Crack in glass, thoughts on the fix?

I recently acquired a 180 gallon tank for a very good price. There is a crack where the precious owner tried to drill the tank. He claims that it still holds water. I am not comfortable with not doing anything, so my thought was this.

The glass is half inch thick, 6x2x2. My plan is to get the 2'x2'x2' area with the crack cut off. Get a new piece of glass in it's place and silicone the seam. I would also take the bottom plastic trim off and replace it with a stainless steel trim, with a brace across the area that has the seam.

My other option is to completely replace the entire sheet.

Buying a new tank isn't an option.

Thoughts?

 

The entire panel of glass needs to be replaced to do it correctly.

 

The 2x2x2 idea should work. I would only do that though if you planned on drilling out the 2x2x2 and do the same thing the previous owner was trying to do. Otherwise, if you are planning on using an external overflow, I would replace the entire sheet and use that as the front of the aquarium.

I would not use stainless steel anyware on a SW tank. I would keep it plastic. My first instinct is that eventually something will happen that will compromise the integrity of the strip and start it rusting anyway.

Just my opinion though. Have fun!!!

Peace.......John.

 

I am not sure what you are planning here.....If you replacing an end piece that 2x2x1/2 then yes I would go for it. If your talking about sectioning a 2x6x1/2 piece it will not work, nither will patching it. It needs to be replaced, no matter how you brace it it willnot stand up to the pressure. While you have it apart you might wnt to consider resealing the whole tank depending on its age.

 

Could the 2x2x1/2 be turned into some kind of overflow without replacing the whole sheet? A bulkhead of some kind? I need help on this one.

 

Quite frankly it's a a large tank ( 180 ) = round about 1,400 pnds of water.
I think the tank is shot with that crack in it, if the whole is able to be inlarged it ( may work ) but i would think the tank to be useless really and will be unable to be used.

But i'd rather buy a tank new/good used with NO cracks etc. to it than go with a "may work".

 

I guess replacing the whole sheet it is. I was hoping to find a way around that

Thanks.

 

Did he get the hole drilled ? and is it a straight crack off of the drilled site ? if so how long or far out from the drilled site does it shoot ?

 

I will try to get a picture tonight, but let me explain it as best I can.

The hole is drilled through yes. The hole is in the corner of the tank (what would be the back left corner). The area around the hole has a couple of small cracks that go to the edge (maybe an inch). There is no crack that goes out to the main area though.

 

If there aren't two typo's here, then I'm either really stupid, or just incapable of catching your meaning.

I'm OK with 6x2x2, guessing you're talking about the tank's dimensions, right? The 2'x2'x2' is what's killing me. That's a 2 foot cube, and I don't understand.

Either way, after reading your last post, I think I understand where the crack is. If the tank has a crack in it, the entire involved pane must be replaced. However, if you were able to drill another, larger hole and utilize it somehow with a larger bulkhead, that would work too. (Of course, providing the second hole was a successful drill, and completely eclipses the previous hole and crack).

Regarding the bracing, I'd say there's no reason to go with stainless steel. I would just use the same brace that came with the tank. As I'm sure you know, stainless steel does rust, it just takes longer. Metal and saltwater are a bad combination.