The is probably one of the hardest emails that I have written since becoming active with Razorback Reef. Sometimes for all your good intentions things just do not work out. I fear that the latest incident may be the nail in the coffin for one of our most active members to exit the hobby - I sincerely hope not. Last Thursday Norman (Fisher12) and I went about installing a large fluidized bed filter on his 400 gallon tank. He had had an overflow event a month earlier and was afraid that the overflow would not start again in the event of a power outage. This seemed like a viable alternative to an overflow to me although I had never read or had any experience with it. We removed the sump and overflow and went about installing the sand bed. As it turned out on that day the o-ring for the filter would not seal and it was getting late. The plan was for him to call the company and maybe have one of there pool maintenace people come by and seal it. When Norman got up the next morning, only 5 hours later, every fish in the tank was dead. The oxygen had been depleted that rapidly which I would have never thought. Marti and Jim help Norman remove the fish and stabilize the tank as best they could. Unfortunately, Norman was leaving for a cruise the next day. This is where I come in - I felt so bad that I started calling club members to rally the troops to set up the 200 gallon aquarium that I had been building for Norman and would be finished with this week.Blake (Beanhead) took a days vacation and came with me to Conway today to drill the tank like Norman was planning. I had not posted anything about our efforts to this point because Norman had not left on vacation and I did not want to explain what I was doing to Joe who was hosting the trip to the lake for the club the same day that I was trying to put together my rescue of Norman's tank until it was clear that everything was going to work out - and there was a ton to work out. I spent the last two nights on the phone trying to coordinate everything as did Marti our Vice President . It really looked like things were going to work out. Blake and I came to Conway at 8am and picked up the tank from Normans son in laws house and brought it to his house, ordered the glass for the overflows and ordered some bulk heads to be delivered by Friday because the ones that he had were not going to work with the drill bits that he had. We set about our drilling and completed 4 holes and were on our fifth hole when we heard a defining pop! There was no crack around the hole that we were drilling - however two feet away on a hole that had been drilled a good 30 minutes earlier a crack had appeared ending our efforts in one quick second. I was sick and I am writing this prior to leaving Normans in an effort to cope with the sickening gravity of what happened. Ultimately, there is nothing that could have prevented the risk that is involved in drilling a tank. At this moment I can not fathom why this had to happen now, to Norman, to me and everyone else that I involved in trying to do a really good thing. Now instead of being able to imagine the joy the Norman would have at everyone turning out to set up his tank in a time of need I have to figure out how to explain to him that I had great intentions, but your tank is cracked. Welcome home from Vacation - that is a very fine how do you do. I want to thank everyone who was in preparations to attend on Saturday to help put up Normans tank. (James, Blake, Casey, Lark and Heather) Thank you Marti for tirelessly coordinating with everyone to try and pull this off and Joe not being to angry that I tried to hijack the people that were going to attend his trip to the lake as our host. I think I will hibernate in a hole for the next couple of days until Norman returns on Sunday before I face the unknown on Sunday. Here is a picture of the crack which was not visible to me at all when the hole was completed.
Well, you all are still invited to Arkadelphia/Lake Degray Saturday. We can go kneeboarding, tubing and swimming and barbecue and drink (be sure to BYOB) and relax after all this stress.
When Fisher said he wanted it drilled he knew the risks, just as we all do. We all hate that it happened, but Fisher loves this hobby to much to let it set him back. I believe that Fisher will be happy to know that so many of us care about him, and wanted to do something really special for him.
That really stinks. I wonder how much a new piece of glass would be? I have never rebuilt a tank but I know it can be done.
BIG HUGS TO CHRIS! Accidents happen, karma is crap, Norman will be fine even if we have to take him hostage to keep him with us. We'll all rally, everyone here is like family, we'll help a brother out when he needs it. Sounds like we may be back on for Joe's! I hope everyone that planned on attending will still be able to go, I know I will. Let's do a recount and get this party started! I really want to go, can you tell?
To rebuild this one you have to strip the entire tank down, clean the glass and trim of all silicone. Then assemble it in less than 5 minutes. This tank is an Oceanic so the only thing holding it together is the silicone. The frame is not a solid molded piece, it is made of separate mitered strips. It would be a HUGE task.
Don't take it too hard Chris, it's just one of those things that happens. You might give Norman a bottle of wine and time to drink it before you tell him. Sorry Norman.
Sorry to hear that happend. I was looking forward to helping out this weekend also. The next set of plans we come up with will go smoothly and I will be happy to help however I can.
I would like to thank everyone for their effort in getting my tank set up. I knew the risk and am ok with the result. It means a lot to me that all of you would go to that much trouble to have it done while I was away. It's just another setback and I am now searching the internet to find a reef ready tank to fit the stand. No drilling this time folks, it will be done before I buy it. With the decision to make the 400 a FOWLR and the 200 a reef, I think everything will be more easily manageable. I will be selling some tanks when I get the 200 set up. If anyone is interest in a 55 that has been set up for several years with stand, canopy with VHO,s and all equipment just let me know. That will be the first one to go. Again thanks to everyoine and look forward to seeing you all soon. All I can say is that if you have never been on a cruise start saving now and go as soon as possible. It was the best vacation I have ever had. I'll bring some pics to the next meeting.
