Had a catastrophic 29g failure today.

[FreshyFresh]

I was relaxing this afternoon, enjoying a cup of coffee with the house all to myself, when I was starteled by a loud *POP* noise coming from upstairs?!? An odd enough noise that I jumped up and headed over to the stairs for a listen. I heard water. A LOT of water. What the.......?!? I ran upstairs to find my 29g emptying itself out onto our bedroom floor Tsunami style!!! The back of the tank had cracked and split from top to bottom! OH NO!!! Initally I started bailing into my 5gal water change bucket, but ultimately had to run around the upstairs, gathering every bath towel I could find to surround the aquarium stand. Probably lost a good 10gal on the floor. Most of the rest I transfered into a storage tote, along with the tank filtration, heater and majority of the fish. What a nightmare. Frustrating too, because this Top Fin 29g was bought new in January and has been installed on a Top Fin 20/29/37 stand. Everything level, stable and sturdy. The tank was a Top Fin kit that came with a HOB, LED hood, heater, etc. What a disater had I not been home! The only fish presently not in the tote is my big female pearl gourami. She is in the 55g, but I'm not sure it will work out, because I've got a growing koi angle in there as well as 4 female bettas and a tiny honey gourami.

All this happening right before I had to leave for a 5p-5a shift at work. Ugh.. Tomorrow I have to figure out what to do..

 

[Rotaripsnoc]

My condolences on your tank, I've never experienced something like that, however I am always worried that I will. Hope everything works out for your fish, and your floor

 

[exhumed07]

I had a 10 gallon split the bottom once when i was not home. it was on the top of an old consol tube style tv. i came home and went to get on my computer but the power wasn't working so i checked the breaker and it had tripped. it wasn't the first time that one had popped so i flip it on and all the sudden i hear all this popping and buzzing and then it stopped but the breaker didn't blow again so i went to check it out. I could smell electrical burning smell in my room and first thing i could think of was something was wrong with my pc and i fried it. i go to turn it on and it turned on. i was totally confused. i turned around and my tank looked funky. it was all white and cloudy looking. then i noticed it was empty. i went to investigate. it was totally empty and all my fish were dead except my dojo loaches. all 10 gallons poured out of the tank and into that tv and when i threw the breaker it all shorted out :/ but luckily thats the only tank i've ever had break. split from one side to the other. the tank was about 15 years old. housed my brothers turtle for about 10 years and sat empty for about 3 years after it died. then i decided to use it for my first fish tank. so it was an old tank with lots of scratches on the bottom due to the bricks my brother used as a platform for the turtle.

Freshy i'm sorry to hear about that tank but i feel for u.

 

[Thyra]

Wow! that certainly is scary. My condolences. Makes me wonder why I ever got into this. I have occasionally wondered what would happen if we had even a mild earthquake, but I try not to dwell on that because I don't think there is any way to prepare an aquarium for that event. Will a wet/dry vacuum help - I assume you have soaked carpeting.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm at a loss as to why or how this would happen. Thankfully I was home at the time and only lost maybe 8 gallons on the floor. So far the tetras and corys are doing fine in their blue plastic storage tote. LOL! My large pearl gourami is loving her new to her 55g home. She was initially getting bullied by the young koi angel, but no-one has seen any bullying since.

I'm almost scared to try another 29g and I may or may not set it back up, upstairs.

I bought this Top Fin 29 kit from Petsmart in January. The filter has a lifetime warranty and the LED hood is one year. I'm going to bring my receipt and paperwork to the store to see if there's any way they can help.

Oh.. so far the bedroom flooring and kitchen ceiling below show no signs of moisture. Luckily I was there to towel it up and a blew a fan in that corner all night. The bedroom floor is laminate too. EEK! I did have some water seep down the inside of the wall and come out at the first floor baseboard. Some leaked out onto the front porch too oddly enough. A big load of fish water bath towels had to be washed after.

This was how/where the tank was setup:

 

[Thyra]

I suspect you will be "tank shy" for awhile, but after all it isn't an every day occurrence. I am hoping for you that Petsmart will simply replace the tank. The possibility the had a flaw seems likely and with pictures you should be able to prove it was level. I am surprised you only lost about 8 gallons. I have dealt with a few floods in my life. I worked in an old building that had been a loggers bunk house. Nothing was level, but it had been converted to a nursing home. When anything overflowed up stairs, it followed the conduit through the ceiling and you never knew where the water would come leaking out. We had a sprinkler in a laundry closet break, no one noticed until they opened the door and the water came flowing down the hallway and down a ramp to the down stairs. It also was following the conduits in the walls and the circuits were shorting one by one., until we had no power. That caused the fire alarms to go off and automatically notify the fire department. It turned into complete chaos with the end result of one nurse's aid falling down the ramp and two firemen getting injured trying to jump over a park bench to get into the building! Fortunately the firemen stayed and helped clean up the mess. A "fun" time was had by all! (I have always felt that the residents enjoyed these calamities more than the employees - it made them feel like they were part of the real world again.)

 

[FreshyFresh]

I stopped at Petsmart this afternoon with my receipt for the 29g tank. The tank kit was ~$113 (all-in) when I purchased it on Jan 11, 2013. I asked the associate in the fish department for help and politely explained my issue. She wasn't sure how to handle it and went to speak with a manager. She returned claiming that since Top Fin is a Petsmart only brand, I had to call the 1-800 # that came with the tank documentation, explain my failure, get an order number, bring that # back to the store and they would "work something out".

FWIW, All the tanks at Petsmart are advertised as having a lifetime guarantee. I brought this to the associate's attention after their conclusion. I also stated I would be happy with just a 20g long tank, since all my existing hardware would transfer right over. No go. "Have to call the number". Really disappointed.

In the end, I wound-up picking up a 20g long from them for ~$32, just so I could get my 15 tetras and 4 corys out of the plastic tote.

Once I got everything setup on the 20, I called the Top Fin / Petsmart number. They claimed the store should have just given me a whole new 29g kit and were very apologetic that I had to go through all this. Unreal.

They took all my info and said a store manager will be calling me shortly to work this all out. I explained that my store wanted me to have some type of confirmation number. No such thing the 1-800 # guy said. "They will be calling you".

Yeah... we'll see.

So far so good with the new 20 long. Fish are happy in there. Pearl will be staying in the 55g hopefully. I may swap a molly or the little honey gourami from the 55, over to the 20 long, just because I think the 55 is too crowded now.

I set the 20 up in the same upstairs spot the 29 was. Atleast it's a ~1/3 less water should this one Tsunami. LOL.

Here's a pick of where I believe the crack originated. From the lower corner, it makes an arc to about the center top.

 

[OrangeCones]

Wow...what an ordeal. I had a tank from Petsmart also leak, but it was in a corner seam, not the glass.

I agree that your store did not handle it right. I walked back into a DIFFERENT Petsmart location with my tank, and the cardboard sticker that showed the lifetime warranty. They replaced it, no questions asked and did not even ask me for the receipt (I had it with me but did not present it).

I've had no problems with the replacement (the original and new tank were 20 gallon longs). Hopefully you will not need it, but the fish would have been fine in the tote long term. When I lived up north and had a basement, I used 18 gallon totes for 'grow out' tanks for several species of fish. The glass is only for OUR benefit to see them better!

 

[FreshyFresh]

Yep, that's the nice thing about 20g and smaller. A lot easier to bring back to the store if needed. I don't think I'll own a 29 again.

 

[OrangeCones]

I've had a few 29 gallons, but they are harder to light without using an external carbon source. It seems the light is either too much or not enough to prevent algae outbreaks.

I have now only 2 tanks up and running: a 20long and a 40breeder. I like the shorter tanks because I'm short too! Make it easier to plant, replant, etc.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

So sorry that happened - good thing you were home to mitigate the water damage and save all the fish.

I have never had a tank failure, or even a leak from an actual tank - and I've had several tanks that I got used, and then used for many years (7-10 years I believe). I would strongly suspect that there was some sort of defect in the tank itself - miniscule crack or some sort of imperfection in the glass.

 

[OrangeCones]

I agree, CAPSLOCK. The 20 gallon tank is the only tank I've ever had that has leaked (purchased as a new tank this year). I've had probably 30 differently tanks over the last 30+ years, and all but 4 or 5 have been used.

 

[exhumed07]

besides that 10 gallon i've never had an issue yet. the 10 gallon had been abused though. bricks being slid around instead of being picked up and placed in the tank, silicone all torn up from the turtles claws over the years. it's a wonder how it did not break sooner. lol

Also i have had issues with returns at petco before. they give the old run around hoping that you get tired of it all and give up.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Yeah, I've got to assume it was some sort of material defect with the tank. This particular tank has black silicone as opposed to the typical clear silicone you see, so it's tough to see in the joints. The corner where the crack began is heavily siliconed, so there may have been something going on there right from the get-go.

I'm just grateful I was there. It would have been horrible had no one been home, or even if my wife and kids were home, they wouldn't have known what to do. They know now. We talked about how to tackle a tanktastrophe.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Good - it's a good idea to have an emergency plan. Do the fish seem to be adjusted to the lower quarters?

 

[FreshyFresh]

...Do the fish seem to be adjusted to the lower quarters?

Marginally adjusted.

They're all hovering around the bottom ~2" of the tank. The 20 long seems SO much smaller than the 29. I think by specs it's only 6" shorter, but right now it seems like it's only half as tall.

I'll have to keep close eye on the water parameters. The only things moved over from the broken 29g are the fake plants, some rocks, a sponge filter and HOB filter. I put new gravel in the 20L. Natural pea gravel from Petsmart.

 

[FishDad]

Dude I would raise hell with those guys.

"Gimme a new 55g for my troubles!"

That's scary. One of my worst fears with these tanks. Is it possible a décor piece fell or something?

 

[FreshyFresh]

I considered every possible cause for the failure and can't come up with anything. Nothing ever shifted in the tank and I didn't have a whole lot of decor in it anyway.

Given it's been days and I hadn't heard from 1-800 Petsmart yet, I stopped back into the store on my way home from work tonight. Fish clerk said I have to bring the broken 29g back with me into the store. I'm on my 3rd different refund/return requirement story from Petsmart associates now.

I don't have a problem bringing the 29g in, I just can't guarantee it's going to crack more and have them say it's my fault it's broke. It's not a huge tank, but it's a moderate pain in the arse to carry around. Whadda pain in the stones this is.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Finally reached a reasonable conclusion to this the other day with Petsmart. The store manager called me at home on Friday afternoon.

Basically I returned the broken 29g and they refunded me ~$35 for the replacement 20g I purchased.

They don't sell 29g tanks loose anymore. Just in kits.

They would have broken open a kit and swapped out 29's for me, but I didn't want another 29.

The other option was return everything that originally came with the Top Fin 29g kit (hood, filter, heater, tank, etc) and they would replace or refund for the kit. I didn't want another 29 since I already setup the 20 in it's place with all the 29's gear.

I was OK with the outcome. Took 3 stops to the store, two 1-800 phone calls and 2 emails to get to this point though. Most of it my problem. I should have dragged the broken tank into the store on my first visit, or just left the fish in the plastic storage tote another few days and brought the whole kit back for a replacement.

 

[Thyra]

Hind-sight is always terrific education!