More problems - Help please!! Urgent!!

rainbowcharmer

AC Members
Jul 30, 2007
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East Coast, USA
So I got the 125 set up last night and running. This morning, I woke to find the eurobracing detached. Not good, I know. I'm in the process of draining the tank now, but I'm not sure what this means. Is the tank bowing? Is the Euro-bracing just not attached well in the first place? It was pretty ugly with loads of silicone on it, but I decided not to re-do it because I was not sure I would be able to do it right. but now I'm not sure if I'll be able to use this tank at all. If the Euro-bracing won't stay in place.... what do I do?? Would it be safe to let the fish stay in the tank with the water significantly lowered? Like less than half?? I cannot stay home from work today, so I need a short-term solution that I can do in the next hour...
 
Weird.....looking at the pics again, the glass or bracing as you call it, seems to be siliconed to the frame not the glass panels of the back and front. More like just something added to support lids or lights, not true euro bracing that is sealed to the glass. Or do the pics just not show that?
 
Ok well I decided to move the fish back to the rubbermaid container. So that's in my bathtub and running now. Drained the tank water into it and stuck one of the SunSun filters on it that I had on the 75 prior. That's what was filtering their rubbermaid tub yesterday too. It didn't run all night, but still had water in it, so hopefully bacteria is still enough to keep any spikes from happening.

Anyway, tank is almost empty. Maybe 1/3 of the water to go. I'll drain it down to the sand and then leave it until next weekend. I have way too much going on this weekend to deal with it. I'm not sure what I'll do yet. Tempted to just sell the **** thing and go back to what I know. Stupid frustrating used tank. I will never buy used again. I don't care that new is way more expensive. It's worth not having all this hassle. And it wasn't like I didn't spend a lot on the used setup. $500 worth of headaches is way too expensive anyhow.
 
But not pre-drilled for a sump, so I'd still have to do something for filtration and all that. :( I just don't know if I want to be in this hobby anymore. Maybe the pond fish are enough for me. I've dumped all my money into this stupid tank rehab, which I initially thought was just a tank build. I don't have the cash for a new 120 at this point. Though that is a tempting thought. But right now I'm just so frustrated with this whole stupid hobby.
 
Don't be so frustrated my friend. It's not worth it. And this little (yeah, in the whole scheme of things it's little) setback will be just a memory in a short while. I'm a graphic designer (my second job after being a dad). Have an $8,000 job that might just go south quickly. Or so I thought. 9 x 12 presentation folders. 6 ink colors with an aqueous coating. Full color pictures with 2 spot colors for a client. My wholesaler decided to use a sheet from China. Folders are cracking where it folds. Had to talk to my client last night. Thought for sure she'd bounce it and I'd have to have it reprinted. All she said was give them to her flat instead of folded down. She didn't care after they were in her clients hands and they had opened and closed them a few times. And to think of the 60 mile trips I had made to my wholesaler to try to solve the problem. Of course I still have other parts of this job that still have to be printed with the same shop. If they ever get their 6 color press up and running.

Things happen in all hobbies and all jobs. After they're done and gone you sit back and think about what you've learned. I've been in printing for 36 years and I learn something new everyday. I've been into tropical fish since 1980 and I still am learning here also. Step back. Find out how to fix that beautiful tank and learn from it. After all that sit back and enjoy your tank.
 
It has been a long time coming. And I'll probably always have at least the 5 gallon betta tank at work, and probably will hang onto the 10 gallon guppy tank in my bedroom, but I'm really not sure if I'll stay with the other tanks and fish that I've had for the last 10 years or so. I've just gotten so tired of it. And this tank has been a fiasco basically from day one. Maybe it's just time to cut my losses and be done with it.

In the meantime I am going to price out glass bracing for the sides of the tank. I'm not sure if this tank was a DIY build in the first place or if it was a purchased tank that someone messed up along the way, but I'm not 100% comfortable with only that center brace, if it is a brace. If it's not - what is keeping the tank together? And why did the center piece of glass come apart? It has to be bowing for that to happen, right? For it to be able to come apart and fall down like that has to mean the glass is not as close together when it's full as it is when it's not full.

If the glass pieces (I'm figuring 3" wide by 3/8" thick) are not terribly expensive, I may try that and keep the tank. If they are too expensive and I can't get comfortable with the center brace only, assuming I can even get it back on correctly, then I'm going to get rid of it and find homes for the fish. I can't have a tank in the house that I'm constantly afraid will come apart and fill my living room with water. That's the opposite of relaxing to me. I've had fish all these years because I found them relaxing and enjoyable, but they've not been that for a while now. They've been work and very little enjoyment. I went on this big tank journey to consolidate my tanks and make it less work and more fun. But this has been anything but more fun. In fact it's been nothing but frustration.

Anyhow, if anyone knows where I might be able to buy pieces of glass, please let me know. I've done a few google searches but not come up with anything. Locally all i can find is window-pane glass that is 1/8" thick and breaks very easily. That is not going to work (obviously), so I need to know where I can find glass that will work. And is it necessary or wise to even try that route? Is that center piece of glass even enough? Again, if it is actually bracing. I think that it is on the TOP of the glass, not the inside of the glass. But I won't know that for sure until I take it apart and get that front pane uncovered (it's loaded down with probably 3 tubes of silicone it looks like)...

I'm just really looking for some good advice here from those who are familiar with larger tanks like this. I definitely can't afford a 125 gallon disaster in my living room. So I have to make sure I do this right or sell it to someone else to worry about.
 
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