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Broken fishtanks


lucy

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Sorry if this is the third time you've read this, but i can't seem to get it posted or find where i put it.

Just wondering if anyone has had the misfortune of tanks breaking, I've had three in 2 and a half years and pretty upset about it, mostly the loss of fish, I re-homed them but was really enjoying them. After the stress and cleaning up of the water three times I've given up and just enjoying pond fish.

I had the tanks on a concrete floor and on the original stand I bought with the first tank.

Any words of wisdom please.

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Are the tanks new or second hand? Because in some cases where old tanks that have been sitting empty the seals will perish and leak.

Also, how big have the tanks been? As bigger tanks are probably more likely to leak - especially if they have been poorly handled during transport.

I've found with my Jewell stand that it's slightly bowed in the middle, putting all the weight on the far left and right sides of the tank. Could be the same case with your tank, especially if you're not using polystyrene (or my personal favourite, a black 0.5cm thick camping bed roll from the Warehouse - $8) under the tank.

Or, could be what you're putting in your tank. I know of one case where someone tried to remove a slippery rock from their tank and it slipped out of their hand and cracked the bottom through the gravel substrate. While I doubt that's the case for you, it could be some sort of unbalanced load like a big rock or piece of driftwood.

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Is the original stand slightly warped?

Are the tanks made with glass that is not the correct thickness?

I have been keeping fish for over 30 years and have only ever had one tank crack - and that was after an earthquake.

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Yes i've had tanks before and never had anything like this happen.

The tanks I bought were commercial ones and I asked the wholesaler if the glass should be thicker. They assured me that was not had a problem with those tanks.

The stand has got a bit of a swelling from water syphoning over the top at one stage. The rep was going to look at it but didn't come after the second tank broke. It's a good thought tho.

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Yes i've had tanks before and never had anything like this happen.

The tanks I bought were commercial ones and I asked the wholesaler if the glass should be thicker. They assured me that was not had a problem with those tanks.

The stand has got a bit of a swelling from water syphoning over the top at one stage. The rep was going to look at it but didn't come after the second tank broke. It's a good thought tho.

The swelling of the stand would be a good reason for the tank to break

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Yes i've had tanks before and never had anything like this happen.

The tanks I bought were commercial ones and I asked the wholesaler if the glass should be thicker. They assured me that was not had a problem with those tanks.

The stand has got a bit of a swelling from water syphoning over the top at one stage. The rep was going to look at it but didn't come after the second tank broke. It's a good thought tho.

push the supplier again

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Glass has a impact strenght greater than steel but in saying that, when damaged its broken whereas steel simply dents.

With this in mind, glass needs an external force to break it

These external forces can some times be found by the type of break.

Is it the base, sides or ends that have broken ?

How close to a heat source

is it near a aircon unit

open window?

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Hi, yes they have curved corners and the cracks run across a corner in two tanks and up one of the curves in the other tank, right from the base to the top.

Two tanks that broke were near a heat pump but we hardly had it on as I don't like heat pumps and use an oil column heater away from the tanks.

The other tank that broke was on a inside wall away from anything, I was outside and there had been no heating on that day the windows and doors were open.

So nobody else has had this problem??

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Thank you for your valuable link. I'm not going insane after all.

Yes it was, I started with a 620T and it broke just b4 5pm so I quickly rang around to buy anther one, the shop that I bought it off said I would have to buy the whole kit not just the tank, I said no to that as it was going to cost me an extra $300 for the top which mine was in perfect condition. So I went to another retailer, when I went to pick it up he said he doesn't stock the T's as they have a tendency to break. I got the short one but they are in my opinion not as nice to look at, my fish were a bit squished with the less water to swim in as well. Then of course that broke and I got a third one off the importers, the gentleman that I spoke to was really nice and said he would reinforce it as I was ready to give up at this stage. At 6.30 am I woke up to the sound of running gushing water and thought the water pipe had burst. I was pretty horrfied to find a lot of water spilled over the couch and on the floor, took me all day to clean it up and re-home the fish. Letting myself into friends houses.

I'm taking the importers to the disputes tribunal, they have told me I'm the only one to have had this much trouble .

Insurance won't pay out for the syphoning of water over the tank that has stained the carpet.

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Sorry, the first tank leaked and a a rep was meant to look at it, she didn't come beween the second and third tank breaking. It then broke like the first two. One of my replies mentioned that a warped base may have been a contributor to my tank breaking.

The wholesalers said tough luck let the insurance company deal with it. I'm saying the insurance won't pay for a slow leak, only leaking water pipes inside the roof.

cheers

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Just wondering if anybody has done anything about court action for broken fish tanks as it was very uspsetting for me having water gushing all over the floor and the possibilty of fish dieing and of course the outlay of money to set them up in the first place.!!!

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I'm no expert but I think it falls under the category of "consequential loss" - ie something you bought damaged your property as a result of its failure. I would call the consumers advice bureau (i think that is what they are called. consumers something anyway)

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