30 Gallon Disater! - All fish died

**Cichlid_Man** · 11-06-2006, 01:01 PM

I woke up this morning to find my 30 gallon just about empty!

I did a water change yesterday and all was fine. I didn't even touch the filter, but for some reason, it developed a crack in it, and since it was so close to the wall, the water was absorbed by the sheet rock doing some damage. The floor wasn't even wet! The wall absorbed it like a spong!
I can fix the wall, but I can't fix the fish.
Somehow, the filter kept pumping. The syphon was never lost until the water went below the intake line.
So much for aqua-clear.
The Pleco made it and I put him in the 75 gallon but the fish are attacking him badly.
I am very sad.

What can I do to avoid this with my Fluval 405?
How often Do I have to inspect the gaskets??
I have had it...
I have removed my 30 gallon from my signature.
4 prize cichlids gone

**Fishguy2727** · 11-06-2006, 01:26 PM

How old is the filter? I have very old whispers but have never had any crack like that, at least not while running, I may have had one crack while it was in storage and not in use. I also have a few very old fluvals (the 03 line) and none of them have given me any issues. In general this was probably a rare fluke and I would not worry about it with the fluval. Did you leave the filter running during the water change and maybe it ran dry? That could overheat it in which case it may have warped and cracked.

**Lady Hobbs** · 11-06-2006, 02:17 PM

This is just awful and I know how you loved those fish. This certainly was a fluke indeed. It's amazing how we can take such good care of our fish, do all the things we are supposed to do and something stupid happens that destroys them all overnight.....like in your case or something like going away for a day and having a power failure or any number of other things.

It's the heartbeat that goes with keeping fish, I suppose, but doesn't make it any easier. I am so, so sorry for your loss, Joe.

**paulie** · 11-06-2006, 02:38 PM

omg im so sorry to hear about ur loss. and hopefully u can get the tank back up and runing the way it was. i know u cant replace the fish that were in there. I lost an angel fish do to my daughter breaking the tank it was in. I had the angel for many years so i do know how it feels to loose fish that have been with u awhile. again im sorry to heaar about ur loss good luck

**Cichlid_Man** · 11-06-2006, 03:22 PM

I was so messed up I realized I mis-spelled disaster :-)

No I didn't leave the filter running and I was up till midnight and saw nothing wrong.

Just a fluke.

I am not going to restart the 30 g.

The 75 gallon is plenty for me. I have 12 Cichlids in there and they will grow nicely as the others did. I am giving the tank to a needy friend.

Thanks for being their!!!

I am not going to post more today. I am still in shiock...

**TehTANK** · 11-06-2006, 03:46 PM

You know the same thing happend to me on my 30 gallon. I couldn't ever find where the the crack or leak was coming from. I actually took my fish out and emptied my entire tank. Set it up on the floor with a towl under it to see where it was coming from so I could fix it. Let it run for 3 hours there and nothing happend. I set it back up and it never leaked again. It was really weird! Mine leaked all on the floor though but didn't notice it until I had about 10 gallons on the floor. I am so sorry about what happend man. I can feel for you!

**Cichlid_Man** · 11-06-2006, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by l TehTANK l

You know the same thing happend to me on my 30 gallon. I couldn't ever find where the the crack or leak was coming from. I actually took my fish out and emptied my entire tank. Set it up on the floor with a towl under it to see where it was coming from so I could fix it. Let it run for 3 hours there and nothing happend. I set it back up and it never leaked again. It was really weird! Mine leaked all on the floor though but didn't notice it until I had about 10 gallons on the floor. I am so sorry about what happend man. I can feel for you!

I have never experienced that before.
I did find the crack though. The house is brand new and there isn't much paint on the walls. Builder's only give you a one coat move-in paint job.
So, the sheet rock is like a sponge and it took in all the water.
Too bad for the fish though