A very good example of bad things happening to good people!!

[Beverly]

OK, So I came home today to this........

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k93/bcusack1/DSCN0767.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k93/bcusack1/DSCN0752.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k93/bcusack1/DSCN0758.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k93/bcusack1/DSCN0766.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k93/bcusack1/DSCN0762.jpg


I lost my entire tank. I just received my Reeftopia order yesterday! I had mainly LPS...all gone. It looks like my rose anemone might hang on!
Called carpet guys, not able to save carpet. They ripped out the entire downstairs carpet. I will have to empty 3 tanks Tuesday and move them out of the living room. Now I will not make my Thanksgiving trip out of town.
I called Felipe, he came over, thanks a million Felipe and Sara! He offered his shop as a haven to my rock. He was truly baffed as to why the tank broke. I only had about 60-70 pounds of rock and it was scattered from one end to the other. Not a cause at all. He has offered to help in anyway he can!
Yes, I know I did not buy the BEST tank around. I will disclose all info later. Not ready to burn bridges just yet. I will see how it goes tomorrow at the tank's original owner's store.
Jason, Fishy Business and Ed, Wolf Reef...thank you for offering help and your time.
My new Metal Halides will be here tomorrow, Saturday! YEA..... I had been waiting all week to get them and now this!
I have renters insurance. Does it usually cover this? Livestock and such? The tank has a warranty, I will however grab my broom and fly over to the LFS and fight for some type of reimbursement!!!!
Any thoughts????

[mkengr45]

was the bottom tempered? how old was the tank, and was it bought new?

[Mr_Cool]

WOW! :o

My wife would just KILL me.

What a pain. Sorry about your loss.

[z28pwr]

Man that truly bites, sorry to hear that.

Is this an AquaTrend Tank ?

[Jeff]

i'm sorry to hear this.

[Beverly]

The tank was 2 weeks old. No tempered bottom, and yes I bought it brand spankin new!
What puzzles me most....the tank broke, or atleast it appears to have broke dead center. I had like 4 inches of sand with barely any rock for a 100 gal. I just don't get it!
OH YEAH....and btw......it was my birthday. I was out hitting the lfs with some gift money! What a B-Day!!!

[MKCindy]

Wow, what a bummer.

When I was growing up we had a smaller tank shatter during the night. Later, we found a BB whole in the window pane across the room from the tank. Just plain bad luck it lined up just right. :(

[mathias]

wonder if some type of animal moved the rock.... or you had a hitchhiker like a mantis crawl to the bottom...?

[GaryP]

Was it an aquatrend tank? I'm having Mikeyboy flash backs.

[Isis]

The tank was 2 weeks old. No tempered bottom, and yes I bought it brand spankin new!
What puzzles me most....the tank broke, or atleast it appears to have broke dead center. I had like 4 inches of sand with barely any rock for a 100 gal. I just don't get it!
OH YEAH....and btw......it was my birthday. I was out hitting the lfs with some gift money! What a B-Day!!!If the tank has a warranty, you may be able to get the manufacturer to cover the damages.

[Beverly]

Ok, just got back from lfs, Texas Tropical. The tank was an Ocean Atlatnis(?) out of Houston. The tank and stand was a combo deal. The office(Ocean Atlantis) is closed, so we will see how much they are going to own up to on Monday.
The lfs replaced the tank with an Ocean View and new stand without any questions. Texas Tropical guys says it looks like a tank issue. Nothing I could have prevented or known about. Felipe said basicly the same, so you bet I am going after manufacturer!
We'll see how reputable these guys are. I'll let you know, you can bet on that!

[ackelley]

Perhaps if they chipped the front side or back side where the brake started. I mean even a little chip can greatly weaken glass and with a lot of weight on it, even a small fluctuation in pressure or a slight temp change in water can cause it to start to creep. Much like a windshield.

[Beverly]

I just off the phone with Benny, owner of Ocean Atlantis. He basicly said he would replace the tank...no thanks, and was NOT going to reimburse for anything else. He said I needed to call the pet store where I purchased the tank, Texas Tropical, for other damages. I told him what happened and I believed the tank to have had an imperfection which was a result of the breakage. He said, "PROVE IT." I told him I didn't want this to get ugly, but I would get an attorney. His response was, "Go ahead...I small time guy, I just close business."
Apartment Mgr. came over today with maintenance, we are talking new carpet, possible sheetrock damage, and some electrical damage as the socket was directly behind the wave of 100 gallons of saltwater that has now encrusted my living room!

[gcantu]

If the glass was tempered, there would be nothing left but thousands of tiny pieces of glass underneath. Sorry about your loss.. I really hope the manufacturer pulls through and helps out in some way or other. If word of this gets around, I am sure they will lose business real quick!!!

[eddie]

Your insurance might go after them. I know when my tank caught on fire the insurance company took the tank to see if any items was in default so they could go after the manufacture. good luck

[reefguy210]

wow. just wow. ive never had any tank ive gotten from texas tropicals bust on me. however, since they no longer do cash refunds on anything, they lost my business.

TT doesnt make money off of tanks if i remember correctly. they basically sell them at cost in an attempt to get you to buy more goodies from them. it should be real interesting to see how this turns out. please update this thread when you have more information.


this is also why renters insurance is a good thing :)

[Beverly]

I just read the Mikeboy and Jeremy78247 Saga! Does anyone know what ever happened with that? This guy that made my tank, Benny is brother or brother-in-law to Toy, if I've been getting the story right. They split partnership after some type of disagreement???? (Benny then moved to Houston to set up shop where TT is getting this tank from) btw- NOTHING AGAINST TEXAS TROPICAL -they have done everything possible for me up to this point.
I'd like to talk with Mikeyboy or Jeremy78247 as I have heard they have been in my SAME shoes.

[GaryP]

OK, the story on Mikeyboy (I was involved on the periphery) was that Toy bought a load of mexican glass that was obviously sub standard. I'm thinking because of the connection to Toy that there may be a connection here.

Mikey bought the tank on his credit card and when Aquatrends refused to honor the warranty he got the credit card company to reverse the charges. As for the damages, they were covered on his home owners insurance. They had to pull up some new, fairly high dollar carpet and he replaced it with tile. He also had several animal skin rugs (such as zebra) that had to be specially cleaned. I think the insurance claim was about $8k. He replaced the tank with an Oceanic 215 that bstreep now owns.

[Beverly]

Yeah, I also purchased mine with a credit card and thought of doing the same. The problem is it would first effect Texas Tropical and I just can't do that. I justl hope that they might reconsider selling his tanks after all this.
I will wait to see what Insurance says and go from there. I know that I will have to fight this guy to the end and even if I do getting a penny outta him will be slim to none.
Now that my emotions, more so my temper are calm, I'll just have to chalk it up to lesson learned. You get what you pay for. I will definately be putting some pressure on this guy, I am not just going to go away. I just wanna make sure noboby has to go through what I have in the past 72 hours! It has been HELL!

[safeuerwehr]

Sad thing is that this seems to be a small business and probably doesn't have liability insurance......good luck getting any money from him as he indicated to you, all he has to do is close down the business or file for bankruptcy...and if you do take him to court the only thing you get from the civil process is a judgement in your favor...In this day and age, it's kinda hard to find a company or person to stand behind their products or services.

[Beverly]

****UPDATE******

I went in to Texas Tropical today (Sunday) and guess who was there....Benny! Benny said not a word to me. One of the guys that works in TT said Benny said I dropped something on it. NO BENNY...I DIDN'T!!
So I talk to the guys at TT and guess what? Now everyone seems to have amnesia, as NO ONE remembers their statements from yesterday saying it was a tank issue. NOW...they, Texas Tropical guys, say I dropped something on it.
I walk out of the store to gain my composure as I feel myself becoming quite upset. I walk back in and 1 of 3 of these guys which are standing together are making statements such as "you can tell the ----- dropped something on it, what the ---- does she want?

I want to end this thread here. Please no reply's, no opinions!

I want everyone to know the service I received to this point was AMAZING in this store. I am the kind of person that prides myself with being an upstanding, hard working, honest person. I just can longer shop and spend my hard earned money where I feel am back stabbed and cursed.

Texas Tropical, if y'all are okay with selling these tanks, with all the info you have and know about others that have been in my same shoes with these tanks, you have lost my entire respect. I just can't fathom how you can do business like that. The ol'mighty dollar...what a corrupt thing!

[mathias]

I hope chris isn't of the ones saying things like this..... I havn't been in the store for a while but I do know chris has taken care of me numerous times but your right something like this is unacceptable...

[Beverly]

Chris was always professional and respectful. Didn't want to end it like that. NOT Chris.