It’s a nightmare for anyone who owns an aquarium, especially a very large aquarium and that’s to find a leak.
I noticed possibly a week ago that I started to see a drip coming from the bottom front of a wooden cabinet that held the aquarium but I was doing cleaning at the time and felt, maybe it happened when I was refilling my tank. No biggie, I thought. I’ve resealed this aquarium as part of my yearly maintenance to make it even more leak proof.
Until I noticed in the evening that 30-40% of the water gone and immediately, it was worse than I expected.
First thing was the safety of the fish. Because I no longer have my other aquariums to put them into, I immediately called a pet store and they were able to take them all in. Fortunately they had a few 65 gallon tanks ready.
I was successfully able to breed a lot of Lake Malawi East African cichlids and various corydoras but the one I think I’ll miss the most is this derpy pink gourami, that I’ve watched grow from one inch to nine inches. The pricing of entire fish is pretty high and what I would get for store credit, I told them I want to donate that credit to children/families who go to the store. I would love to the donation benefit children who want to purchase their first fish or to get into the hobby.
The fish were rescued but I immediately went to remove all water and then clean up as much as I can but also remove the wooden cabinet/case because it was destroyed.
One of the few things destroyed due to the aquarium leak… My January 1967 Daredevil issue no. 26. It was actually in a hanging frame that I was testing out awhile back which was in a cabinet base which was destroyed. It was actually bagged at the time as well but water got in there completely. Tried to gently remove it from the bag but ended up ripping everything. It’s ruined… c’est la vie.
But unfortunately, this is a fear among those who have large aquariums, may they be freshwater or saltwater, it happens to the most experienced.
The thing is…it can happen to everyone. It can happen to even the most well-spent, expensive aquarium such as the Radisson Blu Hotel in Central Berlin:
Aquarium leaks do happen. Even to the most cautious. Even if you spend a lot of money looking at the best aquariums. It just happens. May it be how level the case is, if there was an unnoticed crack but the thing is that silicone sealing does break down in time.
It’s good to do maintenance and reseal every few years. Granted, for a large aquarium it can be a pain the arse but it is what it is and it happens. For me, I’ve resealed and I just didn’t think it would happen again.
So, the question is…will I restart my aquarium.
First and foremost, I love owning fish, I absolutely loved taking care of them, breeding them and even hearing those pumps and oxygen bubbles.
For me, these last two years have been challenging especially during rolling blackouts due to the heat. From having to have battery backups for aquariums for oxygen to doing whatever I can to prepare for the worst.
But I noticed that these rolling power outages were happening more frequently and I’ve lost many fish because of that.
If my fish were all to have died from that again, I would instantly give up because that is another loss I can’t take.
But this time around, it was a leak….an expensive leak but all fish survived and are now in a good place. I don’t know if I would do another big aquarium or even going crazy when I had 12 aquariums. Or go saltwater.
But I do know at this time.. I’m done for now.
I have had great moments from my college years to my adult years but the pandemic gave me the ability to get back into the hobby and these past few years, it’s been a blast and a big part of my life.
