I had a really bad day yesterday! I decided to clean a 55 gallon tank I had in the corner. I started vacuuming it and remembered that I said the next time I clean it I was going to take it down and paint the back blue. It is the only large tank I have that is not painted. I paint all the backs of my tanks with blue spay paint. No fancy backgrounds for me, I like to keep it simple stupid.
Well I got the tank empty put some fish in the main cichlid tank next to it and some in a bucket. I then proceeded to try to wrestle the tank out of the corner. I had it on an angle a was proceeding to get it out when “POP” the tank next to it full of fish and 55 gallons of water burst all over the place. I was putting too much pressure on the edge. This was a used tank and it had a little nick in the glass at the point that it broke.
Well I had fish and glass and large gravel everywhere. I started trying to grab the fish three at a time, but that didn’t work I just dropped them again so I picked up one at a time and put it back unto the next 55 gallon tank. There were about 20 fish mostly Pink Convict Males, but my green terrors and large Firemouth males were there also.
I got all the fish picked up and back in the tank with my Salvini babies, and they seemed alright a little shaken but Ok! I was a little more than shaken though now having (2) large tanks down and one tank overcrowded with fish, let alone have all that shattered glass and a cut on my leg from when the glass shattered, the pressure of the water and glass exploding into a million pieces (it was tempered glass, it like safety glass when it breaks). I started to sponge mop up the glass on the floor, into piles so I could shovel it up into a trash bin. I then had to pick the pieces out of the gravel still in the aquarium bottom. Any gravel that went on the floor I just through out with the glass. It would have been to difficult and time consuming trying to pick gravel out of all that glass. I did though pick out the glass from the remaining gravel then proceeded to shovel the gravel out into a 5 gallon bucket. I was the able to remove the broken 55 gallon tank and then the tank I was going to paint. I put them on furniture dolly’s and moved them outside.
Now what to do with the space. Should I put the good 55 back and waite to repair the broken 55 which could take along time. I then would still have the same problem of having to move one tank to get at another, and I probably will never get the 55 gallon fixed. It can be repaired but it’s a lot of work, and the glass isn’t cheap.
I decided to put the remaining (55) Gallon by the door where I have 2 (10) gallons in the space placed horizontally. They are taking up a 4 foot section of rack. I will put them in vertically in the space that the burst (55) tank and the still good (55) came from. I can get 9 (10) gallon tanks in that space. The (10) gallon tanks that I have spread out over the fish room will be moved vertically to this space. I will have to modify the rack and put a front support in, but I think it will be a much better fit in the fish room. I won’t have to struggle to remove any 55 gallon tanks.
I adjusted the fit and changed the shelf configuration, emptied 8 (10) gallon tanks one at a time and moved them to the new location. I then painted the front support black and installed it on the shelves. It looks good.
When I move the (2) Wild Molly tanks, I was worried that someone would jump out, so I was careful as I emptied the tank. After I put it in place I carefully filled it with water, but did not put a lid on it yet. Working on the other tank about an hour later I looked down and there was a Mexican Molly Female on the floor under my feet, it was dead, I had stepped on it while working. Damn it! It was the last female I had. I got plenty of babies from them but only two adults left (Male & Female). They have all jumped out of the tank while cleaning even though I had glass covers on there tanks.
Out of all this I only lost (4) fish so far; (2) Black Convicts that were put in the bucket for the move; the (1) Mexican Molly and; (1) Salvini fry that was in the tank, I moved the fish too that went on the floor. Amazing that more fish that went on the floor didn’t die. Being larger adult males I guess made a difference, in there ability to withstand that kind of stress. Oh yeah! I did loose a bunch of Jewell Cichlid fry that were in the burst tank, but I didn’t want them anyways and they were too small to try to find in the mess and confusion.
While I was working I notice the level of the tank that I had put all the fish in was kinda low so I turned the water on to fill up the level to the top, plus I figured all the fresh water would help the over crowding. While I was filling the tank I got a phone cal from my friend Chris. I got distracted and went outside so I could hear him better. We talked for about 1/2 hour and when I hung up I remembered I had left the water running to fill that tank. When I went back into the fish room I had another 55 gallons of water all over the floor. Thank goodness I have a Large SS wet dry vac, that I had just spent most of the day sucking up water, glass and gravel from the burst tank. Now I had to again clean the entire floor of water with the wet vac. I then went to eat a late lunch and when I came back the floor was mostly dry and I could proceed to move the tanks.
Thanks for listening to my bad day News, hope your day went well and was not any thing like mine.
Ron
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Ron's Aquatics 