Crack in glass, thoughts on the fix?

Discussion in 'New To The Hobby' started by Loki13, Aug 5, 2008.

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  1. Bogie

    Bogie Snowflake Eel

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    I told him what to do 5 hours ago, so I don't understand why there's a ton more posts afterwards saying the same thing. When I see a thread where someone's question has already been answered, I just leave it alone. Loki got the answer already boys.
     
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  3. GoToSleep

    GoToSleep Torch Coral

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    I think you have a shot at repairing this tank though it may not be as pretty as you like.

    First get 2 pieces of glass that are roughly 6in x 6in. Use a generous amount of aquarium safe silicone sealant to cement a piece of glass centered (as much as possible) over the inside of the hole. Be certain to use sealant over most of the face of the patch and put a bead of sealant around each of the 4 edges. As an added bit of insurance, I would repeat this process with a second piece of glass sealed to the outside of the tank. Because the damaged area is fairly small, I think that you could probably use glass thinner than half inch. I'd try 3 eights thick but if you feel really lucky, I geuss you could try quarter inch thick. I think your chances of a sucessful repair with this technique are probably about as good as your chances of being able to cement on an entire new panal without having any leaks along 10 feet of new seam. Allow your bonds to cure fully and then test your tank for several days. Might want to conduct this test in the garage or some place that won't suffer serious water damage fin the event of a leak. If your seal is watertight after 72 hours or so, you should be good to go.

    If you live within driving distance of Richmond, VA and don't want to take your chances with a repair, PM me and I will give you a good deal on a reef drilled 125g.
     
  4. Brandon1023

    Brandon1023 Fire Goby

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    Dang! Simma! Simma don-na! It's just like going to a doctor - second opinions are always best. Besides, all you said was what and not why. S'ok buddy! :)
     
  5. gazog

    gazog Kole Tang

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    Aint that the truth! Man!
     
  6. Loki13

    Loki13 Plankton

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    Almost afraid to post for fear of bogie!

    Here are two images of the crack.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    The part of me that went to an engineering school thinks that if I brace the bottom properly it would help to transfer the weight and stress off the glass, making it less likely to break.

    Would my idea of cutting part of the front back and bottom off to make it slightly smaller hold any weight? (or water in this case :))
     
  7. sostoudt

    sostoudt Giant Squid

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    i would try the two pieces of glass idea and brace the bottom. i would decommission that overflow if possible. if you need to drill more holes for overflows i would do that first to see if those cause more cracks if they do your screwed. i wouldn't try to cut the glass to make the tank smaller because theres a lot bigger chance to screw it up, i think the bottom might be tempered thats why it cracked in the first place when they were trying to drill it unless the seller said something else happened.
     
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  9. Reeron

    Reeron Blue Ringed Angel

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    That's on the bottom? If so, there's no way I would put water in it. Maybe you all are braver than me, but I wouldn't take any chances, as I would hate to see 180 gallons of saltwater, sand, and rock on the floor.

    I wouldn't have purchased the tank, but seeing as you already did, that's water under the bridge. What I would do is see how much it would cost to have it professionally repaired (bottom plane of tempered glass replaced). Again, not being as brave as some, I wouldn't try to do it myself (and I am a big believer in DIY) as one mistake and you have about one ton of "stuff" on the floor.
     
  10. sostoudt

    sostoudt Giant Squid

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    hopefully he would do a freshwater test run outside first and may be put something heavy in there to be sure it will hold.
     
  11. ReefSparky

    ReefSparky Super Moderator

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    In my opinion that tank is kaput. Putting water in that is madness. Like wildreef said, you're talking about nearly 1500 lbs of water. What you've got to understand is that whether there is water above that injured portion or not, doesn't change the physics of the equasion here. So decomissioning that portion of the tank isn't taking a lot of stress off of that area. It's still part of the pane of glass.

    Additionally, FWIW, that's not a crack, that's a piece broken off the pane! If you follow the crack with your eye, it makes for a triangular piece that's simply broken off the corner. Glass is a funny thing. I'm not a phycisist but I feel that one small injury takes away from the integrity of the whole piece.

    I wouldn't chance it. That's a lot worse than I envisioned reading the first post. Just my opinion--Move on--get yourself another tank.
     
  12. GoToSleep

    GoToSleep Torch Coral

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    :eek:Yow, that looks worse than I had imagined. The fairly large crack running all the way into the joint is certainly a problem.

    If you like to DIY that should work. Essentially you would be scratch building a new tank. Instead of paying for new glass, you'd be using salvage glass from this old tank. You'd have to cut apart the existing panes and then clean all the edges of any trace of old silicone and shorten the front, back, and bottom pieces of glass. If you are an engineer, you may value your time more that what you would save by buying a new tank or even paying for new glass. Then again, you would have the satisfaction of having built your own tank.