The exploding aquarium: What you weren't told (but should probably know)

[@rewboss]

A few people have pointed out in the comments that since the "glass" of the AquaDom was actually acrylic (and therefore not real glass), the comment about the propagation of cracks doesn't really apply. This was an oversight on my part, mostly because I was so excited about finding the Slow Mo Guys' video, but actually the general point does still stand. Cracks propagate at the speed of sound -- but that's the speed of sound in the material that's cracking. It's true that the speed of sound through acrylic is about half the speed of sound through real glass... but that's still something like twice the speed of a high-velocity bullet from a modern rifle. EDIT: ...or not. I'm still trying to get my head around all the different facts and figures I'm finding, but perhaps "high-velocity bullet from a modern rifle" is overstating it. It would help if everybody used the metric system so I wouldn't have to keep converting back and forth between metres per second, feet per second, and miles per hour. Also, the Slow Mo Guys seem to be using tempered glass, so that's again a different rate of propagation than normal glass, and perhaps the difference between what the Slow Mo Guys used and acrylic glass isn't as great as even I thought. However, I am learning a lot about polymers in general, and in particular that acrylic glass is usually classed as a glass, which makes me feel a lot better about myself. By the way, thanks for reading this far.

[@jasinere35]

its funny you should say fatigue yet acryilic doesnt shatter it splits at the weakest point so the outer shell should really have been in one piece with a crack going from top to bottom it does look like an insurance job

[@rich1051414]

@@jasinere35 Your comment would be correct if not for the pressure of the water behind all of the acrylic, which would be holding the acrylic in tension.

[@SuperVeeveez]

OH! so this means I should probably avoid the used 100-gallon acrylic aquarium I say on FB marketplace, point taken! thank you!!

[@donaldasayers]

@@jasinere35 Acrylic does shatter. I have worked with it for years.

[@bertjesklotepino]

@@donaldasayers But not the same way glass does.

[@IreneSaltini]

Having worked a little with polymers in the past, the first thing I thought when I heard about the incident was “did they build it out plastic?”, so thanks for confirming I was right, the choice of material wasn’t something our local news outlets reported on. A “similar” (much smaller scale) incident happened several years ago at TU/e in the Netherlands, a cylindrical plastic tank used in an art exhibit suddenly burst one morning. They did their research and it turns out it was an inevitable consequence of it being made of plastic. Many types of polymers are unfortunately subject to a type of wear called creep whenever they’re withstanding even a constant force, which eventually brings them to their breaking point. When dealing with plastics the question is usually not “if” it breaks, but “when”. Wouldn’t be surprised if the explanation turns out to be the same in this case. Anyone has any idea what the renovation involved? Were the old panels replaced or not?

[@HansJoachimMaier]

Thx for the information!

[@xaverlustig3581]

" When dealing with plastics the question is usually not “if” it breaks, but “when” But isn't that true for any material?

[@PiscatorLager]

The report of the renovation was still online yesterday and didn't involve replacing any panels, but polishing the inside and outside if the cylinder to make it pretty again.

[@asicdathens]

From what I've seen it had 2 concentric cylinders. The inner one was the elevator shaft as well

[@dragankondic4168]

Maybe I'm ignorant, but isn't acrylic the best and most durable material for this type of application? There is nothing better they could have used, the problem here seems to be only the miscalculation or inadequate maintainance.

[@terrydavis8451]

As someone who has 9 fishtanks and keeps rare fish trying to captive breed them to stop wild catch....this broke my heart.

[@vacafuega]

Thank you for what you do

[@dondutch4107]

13 tanks here, Caridnia and Neo Caridnia breeder.. not rare, but still fun trying to create new lines or strengthening existing

[@terrydavis8451]

@@dondutch4107 I dont know why but every time I set up a Neo breeding tank it fails. I just didnt dedicate enough time to it though.

[@bl8388]

All the dead animals was the first thing I thought of and I'm not a fish person. That's the problem with a lack of foresight and risking so many animals at once.

[@terrydavis8451]

@Bitterkind Why not? Would you prefer the aquarium hobby only be supplied with wild caught?

[@2fathomsdeeper]

In a reply below, a poster stated that the acrylic was polished during renovation. Polishing acyrlic heats the acrylic and causes internal stresses that make it prone to shattering. Had the same thing happen to the high strength acrylic dasher panels of a hockey rink in an arena I work at. They had someone polish out the scratches and then the panels started to shatter. We had to start replacing them with new panels, and when they get all scratched up, we again replace with new panels. I like the old scratched panels for use in projects, so I have a lot of 1/2" plexi to play with.

[@allentate3760]

I worked eight years at a large aquarium in the US. I was told by our exhibit techs that acrylic (Plexiglas) gets brittle over time. I saw this happen with thinner (1/4”) plexiglas. We had to replace these components regularly. The plexiglas would turn cloudy and just snap like egg shell with minimal handling.

[@klobiforpresident2254]

This isn't just acrylic, basically any plastic has this problem. If they're kept under pressure for a long time they weaken. If it's something like a plexiglass floor in a viewing platform that's fine, because people wot always stand on there. An aquarium is not, because the acrylic will weaken over time until shattering. While there can be warning (you mention it turning cloudy) there can be cases where the first sign of warning is the last thing before catastrophic failure. I assume that if the tank was made to be "cost efficient" then the point at which damage becomes clear to the naked eye is close to or possibly beyond the point at which it has weakened enough to shatter spontaneously.

[@tabularasa0606]

Also the renovation may have made it worse instead of better. First releasing the pressure and then putting it under pressure again, might have been part of the process of it breaking.

[@GilmerJohn]

@@tabularasa0606 -- Yep! And then "followed up" with the up to 80F difference between the inside and outside of the walls of walls you might end up with a fatigue situation. BTW: there is nothing wrong per se in keeping fish.

[@darkshadowsx5949]

since it was a known fact the aquarium owner should have replaced it in the last draining maintenance. not doing so every few years is asking for trouble.

[@NicolaW72]

@@darkshadowsx5949 Replacing it was easier said than done. The shelter was so huge that the Roof would have needed to be removed. If even that would have worked. When you watch the video I´ve mentioned here from it´s original building it´s pretty clear that the shelter was putted first onto his place and then the whole Hotel was builded around him.

[@vacafuega]

It was definitely a Radisson Blu a few years ago - I stayed there in 2009, and have an unforgettable memory of being up at 5am after going out clubbing, staring into the vast aquarium from the hotel room window, and seeing an eel dart silkily through the rocks. It was a beautiful moment which I will always treasure, a brief moment of enchanted peace at the heart of a difficult time - my then-partner was extremely violent to me and this stolen moment was a rare respite from the chaos and pain. I am extremely sad thinking about all the wonderful creatures who perished when it all came crashing down. Sincerely wish more of them had been saved.

[@dannybonsai7102]

aquarium fish have a wonderfully therapeutic effect just to watch them!

[@gregor-samsa]

Maybe you should have put you partner in the aquarium, too!

[@shuenshuen]

I hope you're doing better these days. Thanks for sharing, well written.

[@AimeeHope89]

I've also had moments of respite with sea creatures during an abusive relationship. I got "whisked away" to Hawaii before I realized he was a jacka**, and he got me stranded on Oahu. The ocean brought more peace to me on that island than anything else. There was one day he literally chased me in a car across half of the island. My only sanctuary was a small beach on the NE side of the island. I walked out as far as I could one into the water one day, and a beautiful stingray came up and swam in a big circle around me before going back to sea. I know he was just making his rounds looking for food, but it sure brought a lot of comfort to me. We are more connected to the creatures of the sea than we realize.

[@pixpusha]

I'm glad it brought you a moment of escape even if it was a tiny moment. I'm glad you are no longer in that relationship. May you always have someone that loves you wholeheartedly and who is emotionally mature and wise and knows that they have found a good thing in you.

[@ap9970]

You covered the story better than the BBC, they treated it as a bit of a joke with fish puns.

[@bertjesklotepino]

BBC.... Britain. And Germany. We still take the drunk British guy serious, right? He "won" the war. Mr Churchill. But if you cared to listen and look into it a bit more, you will see that it has always been this way. It might be because the British think they are some kind of higher class people. They always felt that way. And for what? For living on an island off the shores of Europe. O wait, sorry, tea time. JAMES!!!!!! FETCH ME MY NEWSPAPER PLS, and today i like a brandy next to my tea.

[@mbryson2899]

They were probably under great pressure to make it finny. They schould have scaled back the humor and gone with a different hook.

[@BM-jy6cb]

That's the BBC of today I'm afraid - superficial victim-fest. Presumably as there were no casualties, their fall-back position is stupidity instead of the far more interesting engineering aspects. Their "news" website more resembles a woke version of Hello magazine than a serious news channel. German DW news (and, oddly Al Jazeera) is the only MSM to treat their audience with respect these days by having detailed analysis of events.

[@salvatronprime9882]

Wow I never knew the BBC was up to such fishy behavior. I always thought they came from a different school of journalism.

[@jimskirtt5717]

My local infants school would have covered it better than the BBC.

[@MichaelAndersen_DK]

I visited the AquaDom this summer and the thought alone of someone standing in line, waiting for a tour with the elevator and then the glass breaks, is frightening. Poor fish too.

[@NicolaW72]

Indeed. It was great Luck that the accident happened so early in the morning.

[@_Madfly]

Really thought you were about to say "by complete coincidence, the Slo Mo Guys were there filming the aquarium at the time"

[@jhonbus]

Haha me too. Imagine that: "We've got footage of this aquarium exploding at 1 million frames per second, but unfortunately we won't be able to release it as it's now evidence in a legal case likely to go on until the end of the decade."

[@Hanmacx]

@@jhonbus the video is locked away lik the NSU files xD

[@soundscape26]

Same actually. 😄

[@TremereTT]

@@jhonbus they have to produced that Video when the dome is ready to be exploded again. I want to see that.

[@KarlDMarx]

That's what I was waiting for. I guess there would be numerous recordings from security cameras.

[@GenRN]

I’m a freshwater aquarist with 7 aquariums right now. It breaks my heart to think of all these beautiful creatures dying. I’ve marveled at this aquarium many times on social media. SIP Swim In Peace fishies. 🐠 💔 ♥️💔🐠

[@orange13]

A Brit in Germany explaining Germany to a German in the US 👍thank you

[@gottpersoenlich]

Who is stupid enugh to go to the US ?

[@xapaga1]

I got rather curious when this rewboss British chap keeps saying "elevator" instead of the more proper "lift". Lift is used in both German (or alternatively Aufzug) and British English.

[@Mr11kankan]

du verpasst nichts hier 😂

[@Rico-oz4ct]

@@xapaga1 In german we use Fahrstuhl or Aufzug but I think I never heard "lift".

[@timefliesaway999]

@@Rico-oz4ct Lift sagen echt viele bei uns, auch Deutsche

[@Tilumbus]

Die perfekte Zusammenfassung. Ich hatte das Thema wegen dem hohen Aufregungsfaktor komplett ignoriert. Solche Ereignisse führen zu unendlich vielen Berichten mit Häppchen an Informationen und dafür ist mir meine Zeit zu Schade. Aber die 9 Minuten haben sich gut investiert angefühlt. Ein gutes Konzept, so eine Zusammenfassung mit etwas Abstand. 👍

[@f.k.3762]

Der Dativ ist dem Genetiv sein Tod.....musste ich hier leider posten, sorry

[@jfm14]

I don't like news outlets wasting my time with rushed, overexcited, and inaccurate reporting either.

[@alphab3ta]

Ja die ganze wertvolle Zeit ;) ich habe schon mehr Zeit damit verbracht, die Fernsehberichte und Webnews zu verfolgen, ob da mal was neues dabei war. Aber immer nur "ist geplatzt", Ursache unklar, retten Fische. Das war´s. Die Tatsache mit dem Atrium und dem dünnen Dach war mal was Neues.

[@pechaa]

I agree.

[@Pystro]

The temperature difference being the straw that broke the camel's back is VERY likely: To put the outside temperature of -9°C into context: we (in the NW of Germany) only get -20°C in some of the winters (with -10 or -15°C being the minimum in others), and I would imagine the NE to be only slightly colder. I.e. this was possibly the first (or only 3rd or so) night of this winter where temperatures fell that low. The incident happened at 5am, which is a typical time for anything relating to stresses from the daily heating and cooling cycle, because it's the time of the day's lowest temperatures. In events like the Champlain Towers South collapse it was important because the day's coldest temperatures cause the largest tensile stresses (which is the type that brings reinforced concrete down). And in this case it seemed to have been relevant here because the heated water provided the opposite extreme for a maximum temperature gradient.

[@insulanerin7601]

The Aquadom was not outside, though. It was in a hotel lobby. Maybe they didn't heat the lobby as much as in previous winters due to the energy crisis?

[@Eagle_Owl2]

@@insulanerin7601 it wasn't really in the hotel lobby. It's a bit complicated because the whole thing isn't just the hotel. And the Aquarium was located in the atrium at the center of the complex. This atrium doesn't have actual insulated roofing, just a glass roof like a greenhouse. That means that the temperatures close to the glass roof must've been kinda close to the outside temperatures. Not noticeable for the guests, but for the aquarium structure that was basically at ceiling height. I've been there around 15 years ago, but I was a child back then, so I can't picture everything correctly anymore. So it's difficult to describe

[@tookitogo]

@@Eagle_Owl2 Hot air rises, so the air at the top of the atrium would have been the _warmest_ in the space, not the coolest.

[@simonspethmann8086]

I remember much much colder winters (one time -20) in the 2000s, when the thing was already around. (I lived in Wedding then, no way Alexander Platz had vastly higher temperatures). So, probably less heating inside the hotel lobby to save energy?

[@xapaga1]

@@simonspethmann8086 Yes, less heating due to energy crisis + cold weather outside + wear and tear + the renovation work in 2020 accidentally hit something in a slight manner. Just my hypothesis as an arm chair tourist-detective.

[@LadyMaven]

I love the sensibility of reporting on the deaths of the fish involved as well as on the state of the humans. 💖

[@lxine1868]

About the elevator inside the tank: It was more of a viewing platform than a regular functional elevator. The tank itself was ring-shaped with the lift rising up inside. It had two levels that would fill with Sea Life visitors, then it would slowly go up then down the center while a guide narrated facts about the fish and tank. The whole "ride" took about 10 minutes. It's terrifying to think that the tank could have burst while a lift full of tourists were in the middle of it!

[@rewboss]

Looking at the photos, though, it seems as if the lift would have been one of the safest places in the atrium. The outer wall of the aquarium shattered, but not the lift shaft, which looks intact to me. The usual safety features that all lifts have would have prevented it from falling; everyone inside might have been quite shocked and might have had to wait for rescue, but it looks as if they would have been uninjured.

[@foogod4237]

@@rewboss True, but there's also nothing to say that the same sort of failure couldn't have just as easily happened on the inner wall instead of the outer wall. It's possible it was purely coincidence that the lift happened to be a safe place to be in this case...

[@bernhardkrickl3567]

@@foogod4237 Uniform(!) pressure on the outside of a curved surface is much easier to withstand than pressure from the inside. Because in the inwards direction the material gets pressed closer together, making it denser and hence more stable. Granted, the pressure is higher at the bottom of the tank, but in each horizontal cross section the pressure is the same on each point. It would probably take a lot of extra damage on the interior cylinder for it to break first. You could try this by taking a raw egg and enclosing it in your hand, neatly centered with fingers wrapped around it. As long as you apply it evenly the egg will withstand quite some pressure. Disclaimer: Neither will I pay you for the egg, nor clean up the mess when it breaks eventually ;)

[@bobfoster687]

@@foogod4237The inner wall is essentially a cylinder with water pressing onto the OUTSIDE of the cylinder. This is a very strong position;think an egg shell, very thin yet very strong. Or think of an arch above a doorway. The outer cylinder had water pressing against the INSIDE of the cylinder wall, very much weaker than the arch of the inside cylinder.

[@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307]

@@rewboss PETA released fresh water stingrays into the ocean killing them all! Those nutrient starved vegans dont think right at the best of time! Goggle anyone?

[@stephenpike3147]

Two things that you haven’t mentioned of the polymer used in the tank construction; degradation due to UV light entering and being reflected in the atrium and the second the vibration from the elevator and associated machinery. I would not be surprised if it was an interaction of these together with the thermal stresses (temp gradient across inside to outside of the tank walls and variations introduced by air and water convection currents)and creep of the material under such huge pressures. It will be an extremely interesting engineering investigation as they try and work out/ simulate the exact modes of failure and the materials resilience over 19 years to this catastrophic failure. As you said so lucky and thankfully no one was killed or maimed. A nice review and initial insight into this tragic event.

[@pipmitchell7059]

Thank you for covering this event factually, without treating it a somehow comical.

[@bl8388]

I don't have fish, but the amount of animals that died, must have been tragic to witness.

[@TacoTuesday4]

@@bl8388 they are fish. They don’t even feel pain. 😂

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

@@TacoTuesday4 Says a non-fish. Fish have very sensitive touch receptors.

[@bl8388]

@@TacoTuesday4 They feel pain, they have a nervous system. They aren't plants. =D

[@feanor5037]

@@TacoTuesday4All animals feel pain. What matters is whether, or to what degree, they're sentient. Fish are not likely to be sentient - or at least much less so than cows and pigs - and I'm sure most of us eat them, so I struggle with the double standards of the "poor fish" reaction. It's still a tragedy though!

[@alexjenkins1079]

Massive shame that part of the DDR museum was flooded Hope none of the exhibits there were damaged, especially when it's such an important museum, given the time period it covers Hopefully any exhibits that were damaged can be easily replaced

[@trenkq]

...and by saltwater nothingness 😬

[@jjdinanno4147]

I was hoping to see this museum some day. Big bummer indeed

[@NicolaW72]

👍

[@0xbenedikt]

@@jjdinanno4147 I've seen it and not the aqua dome. It was really nice - sad to see it damaged. News outlets didn't report about it at all.

[@holger_p]

There are so many of these museum and there have been no valuable exhibits in there. It's a tourist attraction, not to say a tourist trap. Purly commercial. The only work was to collect it, but that can be redone.

[@Write-Stuff]

First time seeing your channel, and thus far, I'm utterly impressed by the concise breakdown and explanation of events pertaining to this story. I must confess that you are a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of other channels I see. I'm itching to see what else you've covered. And thank you, by the way. Classy, no senseless cursing; I dig it.

[@lara_1308]

When I was small my Grandmother would often bring me there and I remember being fascinated by the huge aquarium and all the fish in there. So I'm kind of sad a place with so many memories got suddenly destroyed in such a way.

[@hermask815]

Has that happened to you, too: you’re living in a town with an attraction, thinking “ I’ll go to that place someday” until it’s too late?

[@Wolf-ln1ml]

Kind of like people who live in Paris almost make it a point to never go up the Eiffel Tower because it's such a tourist thing to do 😂

[@EyMannMachHin]

Well, not exactly. I'm from Germany, but I always had to "be on the WTC" on my bucket list until I had to scratch that.

[@ralfjansen9118]

@@Wolf-ln1ml More like those who some time wanted to visit Notre Dame cathedral... until it(partly) burned down^^

[@johnc2438]

@@Wolf-ln1ml Or Notre Dame!

[@johnc2438]

@@EyMannMachHin I made it to the top of the WTC in New York in the early 90's.

[@computername]

(As a mechanical engineer) This will become more frequent. To be _cost effective_ , designs are becoming increasingly optimized. That means, all contingency is being removed, based on engineering analysis. Sounds great, there is just one problem: The analysis is only as good as our assumptions made for loads and loadcases. And that's where commercialism comes in - the stakeholders in a project will happy argue away all potential risk for the sake of winning a project. Will the customer adhere to the safety procedures? Of course! Will it be operated within specified parameters? Sure do! Will the staff be trained? Absolutely! Do we need to design for a certain environmental risk? Naah, that can never happen. Should we add some material? Don't worry, we've simulated this and it's a safety factor of 1.2. The whole spectrum of capitalist self-delusion. Many older designs had involuntarily contingency (the computational means of optimization simply weren't available or manufacturing forced things to be more substantial than needed). Even though they weren't designed for a certain loadcase, they will not fail under unexpected circumstances. Of course, older desgins can and have failed, they have their own problem. The issue I see now _everything_ is optimized within extremely narrow boundaries. Not just menial things, but even fundamental infrastructue (that will cause desaster and certain loss of life should a major failure occur) are designed with no margin for error. "Reality has the best physics engine" - we just cannot predict everything, humans and the environment WILL abuse our designs and we cannot simply ignore this by saying "Well it wasn't desigend for _that_ ". But that's what the commercial wants us engineers to do. I can see more critical infrastructure come down in the future in desasterous ways, and the reason for that is our own greed and complacency.

[@johannageisel5390]

Hear, hear!

[@feedbackzaloop]

(as another MEng) 1,2 margin is inexcusably low for civil purposes. But this is where inevitably things are going to and we see the trend in bridges, failing last decade way too early for their lifetime. Still. From the perspective of investments, liability costs increase as well and in new construction we see a turnover towards higher margins. But in abscence of global report and revise on already falsly built structures we will see a decade of accidents like this. This is where I stray away from being professional, but my guess is that since the project was so unique, the accident is not triggering urgent inspections of other aquariums and other structures built by the contractor.

[@Wolf-ln1ml]

Also, the _individuals_ actually responsible for it almost certainly won't face any significant consequences, if any at all. Even worse, it'll far more likely be some engineers that might face consequences than the "money people" who pressured them into cutting corners, even if "just" when it comes to thorough research and testing.

[@computername]

@feedbackzaloop9987 The number was just randomly picked to emphasize the "closer to the edge" point of view. Of course I didn't mean to make statement about this particular event either, or claim to know the root cause - it may aswell be a freak accident. It'll be interesting to follow up on this and see what comes out of it, or if there are any learnings for similar installations. Maybe there will be a plainly difficult episode soon *wink* I'll never go into one of these skyscraper glass floor pools after this, lol! Definitely agree with what you say about the decade ahead. At least I'm not the only person worrying about this..

[@computername]

@@Wolf-ln1ml It's a good point, it's usually the operator or the designer that get the blame with these things. Certainly the cirumstances (read: commercial or public pressure) that led to the decision making don't receive much attention..

[@bobbyvalentine9358]

I really appreciate all the research you did to explain this.

[@punkandtravel]

the hotel was just rebranded from Radisson Blu to Radisson Collection, so technically you're right about the name, but it still is commonly known under it's old name, and that's probably the reason why most local media uses that name.

[@learning2live_brokeninchro157]

Great video. I’ve seen a few different reports about this, and not one said that there was a lift in the middle of the aquarium! Or that it was part of a bigger sea life aquarium, the breeding tanks in the basement, the actual measurements of the tank, and much more. Thank you for all your information. I learned so much more from your report. It makes a bit more sense now.

[@jokervienna6433]

I think we can skip the "renovating theory" at once. Did they actually change the tank itself? I do not think so. That the aquarium was renovated and maintained means they did some heavy duty cleaning. The tank itself was the same, right? Then the maintainence itself might have actually contributed to this explosion, because the pressure in the (same) tank changed two times (when they emptied it and when they refilled it).

[@firnen_]

It's also always possible that part of the tank's structure was accidentally damaged during the maintenance, and the damage not noticed.

[@Canleaf08]

In disasters like this, it often starts with material fatique and ends with "material not maintained according manufacturer's standards".

[@jokervienna6433]

@@Canleaf08 sounds likely. I started to think about how to maintain acrylic glass of this size. I guess the correct thing is to simply change it. This aquarium was huuuge, just imagine the water pressure. I have had quite many aquariums (used to be a professional breeder), and anything over a meter high - you have problems. I do not mean any critique, just thinking out loud. All the best!

[@mk1st]

Cleaning/Polishing this type of material can heat it and cause fatigue.

[@alexandergutfeldt1144]

Thanks for the report. Our local news sources were, once again, full of emotions and very scarce on information.. and maybe they weren't, I don't bother watching/reading very often, since all they seem to be interested in is creating 'anger', 'fear' and 'outrage ' .. and I'am sick and tired of that spiel!

[@slewone4905]

Ours were Greenhouse gas did it, with help of Trump and his Russian friends.

[@alexandergutfeldt1144]

@@slewone4905 😉

[@johnc2438]

@@slewone4905 Ahhh, yes. It had to be Trump!

[@354sd]

Very true anger and fear all the time.

[@davidvento5481]

Exactly why I stopped watching network news on television during 9/11. Anyone living in Manhattan/NYC experienced the tragedy first hand and I was especially affected as I had a job interview at the WTC less than a month prior to the event. Broadcasting constant loops of the planes impacting/explosions, crumbling structures and people jumping/falling to their death on every news report 24/7 for weeks afterwards was sickening and unnecessary. The media -encouraged by media moguls like Rupert Murdoch milk such tragedies to increase their ratings. They often minimize/disregard the emotional effects on humans while sensationalizing and often politicizing the facts to suit the narrative. An example is the (then) NYC Mayor Rudi Giuliani being touted as a “great hero” and subsequently “America’s Mayor” was ridiculous. The extent of his involvement was appearing on site a couple times for photo ops which suit his agenda. The true heros were NYC firemen (FDNY), police (NYPD), EMTS/paramedics and volunteer first responders. They were sifting through debris for human remains, handing out medical supplies, attending to the injured and supplying food to weary searchers while Giuliani arrived in his private car to be greeted by news crews; reporters & a deluge of cameras. His degree of concern and true character has surfaced as his recent efforts to aid in subverting the will of the US people has been made public. “Critical thinking” is what is lacking and relying on network newscycles for the “truth” has unfortunately become the norm.

[@mikethespike7579]

From my own experience in plastic fabrication and engineering, acrylic glass, also known as Plexiglas and Perspex, is phenomenally brittle and gets more brittle with age. It's usually chosen for its high transparency, far better than normal glass, but shouldn't be used where mechanical stress, pressure or possible impact is involved. Even a slight scratch can lead to fracturing and failure. My personal choice of material for such an aquarium would have been polycarbonate, the stuff DVDs, car headlights and motorcycle visors are made of. This is shatter resistant to the point that a 1 inch thick sheet will stop a bullet without fracturing. Because of this it's used to manufacture bulletproof glass.

[@johndododoe1411]

Plexiglas is also used for those other purposes, though making a aquarium from polycarbonate would be an interesting alternative to consider.

[@NicolaW72]

👍

[@Redhand1949]

Excellent reporting. Plus, you avoided the linguistic crime I'm about to commit by saying there is "something fishy" about the failure.

[@peghead]

Especially something of this 'scale'.

[@kennethbain4290]

He didn't flounder with incorrect temperatures, nor parrot what others had said.

[@lxine1868]

Thank you for the excellent and detailed reporting! I visited the Aquadom a few months ago, and while it was an incredible sight to see, I had such an uneasy feeling at how enormously unnatural it felt. The amount of engineering and planning for this thing must have been crazy, plus how much it must have cost to operate! I've been wondering if cost-saving is ultimately what contributed to this disaster (maybe not directly by the operator but a combination of factors). In any case, it could have been MUCH worse if it had burst during the day in this extremely busy tourist area. Still a tragedy for the fish, obviously.

[@Bayerwaldler]

Thank you so much for that brilliant piece of journalistic work. When I first heard the news on radio while preparing breakfast I almost felt heart-broken. Such a shame. I wonder how such constructions are monitored and under what requirements this aquarium was approved by the authorities.

[@newunderthesun7353]

We had looked forward to seeing this feature on our last trip to Europe -- everyone bragged about how "massive" the aquarium was. In reality, perhaps as an aquarium it was large, but as a feature structure it is rather quaint. You could pace off the diameter in four or five steps and it was not more than five stories tall. They made it sound monstrous, but it, to us, was very thin, and not that tall.

[@azilbean]

Thank you for these extra details. It's been bugging me that I couldn't find out when it was built or who was maintaining it.

[@RyanHellyer]

I regularly used the lobby directly below the AquaDom as an inpromptu office. They had really nice seats, decent snacks and the staff didn't seem to mind me just chilling out and occasionally looking up to the fish. It will be sad not to go back there again. I hope they rebuild, but I suspect they won't. It was a wonderful place. I was confused by your statement about it not being a Radisson Blu, but it looks like they've changed it's name recently. I'm sure it was Radisson Blu when I first started going there. The recent upgrade wasn't just to the AquaDom, but to the entire attrium area. It was a substantial upgrade, and made the lobby area even nicer than it was before. I am sad to see it go.

[@OldGuyWithaCamera]

I stayed in that hotel about three years ago. Reception desk was underneath the aquarium, and there were tarps all around the bottom of the aquarium above reception where there were obviously leaks. At that time it was a Radisson Blu, I loved the hotel and planned to return in the next year or two.

[@danielhawkins6425]

Acrylic plastics have two potential weaknesses that must be monitored. One is ongoing cross linking. When the acrylic is formed by polymerization, it isn't well known by the public, but the plastic continues to cross link. Forever. As it continues to cross link, it gets more and more brittle. Compounds are added to the polymerization mix to "quench" the crosslinking at the right point, but they aren't perfect. The other item is UV exposure. UV exposure can cause embrittlement as well. Since the feature was located in an atrium with a glass roof and outside exposure that is a potential issue. High performance glazing can stop anywhere from 40-80% of UV-A/UV-B, but that's not 100%.

[@twokool4skool129]

Now we need a video about the exploding acoustic panel and what we weren't told about it (but should probably know). I hope no one was injured!

[@larryclemens1850]

I agree "whoever thought putting an elevator in the middle of an aquarium was a good idea?" I'm still trying to figure out how it was done. The difference between the pressures at the top of the tank - less than 3lbs / square ft - and at 56.5 feet - almost -187 lbs/ sq ft means that both walls of the tank needed to get progressively thicker. This means that for a functional elevatorm the gap at the door is going to be substantially different at the top compared to the bottom. Also you have to take into account that an elevator is essentially a plunger in a tube - like a bicycle pump - and that is going to place dynamic stresses on the inside wall of the aquarium. If the walls flex at all, you are going to create waves that will transmit under pressure through the aquarium. Then, since the overall height was 82 ft and the depth of the aquarium was 56.5 ft, you have to deal with the interface, and how these stresses react to, differrent materials.

[@klaqua]

So well done. Thanks for all the info!

[@CarinaCoffee]

Thank you for such a thorough explanation, when I heard the news I was so sad about the fish and glad it didn't cause more damage, but because work got so busy I actually didn't have time to keep up with the news.

[@laattardo]

Thank you for the information on this. We haven't gotten more than a glance at this story in the USA. I'm an aquarium hobiest and would have been traumatized by this.

[@macymakesmagic]

There is a similar aquarium in Springfield, Missouri that has elevators they’re not inside the tanks but it’s very close. It was really amazing to go to such a giant multi story the aquarium except all the fish are freshwater fish, so they’re less beautiful than salt water fish, but I hope nothing tragic happens to the aquarium like it doesn’t burst.

[@ChasedWheels]

I like your new set up and the quality of sound and image of your video. Great content

[@David-fu4vi]

I've been a field repairman 40+ years. Plexiglass is essentially plastic. And it gets old and breaks down and becomes brittle and/or fibrous. 20 years coupled with 'salt anything' compiled with....well THAT much weight. I don't think it takes an engineer to figure this out. lol

[@fipse]

What I do not understand with the temperature difference is why it happened now. It is not the first time the temperature in Berlin has fallen so low in the last 19 years. In fact we had much colder days and nights during those years.

[@rewboss]

It could be that repeatedly being exposed to temperature differences like that over the years is what finally did it.

[@LCMM2150]

@@rewboss Precisely!

[@mixthos]

Maybe the atrium wasn't heated as much this year due to the increased gas prices. Especially overnight.

[@Pantomas-PG]

I don't know it for sure, but it could be that they decided to Not heat the Atrium for energy sawing.

[@fipse]

@@rewboss That works but puts the producer of the tank and whoever does the maintenance in a bad light for not realizing that.

[@RossMcLendon]

This whole thing brings to mind the Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, in which over 2 million gallons of molasses were spilled in North Boston after a large storage tank failed suddenly, killing 21 and injuring 150.

[@DocNo27]

I'll take salt water cleanup over molasses any day!

[@rolandbogush2594]

Very interesting video. Having stayed there myself a few years ago, I can say that the Atrium was very much 'inside' the hotel - there was a restaurant at ground level in there as well as the hotel reception; it wasn't an unheated space at a similar temperature to the outside air, so the differential to the water temperature would not be anything like 35 degrees C. I guess we need to wait proper investigations to be carried out and reported. In view of the need to assign 'blame' for insurance purposes, I am confident of a through investigation.

[@efi3825]

That outtake was surprisingly fitting for the topic.

[@kukatahansa]

Your channel is the best news outlet regarding Germany!

[@stockyphilb7663]

Great video! Thanks for sharing all this info. I think whomever was responsible for maintenence should be held responsible. Things can "just fail" but there are usually signs.

[@punkandtravel]

and it's indeed some kind of atrium, but if i remember correctly, the reception was just underneath that AquaDom, so that area was at least partially heated, so the temperature difference should not play that much of a role. Also, the two people injured most likely were reception staff.

[@enysuntra1347]

@rewboss you missed THE key reason of the collapse. The aquarium was constructed in Berlin, and renovated in Berlin. OF COURSE it was bound to fail. If it had been constructed in Nuermberg, eg, some millenia in the future archæologists would dig it out, still holding water, still retaining the 26°C temperature. But Berlin? The "Schwangere Auster" collapsed there, and a whole country tried to do nothing but build one wall in Berlin, with the sturdiest materials and greatest expenses that bancrupted it in the end. It held no longer than 26 years. A sleeper agent tasked to suicide-bomb BER airport at its opening day died of old age almost a decade ago. To build in Berlin is - literally! - to build on sand.

[@hanshartfiel6394]

You fail to mention that the aquarium was actually built in the USA and constructed by an American company. Not only that but the whole thing was made of four sections, shipped from the US to Berlin where those sections were glued together.

[@rewboss]

It's a fair point, but given that it lasted 19 years without incident I'd be surprised if this was traced back to a defect in the manufacturing or construction process.

[@dimatha7]

@@rewboss even on planes some small flaws surface even three decades later

[@obinator9065]

American Engineering in a nutshell

[@firnen_]

@@rewboss As an engineering student, that depends on what was agreed on back during the planning stages. The US company most likely received a list of requirements for the structure, and then did their own design work to meet those requirements. A specified lifespan before the acrylic glass needs replacing might have been part of those requirements. A lifetime analysis is then typically a part of the development, so the customer knows what exact maintenance will be required, and how frequently. If it turns out the engineering company made mistakes during that analysis, the aquarium might have had a much shorter lifespan than was expected. So maybe Union Investment was expecting the acyclic panels to last 40 years, but due to mistakes in the design, they never could have lasted that long to begin with.

[@willtell8842]

Nobody in Germany capable of oversight in such a project?

[@Tom-zy6ke]

Interesting video, thanks for that. One other point worth making is that you mentioned that the tank was drained for maintenance in 2020 which would have changed the pressures and therefore the stresses on the tank dramatically, and it was pressurization and depressurization cycles that caused the fatal metal fatigue causing the loss of two of comet jet aircraft, and while the conditions and materials are different here, there's no reason why the principle couldn't apply. No doubt it will end up being a combination of factors, the type of material, the age of the material, stress / fatigue and temperature differences, maintenance all played their part.

[@ap9970]

Having stayed in the hotel I few times, I was amazed that no one was killed.

[@myblueocean2]

Btw, the slomo guys were using safty glass, essentially a ruperts drop in sheet form with a lot of internal stress. The Aquarium was made of far more softer polymers and as as you can see formed larger chunks. This would break far slower than a bullet. On the safty side, aquaria are checked at least once per year for deformation stresses. Problem with these large acrylic windows is that they are not made in one single piece but glued together. This can result in internal stresses from the start. 22cm at that depth might just be too little after so many years though. The renovation probably only focused on the glue on the edges of the glass, which btw is made to be able to let the glass expand and contract, which naturally occurs in any aquarium. So my guess is that the acryl blocks had stresses where they were stiched together during the build. Its rather rare that they break and one shouldn't be afraid to visit an aquarium. Too much hype going around. So sad for the fish though.

[@_stealth_y]

That panel at the end pulled an aquarium on ya.

[@BillCameronWC]

I heard a brief report about this earlier, but this is the first time I’ve heard a fuller report - so thanks.

[@teddyl7006]

So they built an 8 story aquarium and had a pseudo company (liability shield) running it. If that's true, then there was a catastrophic scenario that the original concept designers didn't like; otherwise, they wouldn't have needed the liability shield. Hmm...

[@NextToToddliness]

"Why?", is where they should've stopped. I was actually angered to hear about this and all those poor fish. What a wasteful mess. On a materials engineering standpoint, "Wtf, were they thinking?"

[@Skilan506]

1:55 if I remember correctly it used to be a Radisson Blu. I stayed there as a first communion present with my grandparents around 2010.

[@Lampe2020]

That ceiling panel crashing down at the end fit the topic surprizingly well XD

[@soundscape26]

This is the sort of video that should make you go viral and get you a few more thousand subscribers. Excellent explanation!

[@zaiochan5730]

Not a single major news channel report can hold a candle to this video. Thank you sir!

[@UnnormaI]

A video about a structure suddenly breaking apart has an outro with something suddenly breaking apart. What are the odds?

[@mariusmioc3045]

The hotel lobby/atrium where the aquarium was placed must have dozens of security cameras, so there must be multiple recordings from different angles of the whole succession of events. Yet, not a single recording appears to have been released. Why?!

[@rewboss]

Surveillance cameras aren't as common in Germany; and in any case, any footage there is will be the subject of an investigation that may have legal consequences and could potentially be used in court as evidence, and not released to the public while the investigation is still ongoing.

[@bluebillbo]

Excellent synopsis as always!

[@SandCrabNews]

Water pressure at tank bottom would be 23psi or 159kpa. Total weight of the water is not needed, only need the depth of the water

[@pakabe8774]

I think I remember Union Investment as part of some issues with badly maintained appartment houses, where people suffer from very bad condition of their appartments - if I don't remember wrong.

[@Chaosbar]

Well, you’ve now forever cemented “Berliner Dom” in my mind as the “Berlin Cathedral”. Thanks for that! (Next time maybe mention the correct translation.)

[@EnraEnerato]

The rebuild should be from something like ALON (which is a trademark name) better known as transparent aluminum (it really isn’t, yet it is remarkably close). I suspect a stress fracture, the material is a polymer they age, which is why safety helmets get tested and exchanged after some time, same with safety glasses btw. And when they rebuild perhaps with some steel lining, just as extra reinforcement?

[@TerryMcGearyScotland]

Had missed this in the news . I enjoyed your delivery. Subscribed. Have a super Christmas.

[@NicolaW72]

No, it shouldn´t be rebuilt in this way. It´s obviously unsafe - and there was indeed very Good Luck that the accident happened so early in the morning - otherwise there would have been indeed dozens of fatalities. Whatever caused this accident. Thank you very much for this very informative video!👍

[@lilolmecj]

Holy Cow! I have a 120 gallon salt water tank. I gave a passing thought to what a mess even that would cause. Very sad for the loss of all those lovely fish.

[@namewarvergeben]

I vaguely remember seeing a short documentary about the construction back when it was new. Must have been on TV back in the late 90's or early 2000's

[@lowenzahn3976]

The architect said it was unburstable.

[@cady7944]

Here is a documentary by spiegel about how it was built: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2Sum3qAbaaNsKs

[@cady7944]

@@lowenzahn3976 and that these "hollywood" scenarios are not able to happen....

[@NicolaW72]

@@lowenzahn3976 As we all know the Titanic was unsinkable...🤔

[@Yonkage-ik5qb]

The temperature differential bit seems very plausible. The thing about having the center loaded with machinery for the elevator means that it would have contained lots of metal as structural support. Metal changes size quite drastically based on temperature changes compared to inert things like the acrylic the aquarium was made of; that is how a coil thermometer works. This means that the structure would be fluctuating throughout the day, especially because the parts closest to the water would be warmer than the parts farther away. This creates a situation where everything is flexing every single day, bending back and forth and creating microfractures in the aquarium walls. Which might be why it happened early in the morning, just as the sun rose and the air temperature began to increase. Don't forget: like glass, acrylic has very good compressive strength, but essentially zero shear strength. Twist it just a little bit, and you get catastrophic failure.

[@EdEditz]

Quick reaction at the end there Andrew. LOL :)

[@mehja1]

I am from Berlin and have visited the AquaDome two times with my kids. Two things regarding: 1)What would have happened at day time? and 2) Temperature 1) If this happened during day time "a dozend killed would"" have been a very, very lucky outcome. There is not just the Hotel lobby - there are about a hundred people in and in front of the elevator (waiting for the ride). And right next to the entrance of the elevator are four restaurants on an open floor. And the street that was hit by the AquaDome tsunami is one of the busiest in Berlin - flocked with tourists on the sidewalk and cars/ busses on the street. 2) The AquaDome withstood much colder winters. Ca. 12 years ago we had weeks of -10°C to -15°C, not just two cold nights. This cannot be the cause... buuuuut as said it was only reopened this summer after two years of maintenance. So it was the first really cold night since then. I guess there will be a lot of questions asked about what exactly was done during this maintenance.

[@Rin-oo9pf]

With the energy saving going on in Germany I'm wondering if they might have switched of or lowered heating in the atrium.

[@nobodyspecial4702]

Atriums aren't generally heated at all. It's likely the only source of heat was the aquarium.

[@Rin-oo9pf]

@@nobodyspecial4702 I looked at some pictures and it looks quite different from what I imagined. there were some seating areas. Can't imagine that they don't have their own heating however that's only at the bottom and and around it were walls with balconies. The aquarium itself akes so much space that it most likely was the main heat source. With 26C I guess everything else does matter.

[@lachelleb3699]

Man being in the U.S. we really have to search for things happening in other countries.... crazy! Glad I got to see this.

[@shinnam]

DW news and France 24 in KZbin have European and world news. Wion news, is an Indian produced news service. They have a good world news, they do have opinion programs but are more objective than than Fox or MSNBC.

[@redshirt49]

Well, this happened in my neighborhood. I even rode that elevator a few years ago. As for the cause, I'd say it's most likely just the age of the thing. Plastic can form fatigue cracks after all and if they didn't spot that during the recent maintenance work then it's easy to see why it failed. Fatigue cracks are invisibile to the naked eye until it's too late. I highly doubt it was the temperature. While -9° is quite cold, we've had way colder winters in the last 20 years. And it doesn't get the cold in that building. The temperature would have been 16°C in there at worst. Not nearly enough to cause a sudden stress fracture.

[@deang5622]

Fatigue failures don't suddenly just happen. So it is quite possible this was a thermally induced stress which repeatedly iccurs over many years which eventually leads to a fatigue failure.

[@jessykaiser3114]

The Aqua Dom architects & renovators should come to Boston, MA to the New England Aquarium to get some tips. The New England Aquarium has a dome aquarium with 200,000 gallons of salt water and a coral reef inside. It has existed since 1970. One key reason it never cracked is probably that despite the harsh winter temps in Boston, the tank is kept indoors, and at a steady 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Celsius). The keyword here is "indoor tank."

[@johncrwarner]

I think that your prediction of a lot of long legal cases over this incident going through the German court system is likely to be the case, sadly.

[@stoneysscapes7544]

The most thoughtful and thoroughly informative content that I have seen on practically any newsworthy story. The fact that I'm a freshwater nature aquariums hobbyist and I will have to wonder if the Salt water is to blame ? We will have to wait.

[@jensschroder8214]

An elevator in a fish tank? If that wasn't a bad idea.

[@mikewurlitzer5217]

Possible, however, if the space occupied by the elevator had been replaced with more water for more room for the fish then the pressure on the walls would have been MUCH greater.

[@alsehl3609]

My experience working on German industrial machinery and vehicles is that German engineers main priority is to design things on the knife edge of failure, with little to no safety margins. The second priority is to be "clever" without any need to do so or anything gained from it. The third priority is to make it fantastically over complicated, apparently to provide work for maintainers.

[@mikewurlitzer5217]

I've found quite the opposite. As Director of Engineering for a world wide commercial printer, the German equipment was always overbuilt. While I may have not been a fan of their overly complex electronics, there was equipment in our over 70 facilities world wide, where in case of a nuclear attack, the safest place would have been under some German equipment.

[@alsehl3609]

@@mikewurlitzer5217 yes I have worked in large rinting plants with German and American presses. I did not work on the presses but on the electrics which were a nightmare of over complication this was going back to primitive dc controls. The German presses did not appear overbuilt mechanically or their frames compared to the other presses but the presses had to be heavy enough as they ran at high speeds

[@gedeuchnixan3830]

Also possible emtpying the tank was part of the reason as well. After all it was a lot of pressure constantly pushing against the acrylic glass until it could relax during maintenance before getting stresses again. With low temps probably the lowest ever in the atrium due to energy saving and maybe, it simply isn´t possible for the material to withstand that much pressure forever.

[@deang5622]

Low temps don't cause an increase in pressure, quite the opposite in fact. Thermal cycling over many years could lead to a fatigue failure.

[@gedeuchnixan3830]

@@deang5622 Only you are saying something about temps and pressure; we were talking temperature related material contraction, smartass. And temps don´t have anything to do with pressure? Guess that´s why meteorolgists are using barometers and a good weatherstation messures temp, moisture and airpressure .

[@deang5622]

@@gedeuchnixan3830 Thanks for the insult mate. Now what does that say about you, your personality, your intelligence if you have to resort to insults when someone responds to your post? If you don't want people to respond to your post, then don't post. Rsole. And given my engineering degree, yes, I probably am smarter than you.

[@gedeuchnixan3830]

@@deang5622 You were talking big "quite the opposite" while not having understood the context and in addition claim, temps and pressure are unrelated, which is just false. Ever noticed how tires have lower pressure when it gets cold suddently? Ever seen people blowing up a tires, because they inflated them too much during the summer and didn´t account for the air going to expand in there due to the summer temps? This is about the possibility 26°C inside wall and maybe just 12°C on the outside wall, that puts a lot of stress on material especially something like acrylic.

[@deang5622]

@@gedeuchnixan3830 God you fucking idiot. Universal Gas Equation: p1.v1/t1 = p2.v2/T2. Yes temperatures and pressures are related for GASES which are compressible fluids. Water is not compressible.

[@thomasmoll8822]

Thanks - More to the point and complete than any press article I was able to read on the subject.

[@paxundpeace9970]

Union Investment is the investment arm of DZ Bank AG which in it self is the central subsidiary of the German Cooperative Financial Group, (German: Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken), sometimes referred to in English as "Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network", is a major cooperative banking network in Germany that includes local banks named Volksbanken ("people's banks") and Raiffeisenbanken ("Raiffeisen banks").

[@nalinux]

Since it was made of plastic, I don't see the point to compare with a video showing glass breaking. Heat and cold are not really a problem for materials. Sudden changes are.

[@TheGreatSteve]

They should have used transparent aluminium.

[@haselmaus8054]

And Lt. Scott would have constructed it that big, that a whale could fit in it.

[@brini2439]

Underrated Comments hier 🖖🖖🖖

[@John_Weiss]

FunFact! "Transparent Aluminium" is _kinda-sorta_ A Thing: an Aluminium-Oxide crystal is transparent. And the second hardest thing next to diamond. Many "windows" on high-pressure equipment are made of Aluminium-Oxide crystal. BTW: Gems such as sapphires and rubies are all just Aluminium-Oxide crystals with different impurities that give them their color. so if you ever hear something about, "windows made of sapphire," it's an Aluminium-Oxide crystal they're talking about.

[@LFridaA]

This is the very first video of yours I’ve seen and I wanna say Thank you so much for covering this topic so clearly and for not speaking too fast. I’m happily subscribing to your channel🎉👏👏

[@westfale520]

This was a failed escape attempt by a few fish. They wanted to get into the river Spree and then into the sea

[@KaiHenningsen]

Tropical saltwater fish in the Spree? That's an ugly death.

[@diedampfbrasse98]

That will be easily uncovered, no way the fish wearing winter clothing and carrying salt shakers in their pockets wont be spotted as they travel up north and around europe to get into their tropical waters.

[@John_Weiss]

@@KaiHenningsen r/whoooosh!

[@tobyk.4911]

Sounds like the idea for a crossover sequel for the movies "Find Nemo" and "Frozen" (?)

[@John_Weiss]

@@tobyk.4911 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Damn you! You made me spray coffee all over my phone!

[@MrFinch-ni5mk]

I've been into aquariums for 17 years now. Two things that kept me from acrylic aquariums is the fact they scratch easily. The big reason is the fact that UV rays degrade acrylic. There are additives to acrylic that can slow the process of degradation, however, the process will persist. Having a marine reef tank that requires a level of UV is a big no no for me.

[@trenkq]

holy sh*t the DDR museum partially FLOODED? omg

[@HarmanRobotics]

I wonder if draining it (and the subsequent contracting of the tank after so many years), then refilling (and stretching it again) played a significant role in the failure.

[@Tigerbarsch]

Animal rights activist, I know (PETA and Co) would indeed cause harm to animals. But I think this structure was just exaggerated and such a large tower full of water is just too fragile over time.

[@ct6502-c7w]

You're right, those nuts have been known to kill animals to further their "cause." They don't care about animals on an individual level. I think it's *possible* it could have been one of them, but it's more likely it was just a structural failure.

[@ZebraFacts]

I watched this video because I have looked around the internet for a video of this tank failing, but have failed myself in finding one. I figure there must be security cameras running 24/7. Why hasn't anyone obtained and put out the security video?

[@stanleymcomber4844]

Vibrations from the elevators, as well as traffic outside, causing micro fractures. Much like glass milk bottles dropped, will bounce until it barely bouncing, then shatter.

[@benolifts]

This whole thing has made me too scared to swim in my favorite swimming pool. In London there is a transparent bridge swimming pool spanning the gap between 2 buildings. It was manufactured by the same company, Reynolds Polymer. I used to sneak into the hotel to swim in this pool, but I now am too scared to. Also, the rumors about the temperature difference are worrying, as this pool is outside, and the water is heated all year to 30 degrees (although it felt like 28 to me), that would be a big temperature difference in the winter.