Anyone keep a spare tank? I did.

[Auquanut]

In the end, fear does keep your tank from failing, but it can keep your tank from thriving... so be smart, buy reliable things and have a shop vac on hand just in case.

Awesome advice!

Oh yeah. I'm pretty sure the shop vac and carpet cleaner have kept me and the tanks in the house. Lynna was not amused, but she took it really well. She's even talking about a replacement tank. GOD, I love that woman!

 

[Auquanut]

If you dont have a spare tank, you should atleast have a container that can hold your fish and stuff if a tank fails. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it as your tanks gushing water all over.

^^ Yes! This^^ When this happened, it was very early morning, and 1 degree outside. I'm SO glad I was ready.

 

[Karen00]

I have a few of those Rubbermaid tubs that I can use in case of emergency as well as extra heaters and filters. I tend to keep all that stuff for emergencies because I not only have my sw tank but a couple fw that are still running. I have enough spare stuff to handle all three at the same time if catastrophe struck and all three blew seams at the same time. ;-)

 

[Jonify]

My emergency plan is to dump my buddy's fish out of her tank and then fill it with some backup saltwater I keep in a heated bucket. Transfer everything over, boom done! So sorry about her fish, though.

 

[Auquanut]

I have a few of those Rubbermaid tubs that I can use in case of emergency as well as extra heaters and filters. I tend to keep all that stuff for emergencies because I not only have my sw tank but a couple fw that are still running. I have enough spare stuff to handle all three at the same time if catastrophe struck and all three blew seams at the same time. ;-)

That's awesome! It's good to see that so many people are prepared for a tank failure.

 

[r4rlee]

I do not. I hope I never need one. Its good that you had one. If I had a spare sitting around it would end up getting filled with water... lol

Same here

 

[lukesnc]

Have a water box 130 reef tank about 3 years old upgraded from a 55 gal and also have another 55, and 20 long fresh tanks. Kept the old 55 and also another 30 just in case. And use an all in one 5 gal marine land as a QT which I use often.

 

[Mark Gray]

Nice you had one. I remember in about 1992 we had just moved into our house, we were watching TV and my 55 gallon blew the front bottom seam, water hit the ceiling drained in less than 2 minutes.

 

[pulpfiction]

Sounds like a potential massive nightmare. I'm glad you had a backup and caught it early. A tank failure is right up there with heater failure as my biggest fear in fish keeping.

I'm assuming almost everyone has water change buckets which would suffice for saving residents in a leaking tank.

I once heard someone threw their fish into the toilet tank to save their fish when the fish tank blew and the fish lived. I think it was for freshwater though.

 

[Cina05]

I keep (kept) a 125 reef, 125 FW planted and 20 planted tanks. So, Thursday morning as I was just leaving for work, I noticed the 125 FW tank was about 4" low. I turned on the light to discover water dribbling all around the base. OH NO!! At the rate it was coming out, it couldn't have been leaking for more than an hour or two. Needless to say, I didn't go to work on Thursday.

Anyway, when I set up the reef and took down a 93 gallon cube, I decided to keep the cube as an spare tank. I bought a large HOB filter and new heater and kept everything I'd need to set it up in a hurry. Fast forward 4.5 years, and the spare tank is doing its job. It took about an hour and a half to get everything transferred, the 125 out, and clean up underway. All fish and plants are alive and well. The carpet is even mostly dry. If the leak had occurred in the reef tank, the rescue attempt would have been much more involved, but I'm fairly confident I could save my livestock.

Now it's decision time. The cube looks really good where it's sitting, and I really don't want to invest in a new 125 gallon FW tank. Might just try to find a used tank to keep as a spare. I've got plenty of time to make up my mind as long as I don't have another disaster soon. Regardless, I'm glad I kept the cube. It took up a lot of room in the shop, and I've considered selling it a dozen times. I'm SO glad I didn't.

Does anyone else have a contingency plan already in place for an emergency tank swap?

I have a 90g reef tank and a 20g aio that was supposed to be my quarantine tank for fish and corals. It's now a reef tank of its own, but I do use it to quarantine /grow out smaller fish. I also have several fw tanks from 90g to just 1g. With a 58g quarantine tank set up in my garage.
I have two additional 58's that my husband has been telling me to get rid of, but I've been holding onto them for just such an emergency.

 

[mdb_talon]

My contingency plan if my tank empties onto living room floor is packing a suitcase and buying a burner phone. My wife will likely still find me but at least i get a head start.

 

[Reefjockey]

My wife who is very good friends with Mrs. Claus, graciously gifted me a RSR 350 this Christmas. She had already purchased an All Glass 75g on a black Friday sale. She was going to return the 75 so I could concentrate on my new display. With two other reefs running now, I told her I didn't want to be greedy, but were keeping it, that an extra tank is always useful. I have had four tanks running at one time before, and know how handy it is to be able to move some livestock once and a while. I always refer to one tank as the "hospital".

 

[Auquanut]

My wife who is very good friends with Mrs. Claus, graciously gifted me a RSR 350 this Christmas. She had already purchased an All Glass 75g on a black Friday sale. She was going to return the 75 so I could concentrate on my new display. With two other reefs running now, I told her I didn't want to be greedy, but were keeping it, that an extra tank is always useful. I have had four tanks running at one time before, and know how handy it is to be able to move some livestock once and a while. I always refer to one tank as the "hospital".

Sounds like you have a great plan in place. Having a hospital tank standing by is a good idea.

By the way, I don't suppose you could get your wife to introduce my wife to Mrs. Claus. I'm really hoping they'd hit it off.

 

[ying yang]

2 x 100 litre plasterers buckets is my back up if my main 300 litre tank leaks .
Will work nicely as got ....
2x heaters in sump
2x main rock structures In dt
2x main powerheads in dt plus little baby one.
So plan would be put heater / powerhead and 1 rock structure in each plasterers bucket and split the fish into both .
As for lights for the corals would be 2 dining room chairs facing the 2 buckets and put something on chairs to raise up higher then rest my lights across the chairs somehow.
Until can fix dt or buy another tank.
Also up until a year ago I had 4 tanks running but sold a 160 litre 3 foot tank to neighbour who still got it empty next door so could also ask him to lend me it back temporary ^_^

Got to have a plan even if it rough around the edges plan as any plan better than no plan ha ha ^_^

 

[oldbob50]

Never thought about it until now but I do have a 55 gal tank we are using for plants and a 30 gal in the workshop that could be used for an emergency.

 

[code4]

I have 2 40 gallon and 2 20 gallons I could use. And all equipment. I used them as quarantine tanks. If my 140 springs a leak I am going bigger.

 

[blazn]

I had a 90 gal bow-front seal leak late one evening. First emotion is panic of course, thinking my tank is ruined and how was I going to save all life forms, but once over the initial panic, I remembered that unused 40B I purchased several years prior (only because it was a great deal).

So, I was able to save all fish/corals, somewhat tightly within the 40B. Although only about 12 gallons leaked in total, it ruined the carpet and the ceiling, carpeting and a wall on the floor below the tank, totaling $17K in damages (thank you insurance!). I'm so glad I had that spare tank and that the leak happened when it did, as I left for a week of vacation 2 days later and if it happened then, all would have been lost.

I was fortunate to have that 40B on-site and from that experience, I'll always have a spare tank available and strongly recommend to do so.

Side note: that experience also had a big benefit, as I ended up having much more coral growth in the 40B with minimal filtration (no sump/skimmer) than I had previously. I learned I had been over-filtrating, stripping out too much nitrate/phosphate. I've successfully incorporated those lessons in my current 120.

 

[Auquanut]

I have 2 40 gallon and 2 20 gallons I could use. And all equipment. I used them as quarantine tanks. If my 140 springs a leak I am going bigger.

DITTO!

 

[jassermd]

I have 3x 10 g full set ups, a 5g full set up, a 2.5 g set up, and a 20g full set up.
My DT is 280g and a 40g mini reef plumbed to same sump. You never know when you need to quickly set up a hospital tank, QT tank or have an emergency.
I always keep 65g of mixed salt water on hand, and 55g RODI on hand, both heated (or cooled) to match tank temp.
I also keep 5 bags of extra media in my sump along with sponges, etc for a quick cycle.
You never know!

 

[Auquanut]

I had a 90 gal bow-front seal leak late one evening. First emotion is panic of course, thinking my tank is ruined and how was I going to save all life forms, but once over the initial panic, I remembered that unused 40B I purchased several years prior (only because it was a great deal).

So, I was able to save all fish/corals, somewhat tightly within the 40B. Although only about 12 gallons leaked in total, it ruined the carpet and the ceiling, carpeting and a wall on the floor below the tank, totaling $17K in damages (thank you insurance!). I'm so glad I had that spare tank and that the leak happened when it did, as I left for a week of vacation 2 days later and if it happened then, all would have been lost.

I was fortunate to have that 40B on-site and from that experience, I'll always have a spare tank available and strongly recommend to do so.

Side note: that experience also had a big benefit, as I ended up having much more coral growth in the 40B with minimal filtration (no sump/skimmer) than I had previously. I learned I had been over-filtrating, stripping out too much nitrate/phosphate. I've successfully incorporated those lessons in my current 120.

Wow! That's a lot of damage. At least some good came from it.