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View Full Version : 02-04-08 Catastrophe!



phidelt85
02-05-2008, 01:34 AM
Today did not start off so well for me. I came down with a bug this weekend that had me pretty screwed up. When I woke up this morning to go to work, I felt like a dump truck had run over my chest. I went to work anyway against my better judgement. I turned out to be pretty useless and actually left early to go to the doctor's office.

A bit of a backstory. This weekend I managed to scrape up enough energy to setup a 55 gal tank that I had resealed recently. I wanted to move the Alenquers over to a larger tank than their current 40 Breeder. I got it plumbed up Saturday to the central fill and drain headers, and on Sunday before the Super Bowl, I flushed, cleaned and rinsed the tank and move the fish over. They looked happier than pigs in (well you know) in their bigger home. All was good except my crappy health.

Well, as I stated I left work early today to go to an after hours clinic. I got there at 5 and didn't leave till almost 8:30pm. Yes, it really sucked. Come to find out I have Bronchitis.....wooohooooo! NOT. While I'm at the doctor's office, I get a call from my lovely wife, Jenny.

Jenny tells me, "Sweetie, I have some bad news. Everything's OK but it's kinda bad."

I'm thinkin' "what the hell happened?"

"The tank with the babies in it cracked in half"

Me: "What do you mean it cracked in half?"

Jenny: "It split down the middle and all the water came out except just a little bit where the fish are. They're all swimming around on their sides. What do you want me to do?"

Luckily I had converted their old 40Breeder into their new holding tank with airstone and heater. So I proceeded to have here make sure the water they were in was not cold which it wasn't, and then take the net and scoop them out and place them back in their old tank. She said she had no problems and by the time I got home an hour later, the babies were no worse for wear with the exception of Lil Half Dead who ended up splitting his dorsal fin a bit. All in all they look fine.

But this is what I came home to:

Notice how much water was left for the fish and it was full of crap and flake food from the autofeeder which had just been pumping food into an empty tank with stressed out fish like nothing was wrong.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t78/cuervogold85/Discus%20Hobbyist%20Challenge%20Pics/02-04-08/DSC04115.jpg

The little guys don't look too bad. You can see Lil HD's split fin. He's on the far left in the first photo and up front in the second.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t78/cuervogold85/Discus%20Hobbyist%20Challenge%20Pics/02-04-08/DSC04116.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t78/cuervogold85/Discus%20Hobbyist%20Challenge%20Pics/02-04-08/DSC04117.jpg

majik
02-05-2008, 01:45 AM
Oh my gosh!!! that is a catastrophe and dont these things just have sods timing? wow you are very super lucky that it left enough for the fish,and your wife sounded so calm .
one of my tanks has a wee bit of a bow in the front and i have nightmares about something like that happening ,maybe its time to put that brace in.....
Oh and i hope you feel better soon

phidelt85
02-05-2008, 02:10 AM
Thanks, majik. I hope I get to feeling better too. I can't taste a thing right now; it really sucks. :(

Yea, I was pretty surprised as to how calm she was. I think she knew I was gonna go into crisis mode and she prepped herself for the barage of questions and things I needed her to do. She is so awesome!!! Love her to death :D

I would definitely get that brace on there before something does happen. I think mine was caused by the strain from the drain pipe. I should have connected it to the main header with a piece of 1" tubing to give it some flex since this tank ties in closest to the sink drain and has a lot less play, or it could have just been too weak to hold the water pressure. dunno

Darren's Discus
02-05-2008, 02:13 AM
I think the catastrophe was avoided ! so what's Jenny getting for saving their lives ! looks like a big valentine's day coming her way !!



cheers

Elite Aquaria
02-05-2008, 02:16 AM
Hats of to the Mrs. I am glad that the fish are OK but sorry about the loss of that tank. I have never seen that happen before....:confused:

two utes
02-05-2008, 02:23 AM
Jose! Unbelievable. in one way you are very lucky, that all turned out well, and that Jenny was there for you. I'm sure 'half dead' will be back to 100% in no time. He has been through worse.
Just concentrate on getting yourself well so you can get back into it.
Oh Yeh....maybe you can take Jenny out for a special dinner, or buy her flowers.;)

phidelt85
02-05-2008, 02:36 AM
She is definitely getting something. Although she already deserves the world for her patience with me and this "hobby" :D

GrillMaster
02-05-2008, 03:06 AM
Damn Jose...ya better squeeze yer woman extra tight tonight!! A woman that stands behind yer hobby like that is a woman that deserves squeezin an hugs! :D :D :D

Hope it all comes together for ya bud!! :)

tc
Mark

alxjss
02-05-2008, 06:19 AM
Jose, i am soooo glad things turned out good for u. I must say, don't take any more chances. Ur luck is running thin my friend:o Jenny sounds real supportive and a good person. It sounds to me like she nos u pretty well. Great Job Jenny. Something special is in the making, i am sure. Hope u feel better. Maybe thats why this happened. When ur sick, just rest. Don't do anything w/the fish except feed. Take care of # 1 first and everything else will follow. Wow, ur lucky!!!!!

BSW
02-05-2008, 06:28 AM
OH Jose !
I'm so sorry to hear that news, doesn't it seem like "when it rains, it pours ?" But it could of been so much worse, what a champion of a wife you've got ! With out a doubt, and thank goodness she was there to rescue the little guys.
I hope you feel better soon, it's bad enough just to be sick, and then have a tank split on top of it, glad you still had the other one up to pop em' back into.
Get some rest..............
B

Diamond Discus
02-05-2008, 07:15 AM
Oh my gosh, that's like a bad nightmare come true! I'm so glad everything turned out OK!!

Kenny's Discus
02-05-2008, 09:14 AM
Jose, that's a close call but glad to see them swimming happily again in their new tanks now...I had the exact same thing happened to me before; my 29g breeding tank broke(just like yours did) and I only had about 2 inches of water covering my 6-7" adult pair. My tank was placed high up on top of the shelf so I didn't even notice the crack until I heard some flip-flopping noise!:o Imagine that...

Kenny

GulfCoastDiscus
02-05-2008, 09:52 AM
Good thing you were able to save those babies. Maybe it's a blessing in disquise. Now you can go shopping for a bigger tank.:)

fishmama
02-05-2008, 11:26 AM
Wow! That was bad...you Okies sure do know how to do it up right when it goes wrong!! :o

Glad everything turned out okay.

sarahhh1
02-05-2008, 02:47 PM
I'm glad your fish are ok, and I hope you're feeling better soon.

Jenny sounds a lot calmer than I would have in that situation.

brewmaster15
02-05-2008, 05:34 PM
Jose,
Man....That was close....glad they made it okay...btw..they look great...

What is that saying? what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? :) Dang, those are some strong genetics in those alenquers....;):D:D

-al

AADiscus
02-05-2008, 06:12 PM
I'm glad everything turned out ok. Tell Jenny I said good job and a thumbs up to her. Have you checked your heater to make sure it still works ok. Looks like in the picture it was sticking out of the water some. The babies do look real good. BTW

renae
02-05-2008, 06:57 PM
I'm glad all the fish are okay and your wife was at home to notice there was a problem...you are so lucky...your babies are looking great BTW.

Ardan
02-05-2008, 07:25 PM
Jose,
Glad they are ok! Close call!


Ardan

pcsb23
02-05-2008, 07:37 PM
Could have been worse Jose, at least the fish are fine and as my wife has said to me before, it's only water!!

looks like a shear in that tank, maybe the stand wasn't square or stable...could have been a fault too I guess.

reelay0
02-05-2008, 07:41 PM
dude. i'm glad they made it out ok.

Just pretend it was the dry season. Next time it happens (hopefully it won't) it may stimulate breeding!

Condor
02-05-2008, 10:44 PM
Wow nice save! Glad to hear they are ok.

Adrian

phidelt85
02-06-2008, 12:14 AM
Jose,
Man....That was close....glad they made it okay...btw..they look great...

What is that saying? what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? :) Dang, those are some strong genetics in those alenquers....;):D:D

-al
:D Pretty funny, Al. I hope they understand that saying and don't bugout on me. They've been a bit timid after this ordeal.


I'm glad everything turned out ok. Tell Jenny I said good job and a thumbs up to her. Have you checked your heater to make sure it still works ok. Looks like in the picture it was sticking out of the water some. The babies do look real good. BTW
Hey, Angela, I'll let her know. As far as the heater goes, I stuck it back in their 29gal "holding tank" and it's holding the temp at 88* so I think it's still good to go. I think enough of it was still submersed to keep it from frying out.


Could have been worse Jose, at least the fish are fine and as my wife has said to me before, it's only water!!

looks like a shear in that tank, maybe the stand wasn't square or stable...could have been a fault too I guess.
Paul, you're definitely right on the spilled water part.

As to the cause, I'm surmising that it may have been stress-induced by the drain pipe. I didn't add a piece of tubing inline as I did on the other tanks to act as a "buffer" or shock absorber to allow the main drain pipe to move and not affect the tanks. This particular tank tied in right next to the sink drain which is the stiffest part. I believe this because I noticed that it had actually pulled the pipe out of the right side sink trap if that makes sense.

Lisachromis
02-06-2008, 10:58 AM
Wow, lucky fish. That's similar to what happened to me. I got a call from my husband at work one day (I worked near where I live at the time). He told me to hurry up and get home, one of my tanks was leaking. So, I rush home and find him standing at the side of my nice 55g DAS tank holding his finger over a hole about 1/3 of the way from bottom of the tank (looking like a little Dutch boy at the dike). It's slowly leaking still even as he holds it. He takes his finger away to show me, and the water shoots out in a big arc across the floor. So, knowing the tank is screwed for now, I rush to catch fish and dump them into a tank I already had running. I don't like moving my fish like this, but it had to be done. As soon as they were caught, I hurriedly siphoned out the rest of the tank. I have tried to fix this tank and it doesn't seem to help. So, it got turned into a mudskipper tank. There is a few bumblebee gobies and some celebes rainbows in there as well for some movement in the tank, as I tend not to see my mudskippers at all.

Mr. Limpet
02-08-2008, 02:05 PM
Jose,
That is the old good news and bad news story.

Looking at the way that the tank broke,
I am wondering if the bulkhead plumbing
put some stress on the glass. How rigidly
is the PVC mounted to the drain?
Glass is a funny thing, sometimes it is
can be very unpredictable.

Take Care,
Paul.

phidelt85
02-09-2008, 03:40 PM
Hey Paul, I believe you are correct in your determination. It's all hard piped. I didn't add a strip of tubing on this one like I did on my other racks to allow for movement. Stupid is as stupid does. ;)

Mr. Limpet
02-09-2008, 10:47 PM
Hi Jose,

At least others can learn from our mistakes.
At least the fish did not have to pay this time.

Take Care,

Paul.