:o HELP!!!!!!!!!!! MY TANK IS COMING APART

[Henry]

Help!!!!!!!!!! :o :o :o :o :o :o
It seems that the seams on my tank are seperating. nothing in the tank yet, just water testing. Anyone know of somewhere/someone to reseal my tank.

Thanks


Henry

[Troy Valentine]

Henry-

What type of tank do you have? Was it new?

[Henry]

its a glass frame 200gal tank. It was not new, but I don't remember how old it was.

[Troy Valentine]

Has the center brace of the tank shifted at all, or slumped down? And is it sitting on the stand properly? Was the silicone hard and yellowed in the corners of the tank prior to putting water in it? I am sorry to ask so many questions but we need to find out why this is happening. It is odd for a tank to just come apart at all the seams.

[Henry]

The center brace hasn't moved at all. The tank is level in all directions. silicone looks good. This tank has been moved a couple of times and i think that could have some affect on it. or maybe i'm just over-reacting. There was no leak yet, but the seam just looked a little wide. none of the other seams looked like that.

Henry

[Troy Valentine]

Henry I would recommend talking to Ray AKA Triggerman, he is my authority when it comes to tanks, and sealing matters. I also had a similar problem with my tank when I first set it up, and Ray told me it was nothing to worry about, and he was right.... knock on wood.... As for resealing the tank there is a man in SA named Toy, who owns the Aquatrend company, I would talk to him if you are going to need it to be resealed. He has always done a great job sealing my tanks, I have never had a leak....Knock on wood...
To get the Aquatrend company's phone number call Forever Pets, or Alamo Aquatics, and they can give you his number.

Hope this helps. Good Luck ;)

[Henry]

thanks, i may just go and talk to Toy and Mitchell over at aquatrend. They drilled my sump for me. I think i might have there number around here somewhere. hopefully its nothing to worry about. but either way the tank is empty for now.

Henry

[utmachete]

Acrylic aquariums no worries and it will last forever, but hindsight is always 20/20 unless you don't learn from history.j/k You should probably be fine as long as its not leaking but one of the reasons I recommend acrylic (and I know I'm kinda parcial to it) is that well for instance your going to spend all this money on fish, corals, your living room floor etc. and then risk all this on a tank with a 1 year warranty and that is just on the tank. Think about it, I know acrylic tanks are more expensive and they scratch easier but here are the facts; acrylic tanks are welded together so the will never leak on there own, glass tanks will leak (call Tim, Ron, and many other long time reefers). Lets say you get a scratch on the tank you can buff it out, glass can't be buffed out and it also scratches. So your tank is a couple of years old and really in its prime your spent thousands of dollars getting it there and countless hours working and waiting, this is when a glass tank is at its prime to leak. For example If your going to set your 200 gallon tank up for coral then you are going to probably spent a couple of thousand dollars on lifestock to go in the tank, $30 a month for electricity and why so you can have the satisfaction of seeing a living masterpiece. Think about the dissappointment when all this hard work ends up leaking out of your tank because you want to save a couple of bucks.
If I found a 200 gallon glass tank for sale at a really inexpensive price, I would buy it and then put a couple of large fish in it like predatory fish (triggers, shark, etc) or freshwater fish like an Arrowana, oscars, etc. and then if it sprung a leak I could fish the fish out and be done with it. You just can't do that with corals.
Sorry I've just heard so many glass aquarium horror stories.

[Henry]

okay, so now i'm looking at my options:

1. Reseal the tank
2. Buy a new glass tank
3. Buy an acrylic tank
4. Just give up and just stick to my 65gal :(


Either way this messed up all my plans. :cry2: Other than tenecor, who else makes good acrylic tanks. Any experience would be helpful. everyone please weigh in w/suggestions. :read:

Thanks

Henry

[MikeP]

Other than tenecor, who else makes good acrylic tanks. .


Henry

Well utmachete/Bill makes nice tanks. I am having him build one this month :) Get a quote from him he is a lot cheaper than tenecor and you won't have to pay shipping. If you want cheap but still good acrylic tanks SeaClear / Clarity Plus also sells good acrylic tanks. Also not sure if it's same brand but www.aquaticecosystems.com has a lot of no frills acrylic tanks - only thing is you'd have to drill it and install overflow if you wanted a sump.

I like my acrylic nano but the hardest thing is cleaning coralline off of it. If you go acrylic , clean it regularly don't wait and try and do it all at once it will take you forever and a day to get it clean and not scratch the plastic.

[Chuck]

What brand is your tank?
I have always used Oceanic brand tanks and (HEAVY) knock on wood I have never had a problem. My 110 is 5 yrs old and my mother had a 55 gl for 12 years without a drip...

[OrionN]

Acrylic aquariums no worries and it will last forever, ....
Are you sure?
I though long and hard before I go with glass tank for my 450 g. I love to keep the front of the tank clean. I have my magnet that I use to clean my tank. Less than 5 minutes and I don't even have a wet hand. My tank have no scratch. Not like my 90 Acrylic tank. Af ter two years, I got rid of my Acrylic tank because the small opening on top, the scratches on the front and the time it tank to keep the front of the tank looks good.
For me, Acrylic tanks are just for earthquake country only, and we are not in it.
Minh Nguyen

[ratboy]

My experience with resealing tanks is that to get them to hold long term you need to strip out all the silicone, clean and reseal the ENTIRE tank. I tried resealing a single seam on a 45 hex and it would routinely spring a leak after a few months. (The 45 took the short way down 3 stories during a move!)Same thing with a 150. My old acrylic 65 popped the center brace and I just had to lower the water level a bit, clamp it and glue it back together with acrylic cement. My current tanks are all glass and no probs but once a leaker always a leaker in my experiences.

[Henry]

Welcome to the group Ratboy!!!

I've decided to reseal the tank. not to expensive. They're gonna reseal the whole tank. Now I just have to get the money and wait.

Henry

[Henry]

justletmein, I haven't gotten a solid price b/c I haven't taken my tank in yet. But it should be a lot less than a new tank. But I will keep you posted.

Henry

[senorjim]

I have had both acrylic & glass. The acrylic tank gave me too many problems, especially with scratches. I would suggest going with a glass tank, like an Oceanic. They are a bit expensive, but well worth it in the long run. :)

[Tim Marvin]

I prefer acrylic.

[Tim Marvin]

I have both acrylic and glass also. I much prefer the acrylic, glass can also be scratched. Acrylic is much stronger and will last forever. I have had 3 glass tanks leak in the past. Acrylic is actually melted together at the seems and there is a 99% chance it will never leak. Even if it did, it would take just a few minutes to fix. It is also tooled and modified easily. Most sharp woodworking tools can be used on acrylic. Run from glass in my opinion. Oh yeh, if you have small kids that like to hit things don't forget glass shatters and acrylic can withstand a pretty good impact.

[utmachete]

Acrylic does take some extra considerations when cleaning, but if you start out being careful then you'll have a scratchless tank for life. Kent makes a scraper that will not scratch the tank, they have magnets and hand held ones with a plastic blade on the end (3ft handle if you need it). I use both and they work pretty good. Some people use the magnets from their glass tanks to clean their tank and they scratch their tank up, don't use a magnet unless it is made for acrylic.
positives for acrylic.
1. Stronger bonds no leaks ever******
2. Better clarity
3. Better heat retention
4. no silicon in the seams therefore it looks better**
5. unlimited design possibilities**
6. almost all public aquariums use acrylic for their tanks. go figure
7. bulkheads can be cut with a normal hole saw bought at home depot
8. overflow boxes in acrylic tanks are actually welded to the tank in glass tanks they put acrylic overflows in with silicone which does not bond to acrylic therefore its just sitting in your tank you could easily pull it off with your hand.****
9. etc etc
10. scratches can be polished out.*

positives for glass
1. more scratch resistant
2. makes a great fountain for your living room when it leaks (because it will eventually leak)
3. you can use windex on your glass tank and it will erode your silicone.

[utmachete]

Silicone is not recommended for load bearing applications on acrylic. It can work but is not recommended.
Silicone uses covalent chemical bonds to bond glass to glass, these are the strongest bonds that you can get from slicone between smooth surfaces.
Other methods of bonding from silicone consist of mechanical interlocking and electrostatic attraction.
Silicone bonds to acrylic using these two methods which are hardly as strong as covalent chemical bonds.
Since acrylic is a smooth material mechanical interlocking is not real strong, and electrostatic bonds are not strong at all on any material.

[utmachete]

http://www.dowcorning.com/content/etronics/etronicsseal/etronics_aas_tutorial1.asp?DCAPP=&DCWS=Electronics &DCWSS=Adhesives%20and%20Sealants
here is a good link to info on silicone use.