burst tank

panaque · Post by **panaque** » 01 Jun 2007, 22:43

I woke up 2 weeks ago to find that my 200 ltr tank had pretty much exploded in the night and dumped its entire contents on the floor. Ouch. Two things I have learned from this experience: 1. Never ignore that miniscule hairline crack you think you can see when the sun catches it and 2. Catfish are amazing survivors. Basically, by the time we discovered the disaster all cichlids and tetras were dead and stiff while after about an hour long search of the 3 rooms the water had flowed into we found nearly all catfish (5 Corydoras schwartzi, 4 C. panda, 3 Panaque maccus, 3 Otocinclus sp.) alive. 1 Otocinclus eluded us but showed up 9 hours later during the tidy up operation under a plastic toy box. Amazingly it was still alive! Anyway, to cut a long story short, the house has dried out with not too much damage done and the fish have been rehomed in a brand new tank. Unfortunately 3 of the C. schwartzi died within days for unknown reasons (stress or injury presumably) but the amazing surviving Otocinclus is still going strong 2 weeks on. Oh, another thing I have learned is that Corys have very nasty spines on their pectoral fins as i was gathering them from the floor. Ouch again.
If anyone ever needs advice on drying out floors, I'm the expert now...

Kostas · Post by **Kostas** » 02 Jun 2007, 07:22

I am sorry to hear that panaque...

I am sure it was an awfull experience...

Hope the survivors survive

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 02 Jun 2007, 18:50

Wow, lesson learned! I'm sorry you lost 3 of the Corydoras schwartzi , but it's amazing the others survived, especially the Otocinclus sp. And yes, great protection Corydoras spp. have, eh? I'm thinking of getting a wet/dry vac.just to have on hand.

Amanda

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 03 Jun 2007, 00:48

When I was a teenager I was nearly at the top of the basement stairs in my little fish and pet shop when a home made 200 gallon tank burst during it's test filling. The gush of water knocked me down and washed me to the bottom of the basement floor among a few large slabs of 3/8 inch plate glass. I'll never know how I escaped being cut.

The worst part was that at the bottom of the stairs was where my mom kept her pet Stump Tail Macaque(a 40lb long fanged monkey.)It always disliked me and the feelings were mutual. He wore a collar and was kept on a long chain attached to a floor to ceiling pipe instead of a cage. His wet hands and feet couldn't keep a grip on the pole so he kept sliding down until he had to hop on me to stay out of the flood. I got an ear full of his screeching and a full showing of his fangs for having ruined his day while sitting in six inches of water, straw and his monkey crude.

kcmt01 · Post by **kcmt01** » 03 Jun 2007, 16:05

Larry, that story sounds like a great plot for a Pat McManus tale. Maybe you should send it to him.
kc

panaque · Post by **panaque** » 03 Jun 2007, 22:15

Thanks for the words of sympathy; it was my worst nightmare come true but didn't turn out quite as bad as in my dreams... The survivors are still doing very well. The C. panda have even spawned again.

WhitePine · Post by **WhitePine** » 04 Jun 2007, 07:07

I heard that C. panda spawn readily after the dry season

snowball · Post by **snowball** » 04 Jun 2007, 13:26

Good to hear it was not a complete disaster panaque. fish will sometimes surprise you at how tough they can be.

Larry I apologise but that story about the monkey was hilarious! I'm sure you didn't think so at the time, but when I read it I was in stitches