Pulled my 90 gallon tank out of storage this weekend

I just had to share my pain.

A number of years ago I got a freebie 90 gallon aquarium that was a bit rough looking, but held water and had previously been used to house aquatic turtles. It has followed me from place to place over the years, and usually was used a a growout tank for my baby fish. This time I thought I would make a nice native community tank out of it as I didn't have the big fish room for getting really into breeding anymore like I had back in Philadelphia.

My home office was rearranged and a nice place free of direct sunlight was selected. I got it all set up on the stand and all it really needed was a cleaning. Life was good, right?

Then I moved a computer from one end of the room to the other.

CRACK

My aquarium is now a terrarium.

The corner of the PC nicked the corner of the aquarium. No faces were broken, but there is a very definite crack in the corner of the tank and it should not be trusted to hold water again.

C'est la vie.

Maybe it would make a cool terrarium for a nice size group of Rhampholeon brevicaudatus, a species usually kept in much smaller quarters due to its diminutive size.

Still, it would have been a fine native community tank.

You could turn into a dart frog terrrarium. I have been playing with the frogs for a few month now and I think they are neat. The hardest part is culturing flightless fruit flies.

If only one pane is cracked and the tank is still empty, you might consider replacing the cracked pane. http://saltaquarium..../a/aa031302.htm

If only one pane is cracked and the tank is still empty, you might consider replacing the cracked pane. http://saltaquarium..../a/aa031302.htm

Technically two panes are cracked, but at the edges so the crack only appears in the corner where the front pane and the left side pane meet.

You could turn into a dart frog terrrarium. I have been playing with the frogs for a few month now and I think they are neat. The hardest part is culturing flightless fruit flies.

The thought has crossed my mind. I've never really cultured FF's before so like many others before me, I admit I am a bit concerned about that (not the difficulty so much as the commitment). I'm also not thrilled about the idea of FF's getting loose around my home. No matter what you do to contain them, they do, after all, inevitably escape.

I'm not ruling it out, though. Dendrobates is a genus chock full of gorgeous frogs.

Technically two panes are cracked, but at the edges so the crack only appears in the corner where the front pane and the left side pane meet.
The thought has crossed my mind. I've never really cultured FF's before so like many others before me, I admit I am a bit concerned about that (not the difficulty so much as the commitment). I'm also not thrilled about the idea of FF's getting loose around my home. No matter what you do to contain them, they do, after all, inevitably escape.

I'm not ruling it out, though. Dendrobates is a genus chock full of gorgeous frogs.

I like the chameleon Idea.

I'm liking the Rampholeon idea too. You can, however, still make a native community out of it, just not fish. You could put some anoles, Storeria species, skinks, salamanders, toads, and frogs. You could make the opposite end that isn't cracked a little water hole, were the amphibians could soak. Most of the lizards and snakes will only drink droplets on leaves, sticks, etc, so they would have to be misted. Just a neat suggestion, provided your state laws would allow you to do this.

Did somebody say "Paludarium"?

If I did the paludarium approach, it would have to be set up something like this to keep water pressure away from the compromised end of the tank. I think if I did a good job at cutting up a thicker piece of plexiglass and sealing it in place as a divider, I could set something up where I had a decent aquatic section, a decent land section, and enough vertical space to do some more interesting things.

Not a shabby idea.

Years ago I had a native NC herp terrarium. Although it was only a 20 gallon "long" tank, it was quite a nice thing to look at. Every animal in there was something that I caught in NC, but given the size of the cage there weren't many in there. A 90 gallon enclosure would be pretty dang cool though.

If I did the paludarium approach, it would have to be set up something like this to keep water pressure away from the compromised end of the tank.

Yeah, that's what I had in mind. Have fun with it!

cough...cough....Kryptolebia marmoratus? Called mangrove killifish or rivulus. They make a nice additional for the aquarium/terrarium. I seen them on aquabid sometimes. Plus if its from Florida populations then you don't need a pair to breeding for make babies, just need a one. Through the mangrove killifish can survive in freshwater, they need to breed in brackish water. What's cool is that killifish can live outside of water and live in damp logs. You can just obtain the mangrove rivulus from some sources. Add brackish water in your terrarium and make sure your cracks are fixed so the soil and logs can stay moisture. Then you got unique terrarium! But it was just suggestions.

Normally way off topic for this place but your tank would be excellent for Rhampholeon sp. I kept a good colony of R. brevicaudatus, R. kerstenii and various Brookesia species in a similar setup (Not in the same tank mind you seperate).

Smaller Uroplatus such as U. phantasticus or U. ebenaui are also interesting should you be able to track some down.
Same type set up works well for these also and they are awesome little animals.

Normally way off topic for this place but your tank would be excellent for Rhampholeon sp. I kept a good colony of R. brevicaudatus, R. kerstenii and various Brookesia species in a similar setup (Not in the same tank mind you seperate).

Smaller Uroplatus such as U. phantasticus or U. ebenaui are also interesting should you be able to track some down.
Same type set up works well for these also and they are awesome little animals.

I've thought about getting some Brookesia, or some U. phantasticus. I've seen both on Kingsnake classifieds.

Brooklamprey - Were the Brookesia "easy" to keep? What was the most difficult part of keeping them?

Same thing happened to one of my tanks. My "young" son was swinging a bat and cracked the corner of my tank. I simply cut an old thick mirror I had and siliconed it to the face and corner that had the crack. Thus doubling the glass and resealing the crack from the tank if you know what I mean. What I am saying by siliconeing the mirror inside the tank to the side pane the tank essentially had a new glass on the inside thus sealed before reaching the crack on the outside. If you did not want to use a mirror "which I simply had so it was free" you could buy a piece of glass and silicone it to the inside. Since mine was a mirror I put silicone inbtween both panes and then sealed the corners and top and bottom real well. And to be honest I do not know where that tank is. I think I gave it or sold it to someone.

Daniel

I just had to share my pain.

A number of years ago I got a freebie 90 gallon aquarium that was a bit rough looking, but held water and had previously been used to house aquatic turtles. It has followed me from place to place over the years, and usually was used a a growout tank for my baby fish. This time I thought I would make a nice native community tank out of it as I didn't have the big fish room for getting really into breeding anymore like I had back in Philadelphia.

My home office was rearranged and a nice place free of direct sunlight was selected. I got it all set up on the stand and all it really needed was a cleaning. Life was good, right?

Then I moved a computer from one end of the room to the other.

CRACK

My aquarium is now a terrarium.

The corner of the PC nicked the corner of the aquarium. No faces were broken, but there is a very definite crack in the corner of the tank and it should not be trusted to hold water again.

C'est la vie.

Maybe it would make a cool terrarium for a nice size group of Rhampholeon brevicaudatus, a species usually kept in much smaller quarters due to its diminutive size.

Still, it would have been a fine native community tank.

Let's see a picture of this cracked tank. I think it can be easily saved.

Let's see a picture of this cracked tank. I think it can be easily saved.

Quite possibly. It's just a bit big for my liking. Honestly I'm more inclined to backfill the space with smaller tanks. I no longer have the luxury of a 1000 square foot fish room to play with. (apologies... cell phone camera is best I have until Friday or Saturday when the Nikon comes in)

Hmmm...That looks to be right on the edge of what is repairable. I would want to wait to see the pictures from the new camera before giving my final opinion.

I think it could be repaired. Remove the piece of broken glass and take out the chip. Fill it back in with epoxy, then reglue the glass. It looks like the chip is on a long side, so that simplifies matters.

The tank is gone. I helped two good ol' boys load it up in their truck. A little boy is upgrading his bearded dragon's enclosure.

I'm looking at the empty spot on the wall now and considering my options. I'm probably going to put a 55 gallon there and take another stab at MRBD captive breeding.

Hey, wasn't that my avatar once?

Hey, wasn't that my avatar once?

It was, but we missed the cat.