tank leaked to empty

[Lydia]

Do aquariums have a life expectancy?

I had just a basic 10 gallon. My husband and I came home to about 10
gallons of water all over our tile and carpet last night. It looks like it
was leaking slowly all day while we were gone at work. There were about 3
little slow drips dripping. The 3 fish (pearl, gold, and opaline gourami)
were all laying on the gravel. AMAZINGLY, they all survived! Who knows how
long they had to go without water, but we were outside knocking ice off of a
bent over tree for at least 10 minutes before we went inside to find the
aquarium disaster.

So now I'm concerned about my 20 gallon tank. The 10 gallon that leaks is a
good 6 or maybe 7 years old. Are you supposed to routinely replace them? I
would hate to come back from a long holiday weekend of traveling to even
more fish dead and *20* gallons of water on the floor.

Thanks,
Lydia

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: tank leaked to empty
>From: "Lydia"
>Date: 1/8/2004 6:05 PM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: >
>
>Do aquariums have a life expectancy?
>
>I had just a basic 10 gallon. My husband and I came home to about 10
>gallons of water all over our tile and carpet last night. It looks like it
>was leaking slowly all day while we were gone at work. There were about 3
>little slow drips dripping. The 3 fish (pearl, gold, and opaline gourami)
>were all laying on the gravel. AMAZINGLY, they all survived! Who knows how
>long they had to go without water, but we were outside knocking ice off of a
>bent over tree for at least 10 minutes before we went inside to find the
>aquarium disaster.
>
>So now I'm concerned about my 20 gallon tank. The 10 gallon that leaks is a
>good 6 or maybe 7 years old. Are you supposed to routinely replace them? I
>would hate to come back from a long holiday weekend of traveling to even
>more fish dead and *20* gallons of water on the floor.
>
>Thanks,
>Lydia
>

What brand of tank is it?

[Lydia]

"TYNK 7" > wrote in message
...
>
> What brand of tank is it?


Gosh, I don't know anymore. It was probably purchased from an lfs because
at that time we had no big chains like PetSmart where I lived.

I think the 20 gallon is a Topfin - it was one of those starter kit jobbies
that comes with a cheesy video made in the 80's on keeping fish.

[Lydia]

"Popeye" > wrote in message
...

> It's not difficult to repair a minor leak. Check here for information:
>
http://saltaquarium.about.com/c/ht/00/07/How_Repair_Small_Leak0962933581.htm
>
> Brian


Thanks for the link... I'll have to look again at the leaky tank and see if
I can figure out where the leak(s) is exactly. It's got that black edging
stuff all around the top and bottom so it was hard to tell where it was
coming from, but there were three drips coming off of the bottom. I don't
know if I'd trust it anymore so I think it's going to be turned into an
outdoor terrarium :).

Thanks,
Lydia

[Andy Hill]

"Lydia" > wrote:
>Do aquariums have a life expectancy?
>
>I had just a basic 10 gallon. My husband and I came home to about 10
>gallons of water all over our tile and carpet last night. It looks like it
>was leaking slowly all day while we were gone at work. There were about 3
>little slow drips dripping. The 3 fish (pearl, gold, and opaline gourami)
>were all laying on the gravel. AMAZINGLY, they all survived! Who knows how
>long they had to go without water, but we were outside knocking ice off of a
>bent over tree for at least 10 minutes before we went inside to find the
>aquarium disaster.
>
>So now I'm concerned about my 20 gallon tank. The 10 gallon that leaks is a
>good 6 or maybe 7 years old. Are you supposed to routinely replace them? I
>would hate to come back from a long holiday weekend of traveling to even
>more fish dead and *20* gallons of water on the floor.
>
As long as the glass is undamaged and the silicone intact, a decent tank can
last decades. If you do something silly (like get happy with the razor blade
while scraping algae), you can have some interesting problems. 10 gallons in
the space of a single day is more than a *slow* leak (by aquarium standards,
anyhow). Sounds like you got a hairline crack in the bottom of the
tank...perhaps the tank wasn't resting on a decently flat surface, and the
stress finally cracked the tank (a lot of assumptions, but I'd have to look at
the tank to do more than guess).

[C&P Devlin]

I had a similar problem....well twice...same tank...big mess!
My 25 Gallon tank emptied in my bedroom from a small leak at the
seam...I tried to patch it but I didn't wait long enough for the
silicone to set and it burst open on me but i managed to save most of
the fish aside from some guppy fry.
What I did to fix it up was cut away all of the silicone I could with a
razor blade and then ran a new bead liberally and it sealed it right
up...I also recommend if you do decide to repair it....do the other
seams...or they could follow suit. Its not a difficult thing to do but
I made sure I tested it carefully to be sure there were no leaks.
Best of luck to ya!
Craig
Ontario, Canada

Lydia wrote:
> Do aquariums have a life expectancy?
>
> I had just a basic 10 gallon. My husband and I came home to about 10
> gallons of water all over our tile and carpet last night. It looks like it
> was leaking slowly all day while we were gone at work. There were about 3
> little slow drips dripping. The 3 fish (pearl, gold, and opaline gourami)
> were all laying on the gravel. AMAZINGLY, they all survived! Who knows how
> long they had to go without water, but we were outside knocking ice off of a
> bent over tree for at least 10 minutes before we went inside to find the
> aquarium disaster.
>
> So now I'm concerned about my 20 gallon tank. The 10 gallon that leaks is a
> good 6 or maybe 7 years old. Are you supposed to routinely replace them? I
> would hate to come back from a long holiday weekend of traveling to even
> more fish dead and *20* gallons of water on the floor.
>
> Thanks,
> Lydia
>
>