400 Gallon Tank Crack

Zobp

Zobp

New member
Recently was able to build a dream tank of mine and had a custom built 96x30x30 all glass tank made.

3 Months later, the tank developed a crack this past Friday evening, marked it and it was growing fairly rapidly so I had the tank Drained.

Now my question is for an 8 foot tank would you deem 1/2 inch glass a safe aquarium for 400 gallons stable? This was an initial concern of mine when they informed me they would be building with these materials but they assured me that they could do it safely and they have had a tremendous amount of exp. building tanks so I didn't question it too much. They also tooted their own horn how their tanks never have issues and are covered under warranty.

Initial Crack:

IMG_3134_zpsb2molxkz.jpg


Marked the growth of the crack time lapse was about an hour from mark to mark:

IMG_3120_zpsvhlxaqpp.jpg



My other biggest question of concern is that I noticed on this corner of the tank with workmanship had a huge gap, I noticed it was filled with silicone at the corner and approx. an inch or so away you see 1/8 inch of a gap between the brace and the glass.

IMG_3140_zpsjpsynywj.jpg


I have attached another picture further down the tank to show how there is no gap and the brace is flush against the glass.

IMG_3141_zps62hchub4.jpg


Please share your thoughts on the matter, and feel free to ask any questions. I don't want to share who built the tank just yet because I want to speak with them on Monday to see what they have to say. So far the LFS was less than encouraging and down right told me they would refuse warranty because it wasn't on one of their custom built stands. Which is news to me, I would have bought one of their stands if I knew it would void warranty.
 
I have heard of manufacturers saying that you have to use their stands or it voids warranty, but I would still raise hell. It's a good thing you documented this to show them. I can't say for certain whether or not 1\2in is too small, but it sure seems like it. I'm tagging along to see how this turns out. Sorry, man.
 
30 inch tall tank should be 3/4 inch glass. I have a tank similar to those dimensions (108 x 36 x 28 tall ) and the tank builder insisted on using 3/4 inch. Hope you have good outcome with all this and the builder stands up with their warranty.
 
Had a 300 glass 1/2 inch thick (30 inch tall) break on me within days of having it filled with water. Now have a 300 acrylic (30 in tall) with 3/4 inch acrylic to be safe. Luckily the manufacture replaced it for free, but still sucked cause mine was full of water when it broke! :/

Matt
 
Thanks for the comments. After talking to a few other tank builders they are saying the same thing.

Just sucks because the local lfs is "busy" and tried calling the tank builders directly but only got a voicemail.
 
It is a violation of federal law (Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act) for them to require use of their stands as a term or condition of warranty. This is called a "tie-in provision" and is illegal.

As long as you have not violated any other term or condition of the warranty then they are under obligation to fulfill their part of the warranty which should be spelled out in the terms and conditions they should have provided you at time of purchase.

If they don't you do have grounds to sue.

In terms of the thickness of the glass, 1/2" is used commonly to make 30" tall tanks that have short to medium lengths (Aqueon 210's and Marineland 220's are made with 1/2" glass and they are appx. 30" tall.

However, as panel length gets longer the glass will bow more. A good analogy is comparing how easy it is to bend a pencil that is 7" long vs. one that is 2" long. With increased bowing there is more strain on the glass and generally the wall thickness has to increase to reduce the degree of bow. This can also be compensated for with adequate bracing to reduce the degree of bow. This is why most aquariums have braces, so they can be made with thinner glass.

So it's not a simple question of was the glass thick enough. It is also a question of whether it was engineered properly to compensate for the bowing as well.

Lastly, defective glass can also be the cause. Did the glass have an edge fault to begin with that just grew as the water pressure was applied to it?

All of these issues should be covered under warranty as they are the results of supplier defects (material or design).

The gap between the glass and the frame is nothing to worry about though and common on all framed aquariums.
 
Narwhal82 said:
It is a violation of federal law (Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act) for them to require use of their stands as a term or condition of warranty. This is called a "tie-in provision" and is illegal.

As long as you have not violated any other term or condition of the warranty then they are under obligation to fulfill their part of the warranty which should be spelled out in the terms and conditions they should have provided you at time of purchase.

If they don't you do have grounds to sue.

In terms of the thickness of the glass, 1/2" is used commonly to make 30" tall tanks that have short to medium lengths (Aqueon 210's and Marineland 220's are made with 1/2" glass and they are appx. 30" tall.

However, as panel length gets longer the glass will bow more. A good analogy is comparing how easy it is to bend a pencil that is 7" long vs. one that is 2" long. With increased bowing there is more strain on the glass and generally the wall thickness has to increase to reduce the degree of bow. This can also be compensated for with adequate bracing to reduce the degree of bow. This is why most aquariums have braces, so they can be made with thinner glass.

So it's not a simple question of was the glass thick enough. It is also a question of whether it was engineered properly to compensate for the bowing as well.

Lastly, defective glass can also be the cause. Did the glass have an edge fault to begin with that just grew as the water pressure was applied to it?

All of these issues should be covered under warranty as they are the results of supplier defects (material or design).

The gap between the glass and the frame is nothing to worry about though and common on all framed aquariums.
Click to expand...

Well that's my problem, I was never provided any warranty paperwork to be aware of such stipulations. I was under the impression it had a 1 year warranty, then someone mentioned 10 years, then when I spoke with them directly it turns out to be 7 years but you have to have their stand.

In all honesty I wouldn't have minded buying their stand to get their warranty but that information was never offered to me.
 
Please keep us posted, especially if they don't help with a 3 month old tank. If they give you the shaft, I know I would like to know what company so I can avoid them, and am sure others would as well.
 
That would be my luck..sorry to hear.if they don't replace your tank make a you tube video of the manufacturer. And warn others not to buy from them.i bought a Buick when I was a kid for 1,000 that day I stopped at the store the engine wouldn't start.had it towed back to the dealer they said sorry no warranty on used cars under 3,000. That would have been fine but the same day.Not I told them I would dress up in a lemon suit and carry a sign. I drove away in a Subaru. .
 
Well as an update I spoke with the LFS and an option they offered was that I pay 50% of the repairs and that I would need to bring in the tank which I was not happy with at all.

I also spoke with the tank builders directly and immediately he wanted to place blame on the stand as he said it was unsatisfactory because it was missing 2 headers. I argued that the 2 headers were not a major issue because I was using 3/4" plywood sheet on top and had 1 header at 48'' Also I don't believe a missing header would cause a tank to crack at the corner. The weight of the tank is evenly distributed across the entire base.

I asked about that gaps and questioned the thickness of the tank glass and his reply was we have been building tanks for 25 years and we know what works and will not work. Although a midst that conversation he did admit that another tank with a similar size and dimension did crack but that was attributed to another "improper" stand.

So far it feels like Im getting the shaft, he was uninterested in speaking with me and was constantly talking to someone else while I was speaking with him. I have a feeling where this will go but I will give them every opportunity I can to make things right.
 
Wow that's bad business word travels quick in this hobby.a tank of that caliber cracking is unexptable and the shop owner should have made that clear to you considering you were the high roller of the day putting down a large chunk of cash I'm sure.if they don't help you on this would be bad business considering I'm sure you would be spending net cash in the shops business to lose that capital.over years.for a tank is not good for them.anyway I feel your pain and am truly sorry.wish you the best.
 
Are you ready to tell us who it is? Might want to mention that you are documenting their customer service and handling of this situation on here for all of us to see....
 
They were well aware of the issue on the FB group, they knew about the issue before my LFS store even called it in. What surprises me is it was one of the primary owners and he chose not to say a word.
 
That's garbage. If you were not made aware that using a custom stand would void the warranty, that's on your LFS. That should have been the first thing they told you if you said you just wanted the tank. They should be fighting the manufacturer for you.

I would go the lemon route and see if they change their tune. I'd threaten to post on your local reef forum if you have one, to warn others of their shady practices. Yelp reviews, Facebook, Twitter, all can be very annoying to a small company like that. I would be ****ed if I bought a tank that size, filled it up, cycled it and saw a crack.

Good luck man, hope it works out.
 
ryguylears said:
That's garbage. If you were not made aware that using a custom stand would void the warranty, that's on your LFS. That should have been the first thing they told you if you said you just wanted the tank. They should be fighting the manufacturer for you.

I would go the lemon route and see if they change their tune. I'd threaten to post on your local reef forum if you have one, to warn others of their shady practices. Yelp reviews, Facebook, Twitter, all can be very annoying to a small company like that. I would be ****ed if I bought a tank that size, filled it up, cycled it and saw a crack.

Good luck man, hope it works out.
Click to expand...

The LFS is good friends with the owner and he says I was informed of the warranty being voided which I think I would remember that conversation. Its going to come down to he said she said.

Only piece of paperwork I have is an invoice, which I had to ask for him to make, you would think someone would hold onto warranty paperwork right? I know I do for even my printer purchases so I am besides myself to be honest. The whole chain of communication broke down on this purchase.
 
Our Local group is well aware, which has 400+ members. Im not trying to throw their name in the dirt, I want my tank replaced thats it, they boast the best tanks in the market they shouldn't have a problem backing it up.
 
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