Tank Cracked need some advice

[nicholasng11]

Hi Reefers! This is my first time posting so please forgive me if I’m doing this incorrectly. So last Friday the 38g IM cracked along the side panel, I immediately move all my life stock and rocks to a storage bin, as of now storage bin is running without any filtration. The good news coming out from this is that my “parole officer” approves for a 120g. What are the next steps I should do in order to move all the life stock safely. As for my current situation can I leave the life stock in the storage bin until the new tank arrive? Thanks guys. Any advice is appropriate it.

 

[andrewey]

So long as the storage bin meets the requirements of the animals, you can leave them in there permanently if you needed to. Just make sure you maintain salinity, temperature, gas exchange, and your water parameters should be the same as they were in the original tank, ideally. Therefore, monitor the same parameters and perform the same maintenance. If you took anything offline, either install it again, find an alternative in the interim, or determine if it was necessary. The glass is just for our viewing- just make sure the animals have enough space, your corals aren't touching if they are likely to harm each other, and your lighting/flow are optimized for the animals in the tank.

If you are going to reuse any of the sand from the old tank, I would personally suggest you rinse it, more so now that part of it is out of water.

Sorry about the crack! Great catch!

 

[92Miata]

Get some life support on the storage bin - couple powerheads and a heater at a minimum. If you can get the skimmer running in there, that's even better.


That tank looks like it cracked because of an issue with its stand.

 

[Qasimja]

it should be fine for you to leave it in the bin with the live rock and water movement like power heads and a heater til you get the new tank

 

[Homewrecker]

Just out of curiosity, how did it crack?

 

[SMSREEF]

Sorry about the crack, but good catch! And even better catch on the parole officer of yours

the problem I found with bins/buckets is a buildup of surface film. The way I fixed that is to put powerhead intake near the top so it pulls a little from the surface once in a while. It also will kinda be an alarm for when you need to add top off water to bin.
Here is a pic of a quarantine I use

 

[LeadHead83]

You could try to repair it by Sealing another layer of glass over the outside of the tank covering it but will look unsightly and messy. if your going try this smear fish safe sealant in the crack first to seal it and the spread thin bead of sealant all over the side of the tank close enough so when the new sheet of glass is placed on top that is spreads out and creates a thin layer across the glass and leave to set for 24hrs with some firm pressure placed on top I've used a few house bricks. afterwards check its water tight.

sheet glass is quite cheap and sealants not much it may tie you over till you can replace the tank

 

[Hugh Mann]

As long as you do regular water changes, as often as required to keep the perameters in check, your livestock will be fine in a bin indefinitely with minimal filtration so long as you have a light, powerhead and heater running. I will however add that some plastics degrade with exposure to saltwater, so watch carefully for leaks in it as well!

I have kept an eel, which I will admit is far more durable than most other livestock in a bin with rock, heater, light and powerhead angled at the surface.

As for your cracked tank, I would try to figure out, if possible, how it cracked.
As mentioned above, you can totally patch cracked tanks. Or you could very well just replace the whole panel with new glass. It's apparently not supposed to be overly difficult.

 

[Casket_Case]

Bump

 

[LeadHead83]

Only downside to a plastic bin is its insulating properties your find the heater might struggle to maintain a stable temp and will be turning on and off a lot more and use up more electric trying to keep the water warm

Try wrapping the bin in some old towels or grab some baking foil and wrap bin first with that then a few towels and should see its more stable temp and heater not going on and off as much

 

[j.falk]

Parole officer?

 

[Pntbll687]

You are fine to keep the fish in the storage bin as long as it provides adequate space. Keep watching for aggression between fish. You can keep them in there as long as needed, just make sure the have a heater, and some water flow from a powerhead. If you really feel they need more space, pick up a 50-75g stock tank from tractor supply and put them in there.

What 120 are you going to go with? Don't make a rash decision and regret it later when picking out this new tank. It may feel like you "NEED" to make a decision now to get the fish back into an aquarium of some kind, but in reality you need to take step back and look at what space you have, budget, and what you want. Take it from me, I really wanted a peninsula tank, but jumped at a 190g that was posted for sale locally, HUGE MISTAKE. I hated that tank, it didn't fit the room, it was too deep, and was just not what I wanted. I bit the bullet and got a 180 penisula, and LOVE IT! SHould have just got what I actually wanted the first time.