My Tank Exploded!

[bdubya]

I have(or had) a 95 Gallon wave aquarium from Oceanic. My wife and I had gotten home from Dinner and the tank water was everywhere and the fish were all scattered across the floor. Glass was laying as far as 25 feet from where the tank sat. Believe it or not, I was able to save my stars and stripes, porcupine, and huma huma trigger. The only fatality was my Lion Fish.
Any suggestions on what caused this to happen? I have never heard of this before. Thank You!

[larrynews]

could a mantis shrimp have done it...just one thought

[REDPYRO]

do you have a cat, dog, bird or other animal?

i take it the tank was glass?

[Emily]

I doubt it was any kind of Mantis shrimp.  The only type that could possibly do that kind of damage would be the large mantis' that are 6 plus inches, and I doubt they would be able to bust that size tank anyway.  Besides, I think he would notice it in there, and it would be out. 

[verper]

Was it the front or side glass that blew out? 
Is part of the glass still attached at the silicone seams or is the whole glass pane missing?   If the whole pane is missing, it sounds like the silicone failed catastrophically.   

If not, then something or someone broke the glass for it to fail.

Where are you located.  Do you need any help?  Salt water, etc?

[micki]

Wow, sorry to hear that!  If you live up north at all I'd be happy to help out.  I know there are several that would be willing to help out.  Let us know what we can do!

[Secondgen]

Sorry to hear about this. The wave tanks are very expensive. Is your house haunted by chance?

[REDPYRO]

i wonder if the glass isnt as strong since it is curved?

a fish knocked a piece of rock into the glass causing a massive failure?

[mhhauser321]

Sorry for your loss and if you need help rebuilding feel free to ask any questions.

I guess we could start a forum for Tank Explosions, with Ohio Reef and You as the moderators

[bdubya]

Wow! I really appreciate all of your offers! To answer a few of the questions... I had no shrimp in my tank at all, my puffer would have eaten them.
The glass on the tank was blown out, the silicone was still in tact and the glass was still stuck to the silicone. Most of the glass was gone and sitting on the floor. Almost all of my live rock was sitting on the floor. Luckily my friend had an extra reef tank that he had running still, that he just took all of the corals out. I had to bring the fish down there last night at midnight. They are still alive but not moving much, the huma is the only one I think will end up surviving.
I think that maybe a piece of liverock fell and hit the curved part of the glass. I called Wet Pets in Cincinnati and Nick(the owner) said that having curved glass is like playing with fire. So never buy a curved tank!
I purchased the tank from Gem City Aquatics in Springboro, OH. I called them today and they are going to work with me and the manufacturer(Oceanic) to get it replaced, but with a tank that is not curved. That is good business for them to help me out. I will probably get a 180 or 210 this time.
I will give you an update when I get new news. Thanks for your support. I may need some crushed shell for the new tank if anyone has any extra that I can buy. Let me know of you have any questions.

[scott wilson]

wow that sucks.  You may want to focus on building a backbone support structure for your live rock. You can drill holes in the rock and stack it on a PVC back bone to hold the rocks in place and allow you to still build a delicate reef scape.  You can also use epoxy to bond the rocks together.

[REDPYRO]

i knew it had to be something with that curved glass not being as strong.

you cant bend glass and keep the rigidity strength intact.  they are beautiful to look at but playing with fire.

[Viggen]

that sucks..... hopefully the survivors will pull through...

What you experienced is one of the reason why I prefer acrylic over glass.  You can hit it with a hammer & it will not dump all of the inhabitants on the floor.  It would more then likely chip or crack but still hold h20