always be a week before christmas, the night before you leave on a vacation or minutes before two dozen guests arrive for a party. Aquariums seem to know when the most inconvenient time to leak is and that's when they fail.


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Dec 26, 2005)

I've got several tanks which I know to be at least 10 years old (I got them secondhand, several years ago myself) and their still watertight. I did have a much smaller tank taht I had to reseal, that was about 10 years old (I think)


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

I'm pretty sure out of forty or fifty tanks I can count on one hand the ones that are newer than ten years old :lol:


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## Nutty4Mbunas (Mar 27, 2008)

The day before I was to leave town for Christmas with the family my tank showed a leak and I had to repair it and hope that it was cured within the 24hrs as specified on the tube and refill those last 4 inches on the top of the tank. Yes apparently Tanks have a mind of their own!
I did experience that panic too, you feel bad for your fish and hope you can save them in time.


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