About The 55
We set up the 55 gallon aquarium in August of 2000....
This was our first attempt at setting up what we considered to be a BIG
tank. Again, we used both sand and gravel for the substrates and it had
what we lovingly referred to as a "Cory Park" directly in the middle.
On December 26th, 2000 disaster struck. Henry and I were in New York
visitng his relatives when we received a disturbing phone call from Nathan
telling us to "come home right now"! He had just returned from work to find
the livingroom floor saturated with water and sand, and the 55 sitting
with only a puddle of water in one corner. Nathan was able to save about
5 fish that were still alive by putting them in one of the other tanks. He
thought the rest were dead. The absolute last thing either Henry or I
wanted to do was to walk into the house and see our fish lying dead in
what use to be a beautiful tank. We called a friend of ours (Reggie) and
asked if she would be willing to go to the house and remove just the dead
fish, we would take care of the rest when we got home. While at the house
and on the phone with us surveying the damage Reggie noticed *something
move*. We had more survivors! Reggie was able to find 14 more fish that
were not quite dead yet!!! All in all 15 of the fish that came out of the
tank that night survived. Many we still have, only in other tanks.
Returning to Ohio and seeing the tank in the condition it was devasted
Henry and I. Over the next week the livingroom felt like a morgue to me.
It took several times shampooing the carpet to get the spots up left by
the water, sand and the wood that bled underneath the carpeting. It took
me quite some time to be able to go through my daily "fishy type chores"
and not want to go feed the fish in the 55 or think I should be doing
normal maintenance on it when I would be working on the other tanks.
I realized something during that time. It wasn't only the 40 or so fish we
lost that hurt. It was the tank which was alive and vibrant. The tank was
absolutely beautiful. Crystal clear and never gave us problems. Henry
would comment on it all the time.
I guess the moral of the story from this would be to be very weary of
buying *used* aquariums. This is the only tank we ever purchased that we
got from someone else. I know the tank sat in the person's shed through
two years of the changing seasons. We believe that may have been why the
seal split. The silicone just wore out.
As of now Henry is going to be repairing the tank but more than likely
changing the dimensions of it.
The Occupants
They aren't with us anymore and we miss them.
Legend: G=gallon T=Tetra H=High F=Fry L=Long P=Parrot B=Baby BS=Brine Shrimp
