Frickin' aquarium stand tried to disintegrate

[WhiteRat]

Okay. I'm calm now. No, really.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGH.

 

So as mentioned elsewhere today I added the first thing to my tank that didn't come in with the LR/LS. A peppermint shrimp. That peppermint shrimp must've had almost as bad a day as I did. Acclimation, hanging around a few hours, then being dumped into a weird freaky tank with living stuff in it instead of the LFS nice clean shrimp tank.

 

I go to clean up some stuff I dripped on the floor near the tank and find myself staring at the bottom of the tank stand. Which is...Coming...Apart. All the trim was shoved out a quarter inch from each other at the quarters on all three sides I could see.

 

Fortunately, TBSW insists you keep a full tank change of water while waiting for the ammonia spike (which I think ended four days ago but I'm being extra careful). So I not only had thirty more gallons worth of containers on hand (albeit I had to dump extra salt water out) but I also had a couple of water jerrycans I use for carrying in purified water.

 

Over the course of two hours I decanted most of the water into the big rubbermaid garbage cans, put the live rock in it with the powerheads, heater, and skimmer/filter so the filter wouldn't die, put the live sand in a big ol' rubbermade 6" deep tray I was planning on using for sorting new LR and figuring how to arrange it, put more water on top of that, emptied the tank, moved the tank to the floor, and did the reverse. Didn't even spill much.

 

Then I turn over the tank-stand/cabinet to look at the underside. Well, the uprights hadn't disintegrated, but...It's all partical board. And it was delaminating because it had gotten some spilled salt water soaked into it in the last ten days. (Which is as long as I've had it.).

 

Someone didn't seal the )(*#@@##@ partical board. Partical board DISINTEGRATES when it gets wet. A few minutes/hours/days and I might've had my tank suddenly heave right over onto the floor and shatter (glass tank).

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!

 

Going to talk to the LFS where I bought it. Jeff there is a good guy. I dunno how they'll feel about a hundred-plus dollar tank stand, but I know how *I* feel about it, and I want it replaced with one that is built properly. I'm willing to pay extra if that's what it takes, but I expect some discount for this travesty.

 

My poor li'l peppermint is wandering around the silty tank trying to figure out which end is up, and who knows if I lost the cephalowatsits or what other things, crabs, snails, I might've crushed moving the LR back into the silty water.

 

Ratty

[SteveC]

Ouchie! I feel your pain! And this makes me glad I spent extra for my solid wood stands. I was starting to wonder if it was a bit extravagant. Nope! Plus the wife thinks they look nicer.

 

Anyhow, good luck working something out with the LFS! Good thing you caught it when you did!

[MikeB]

That is the exact reason that I'm going to build my stand out of 2x4's and plywood. I don't trust these cheply built(expensive) press wood stands that all the pet stores in my area want me to buy for shuch a small tank(25G 24"x12"x20"). I didn't know that press wood disintagrates with SW but I have seen it swell up if soaked in water. Thanks for the info, and hope you can make a good deal with the LFS.

 

P.S. Your new pictures look real good. Once I'm ready for the LR it will be TBSW for sure.

[WhiteRat]

Okay. So, my LFS gave me the option of an exchange or credit, which was damned fine of them and I luv them dearly. I ended up getting a similar stand but I'm going to coat the whole thing myself in marine sparcoat varnish to protect it from salt water. That should work out pretty well.

 

Additionally, I now know how to handle an aquarium emergency. That's kind of useful knowledge...The fact that I *did* you know? Having the extra containers around and being able to keep everything in moving, aerated water was a good thing, and now I've got a solid checklist of how to break the entire system down for short-range transport in less than an hour. That's a handy thing. It probably wouldn't be a bad exercise to look at your tank and think in terms of 'what if I had to move this thing RIGHT NOW? Could I? How would I?'.

 

Everything seems to be okay. I don't see anything that looks as if it's terribly unhappy. Even the tunicates have recovered quickly.

 

Thanks for listening and words of support, guys.

 

Ratty

[Dave ESPI]

... Ghetto wood stand.....