I can not believe it...

[Radek Z]

So after two months I was almost convinced that my new tank was on the way to prosperity. Came home yesterday afternoon - third of the water gone. Huge crack in the back wall of the tank. This motning I got replacement and should be ready in the evening. All the fish is now in serously overcrowded hospital tank. I have used the gravel from the orginal tank, obviously the water ne new (mix of tap and RO to get close to the previous chemistry). The filter (canister) was sitting with water but no flow for some 12 hours. I did not wash the gravel. I reintroduced about 50% of the plants. The big question is how much of the good bacteria did I save and am I going to have to go through the cycle again. The fish is not going to last long in the 10g tank. Any advice.


By the way how common is it for a new tank to crack. I will not make it myself for another day like this.

[aquariumfishguy]

Honestly, its very uncommon that a new tank would have a crack develope. Sure, it happens but not often...

I think you'll be doing another cycle with the new tank because just saving some gravel isnt going to help much. It may speed up the process but I'm not sure it will show any immediate results...:confused:

[Radek Z]

Did keeping the water in the canister filter help? Or should I have not bothered and clean the filter in the progress.

I guess a month of frequent water changing is coming up....

[TKOS]

Keeping the filter media wet does help a lot. The bacteria will start to die back after 24 hours without food so there should still be a healthy amount.

You might as well put everyone back in the big tank. No sense crowding them all in the little tank, probably more stressful.

Just make sure to test, test, test the water and do changes if anything shows up. There will probably be a mini cycle to catch back up to the level of bacteria needed but it shouldn't be too bad if you do water changes to help.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

When I got my new tank I put the filter sponge from my 20 gal tank into the filter of the new tank to cycle it faster. It took about a week. I had cories and a betta in there in the mean time. They did fine, so I think you should be ok adding your fish to the new tank if you have the old tank gravel and the filter. I'd say in about 5 or 6 days your bacteria colony should be up to par.

Sorry to hear about the tank! That's always been one of my biggest fears.... my tank suddenly breaking and there being water and fish all over the place. *shudder*

[basenjib123]

I would be sure that the tank is supported evenly where it contacts the stand. If its not, this can lead to stress cracks! If you see alot of daylight there, place some kind of thin, flexible material (such as insulation sheets or pipe insulation) between the tank and the stand.

[fishfood]

Agreed. It is imperative that the tank is supported completely on the bottom. If it is hanging over the stand by even a couple inches, the weight does not get distributed accross the tank. Also, trying to move a tank when it is full can lead to stress cracks and can cause the seams to fail.

Best of luck to you getting a new tank set up.

[Radek Z]

Well the tank was on it's original stand with foam support - it's a mystery. And it's a mysery every day coming home looking rushing into the living room to check that it's all OK. I hope my insurance comany is going to be OK with the floor repair bill....

The tank is now in its third day - the first day the amonnia and nitrite spiked (0.5mg/l) and since then is's <0.3mg/l on both. I have taken the Fluval 104 loaded it with carbon and amonnia remover media (no idea if that helps) and running this for last two days in addition to the normal bio canisters (one of them has all the substrat media from the filter from the hospital tank - that should have been quite live).

I lost three black phantoms, one black molly baby and one otto during the fisrt night - not really surprised - it was hell of a 24hours for the fish.