Tank failure

[Diet Coke]

At 9:30 Saturday night I was sitting on the couch and heard a loud popping noise from my 40 gal
I looked and everything was ok
About 2 minutes later water was coming out from the bottom fast
I set up buckets to catch as much as I could
I ran to Walmart and got 2 10 gal tanks and stuffed everything in
So far The only thing lost was a sand sifting goby
I got a new 40 on Sunday and everything is going back to normal

 

[piranhaman00]

Was the tank and stand level?

 

[CindyKz]

Oh not fun. Glad you were home and able to fix it quick! I have nightmares about this happening to my 180 gal.

 

[j.falk]

Was the tank and stand level?

That would be my thoughts as well. If everything isn't level it's only a matter of time before the glass cracks.

 

[Diet Coke]

That would be my thoughts as well. If everything isn't level it's only a matter of time before the glass cracks.

The glass didn’t crack
The silicon came loose from the bottom

 

[vetteguy53081]

The glass didn’t crack
The silicon came loose from the bottom

The pressure from water will push the seams loose on an unleveled tank

 

[JumboShrimp]

What brand tank, out of curiosity? Framed, or rimless? New or used?

 

[Diet Coke]

What brand tank, out of curiosity? Framed, or rimless? New or used?

It was new an Aquion with rim and it was on a solid level base
I’m just happy the only casualty was the goby and my teak floors

 

[JumboShrimp]

Darn— I’m looking right now at buying two (2) Aqueon 180s. (Now I don’t know if I’m happy or sad that I asked.)

 

[Diet Coke]

Darn— I’m looking right now at buying two (2) Aqueon 180s. (Now I don’t know if I’m happy or sad that I asked.)

The tank was up and running for about 8 months with no problems

 

[JumboShrimp]

Ugggg. My worst nightmare.

 

[Diet Coke]

The tank was up and running for about 8 months with no problems

Lol I added a six line wrasse about 4 hours before the failure
My wife said it was the straw that broke the camels bake

 

[BZOFIQ]

Darn— I’m looking right now at buying two (2) Aqueon 180s. (Now I don’t know if I’m happy or sad that I asked.)

Had 180 in a shaky apartment in Brooklyn for 6 years, no problem.

There is nothing wrong with them. THey are better in my opinion then a lot of the marinelands and perfecto tanks.

They have to be set on a level stand and I've always added a sheet of styro underneath.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I assume you are pretty sure you were careful with your silicone?— like not scraping too close with a razor? Did you happen to have a leveling mat of any type? Does you stand fully support the tank bottom?

 

[BZOFIQ]

To the OP, good thing you were at home and not on a beach thousands of miles away.

 

[JumboShrimp]

(I think @BZOFIQ and I am thinking along the same lines; my LFS has has their Aqueon 180 set up for many years.) But of course with anything made in a ‘factory,’ there is bound to be a failure rate of some degree— say for every One Thousand tanks that come off the line. Just sorry it had to be your tank.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I assume you are pretty sure you were careful with your silicone?— like not scraping too close with a razor? Did you happen to have a leveling mat of any type? Does you stand fully support the tank bottom?

Glass tanks built by aqueon don't need full bottom support, the whole weight sits on its rim.

That said, on wooden stands, the full top does make the stand more rigid.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I belong to BAS in NY and generally find Aqueon to be very good in quality. I talk to a lot of fellow aquarists at monthly meetings and there are no complaints. We did have a member (RIP) who kept getting leaky tanks - another friend went to his house and was shocked how out of level his floor and therefore stand was. He helped him setup a new tank and from then until they moved out of state there were no more failures.

Cannot stress enough how important it is for the tank to be level and I've always believed the mat under the tank is a must.

 

[JumboShrimp]

BRS sells Innovative Marine brand mats of various sizes; I like them. Have one under a rimless 6’ tank now, plan on using them under my new Aqueon 180s, even though they are framed tanks.

 

[BZOFIQ]

BRS sells Innovative Marine brand mats of various sizes; I like them. Have one under a rimless 6’ tank now, plan on using them under my new Aqueon 180s, even though they are framed tanks.

I've always just used 1/2" styrofoam from HD. Stand trim always covered it anyway so it wasn't an eye-sore.

I'm pretty sure you'll be happy with your 180s. If I wasn't going with custom dims (82x32x24) this time around, I wouldn't hesitate to get another one from them.

BTW, you can go to your LFS that carries AQUEON and request minor modifications. My friend ordered slightly larger holes in the overflow for schedule 80 bulkheads and not so long ago I ordered their 150, that was shortened (height-wise) to 100G. I did that specifically to get that 100 Gallon with thicker glass that is done on the 150 because of its standard height.

If your LFS isnt aware of that possibility, call Aqueon and ask which LFS in your area is.