Bad fish tank luck

CubsFan · Dec 23, 2018

A couple months ago my girlfriend noticed the ATO was going off frequently. On further inspection I found the bottom seam on my petco 40 breeder was letting water through. It was filling the bottom plastic trim and spilling out. I was lucky to catch it when I did. Went down to petco, bought another tank, drilled it and got it all set up and animals back into the tank.

Fast forward to two days ago. Luckily I was asleep on the couch when I was awoken by what seemed like a flash of lightning in the sump and some sizzzling. I pop up, kill the return pump, and start to unplug everything. One of my eheim heaters exploded.

All the animals seem to be doing well. I’ll be pulling out the sump and cleaning it out today. I’m glad I built my plumbing the way I did. It’s easy to take apart and put back together.

vetteguy53081 · Dec 25, 2018

I am not a fan of heater in the sump although it Ideal. My first rule- No glass heaters. I prefer titanium which all 3 of my tanks have. ( Neotherm heaters also awesome)
Consider also a reef ready tank as if I'm not mistaken, Petco tanks are non RR and will offer salt creep and seepage around equipment.
I owned a full line pet store for 11 years and if things have not changed, attending pet trade shows, the $1 a gallon tanks they place on sale are Factory seconds. Does not mean they're junk, but offer/have imperfections and the leak you have around trim is likely a flawed bead of silicone offering a drip effect.
Unfortunately , the remedy to empty tank and reseal and allow to dry 24-48 hours. The contents of your tank can safely be placed in a large Rubbermaid like tub while doing this. A Pain in the XXX- Yes but will be worth it. In the tub- be sure to provide circulation and Light.

CubsFan · Dec 25, 2018

I’ll be moving on from the eheim heaters after using them for many years. I’ll look into the titanium heaters. Thanks for the suggestion.

The aquarium was set up for around three years. I replaced the tank with another dollar per gallon tank because my set up uses a bean animal overflow and I can taylor the plumbing and such to my own personal specs. I just drilled the new aquarium the same way I had the old set up and put it all back together. Easy peasy. Kinda but not really.

All The new tanks I had to chose from were not on par with other tanks I’ve gotten at the dollar per gallon sale. In the past they didn’t use factory seconds and now they just have what’s out on the floor. Does that mean that all aquariums sold by petco are factory seconds? I personally would not risk sealing a tank. Too much work. Easier to spend the 50 bucks for me.

vetteguy53081 · Dec 25, 2018

CubsFan said:
I’ll be moving on from the eheim heaters after using them for many years. I’ll look into the titanium heaters. Thanks for the suggestion.

The aquarium was set up for around three years. I replaced the tank with another dollar per gallon tank because my set up uses a bean animal overflow and I can taylor the plumbing and such to my own personal specs. I just drilled the new aquarium the same way I had the old set up and put it all back together. Easy peasy. Kinda but not really.

All The new tanks I had to chose from were not on par with other tanks I’ve gotten at the dollar per gallon sale. In the past they didn’t use factory seconds and now they just have what’s out on the floor. Does that mean that all aquariums sold by petco are factory seconds? I personally would not risk sealing a tank. Too much work. Easier to spend the 50 bucks for me.

Just the Promo tanks are seconds