My brothers tank DISASTER

[TriniStylez]

My brother is not a member here (hates computers) but is a huge fish lover. He just finished up Marine Biology last year and is working locally with Salmon. Anyways, he called me very upset, basically in tears last night around 12. What happened was he was in bed and heard a crack in one of his tanks. Jumped out of bed and thought it was his 300G FOWLR but turned out to be his 65G reef of 5 years. He found a crack at the bottom middle of the tank and quickly began siphoning out water but it was too late...it exploded all over him. He was lucky I think to not have been hurt at all. He moved all the fish into the FOWLR but couldnt save most of the corals. The ones he did are in a QT tank. I guess his Eel ate a bunch of the small fish he put into the FOWLR to make things even worse.

Anyways, just a reminder to make sure tanks are level...he said it was off by around a 1/4 inch. He also thinks it was removing the center brace. He removed it 5 years ago and thinks the bowing over time finally gave out. The crack seemed to indicate that. It was dead center.

Im now kinda scared because my 65G has the center brace replaced with an acrylic one...

[T Man]

Sorry to hear of your bro's loss....I've removed the centers braces on a few older tanks before and I can understand how he feels, I've never had one break but I was lucky. I'm sure that you should'nt have any bowing or breakage with your tanks brace as long as it was replaced while empty and has a strong bond.

I don't know how many times I've seen the question asked, I've even seen some of the major tank builders websites, a warning against the removal of these braces.
IMO I think that some company is missing out on this "gold mine" demand and innovate a real product that can give us what we need other than a warning and paranoia! TinMan

[TriniStylez]

Yeahs pretty devastated...He never replaced the brace at all. Has big regrets now needless to say. I think if you replace it well enough, its fine.

I feel really bad about his coral loss but I feel even worse about his floors and walls. I guess some of the furniture in the room had a bit of damage too. 65G of water on the floor can't be good. Said the LR really scratched up the hardwood bad too.

[Drnecropolis]

Wow...That sucks...

I can imagine how bad the flooring is scratched up...No good at all....

Just why did he remove the brace...For lighting without shadows? and why not rebrace it.....Ohh well, Live and Learn

[TriniStylez]

Yeah, it was lighting and shadows. I remember him debating replacing it and deciding it "should" be fine...He regrets it now. Im going over to his place today to help clean up (hes still cleaning up) and see the damage. Sounds pretty bad though. Most of the reef fish he had in the tank went into the FOWLR and have either been eaten or are being picked on, so we are going to catch them today and take them to the LFS.

[azhorsegal]

That's just aweful. I'll never complain about my braces again. I will say since I've put the Luminarc reflectors I don't see shadow of any kind. So maybe that's an idea for people who don't like the shadows. I have two braces on my tank (it's 6' long) and I'll be sure to keep them on after reading about this story.

That eel had some expensive lunch. Poor little fish.

[TriniStylez]

I agree, I will never remove braces anymore. I will look into better reflectors or other alternatives.

The Eel eats every three days and had not eaten for two when this happened. He thought it was feeding time and ate four fish. I know a clown, goby and I think a cardinal got eaten. Not sure what else though. My brother doesnt seem to really want to talk about it.

[tkeracer619]

My 150G just popped, stupid carpet did me in...... tanks on carpet are bad mkay.

I saved all of mine but a RBTA split that wasnt looking too good from the start, but I was fortunate for the glass not to fail completly like your bros while in emergency flip mode.

I find it odd that someone in todays modern world with a reef tank and marine biology degree would shy away from computers. Too much info out there he is missing out on..... maybe get him one of those new $250 laptops for his bday or something and get him into this century.

[TriniStylez]

Oh he has a Mac Notebook andhas to use it for work. I meant he hates internet forums and such. He reads most of his journals and stuff online too I think.

I maybe should have said hes no fun...LOL. Hes a very busy guy trying to save salmon right now and doesnt have the time between that, his tanks (I think about 12, mostly brackish water though) and his new born and wife, for computer talk...

Im all about it though as I work on a computer all day from home...

[HBtank]

Bummer..

I just use the center brace as a place to put corals that like a little less light. My T5's power right through it anyways...

[ambaratur]

Hmm... I bet the stand being 1/4" off was not the big problem here - removing the brace was. It is always good to have your stand level - but you never want to remove a brace from a tank and not replace it with some other material.

Sorry to hear of the loss though. That is enough to wreck your whole month!

[TriniStylez]

I think it he will be upset for a while...I am going to frag a bunch of my stuff for him and even give him a few colonies, if he gets a new reef tank up and running because a lot of my corals were frags from him at one time. Thats one nice thing. He doesnt seem to be interested in starting again though. He does have a 300G FOWLR to care for and about 10 other brackish and fresh water tanks in his fish room, so that keeps him busy. The reef was his display in the Living room though. The rest of the tanks are in the basement.

[miwoodar]

Sorry to hear about your brother's tank!

I put a sheet of hard foam from Home Depot under my stand and between my stand and the base of my tank.

If you replaced your center brace with something other than the tank material you might want to consider redo-ing it. IE) An acrylic brace on a glass tank is asking for trouble.

[TriniStylez]

I replaced mine by cutting the brace out but leaving a few inches on either end and then bolting the new one ontop. I have seen a few people do it and have success. Im kinda paranoid now though.

[Goodwood]

Those center braces are there for a reason, without them they will come apart.

Sorry to hear about the loss.

[miwoodar]

I replaced mine with a glass Oceanic style brace.