Why Spare Tanks Are Good

[Taratron]

This is how my Monday morning went.

9:00am: wake up, drag self out of bed. Not used to sleeping in anymore!

9:30am: check on fish tanks, do a walk through of the house, checking lights, bathroom break

9:35: come back to my room to find the carpet around my dresser wet. My 20 gallons long multi tank is on my dresser. Insert a face.

9:45: start emptying tank of water and shells. Be exceedingly happy the multis take off INSIDE the shells, hence no need to panic with nets.

9:50am: pull both sponge filters and toss in a gallon bucket with air stone and water

10:10am: finished emptying tank of water and sand, set outside to dry and check for cracks

10:30am: fill up a 20 gallons high I had in the garage to check for leaks. The afternoon will be spent resetting up the tank!

[Jools]

Nice.

I once had a cat called Yoshi.

Yoshi liked sleeping on top of fishtank hoods at night as she was warmed by the strip lights within.

One night I forgot to replace a hood after a waterchange.

:splash: ... silence .. WW III ... :long bemoaning wails from cat and aquarist:

You cannot imagine the havoc wreaked by a small cat that, very unexpectedly, has been dropped in a fishtank. Needless to say, I was worried about the cat hair and other assorted crap (the plants were a write-off too) so had to strip the tank in the middle of the night.

Jools

[natefrog]

The first night I had my C. batrachus, I woke up in the morning and did the usual check on the tanks and couldn't find the new catfish. I searched for a couple of minutes with my eyes, then a couple with my hands, then behind the stand then on the floor...my cat Ferris was sleeping soundly about six feet from the tank and directly under his chin was the new C. batrachus.

I figured the worst and picked up the hair covered fish to dispose of it, when it started to flop and twitch in my fingers. I prompty dropped him into the tank and watched as he swam about leaving a cloud of cat hair behind him.

The only damage was a loss of the last 10% of his barbels (which of course have grown back). No scratches, no bites....no loss of appetite even...man these things are tough. No wonder they are such a successful exotic.

[bronzefry]

About a year ago, I did a water change on a 10 gallon tank. I shut the lights out to go to sleep. I heard the unmistakeable, "drip, plop, drip, plop." I put the lights back on. There was a good sized leak. At the time, I was clueless about having an extra tank. I had to get all the occupants into either the 15 gallon or 29 gallon. I learned about having an extra tank around that night.

[troi]

At the time, I was clueless about having an extra tank. I had to get all the occupants into either the 15 gallon or 29 gallon. I learned about having an extra tank around that night. :shock:

Iyeee! I have a cat and no spare tank right now. Best i can do is buckets (I *always* have buckets) and a soup pot should it all break loose in my little 10 gal. I got so accustomed to having about 6 sized of spare tanks that I entirely forgot when I moved that I am no longer fishroom central.

troi