Disaster

Solitaryensis

Solitaryensis

New member
Hey guys,
So i had been saving up for some time and looking forward to purchasing a "dream" tank. This weekend, i purchased KellyHufmans 120 starfire tank. Needless to say, i was really excited about getting it set up, as school and work for the past several years has prohibited me from setting up a nice tank. Well, i brought the tank home on Saturday and put it on a dolly. Cleaned it on Sunday, and i was planning on moving it into the house yesterday. Called some friends over to help me out and lo and behold, the tank cracked at the bottom. Needless to say, i am extremely dissapointed and disheartened. I already stretched my budget in purchasing the tank, so i am not sure i will be able to afford fixing or replacing the tank.

Whatever the case, i was hoping somone would have some idea about how to go about fixing or replacing the piece of glass. Its a 3/4" piece of glass but im sure i could replace it with something thinner. Im thinking replacement is the best option or just putting another piece of glass right on top. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. BTW, the crack(s) go all the way to the bulkhead and then continue to the edge of the tank.

TIA,
Theo :mad:
 
Sorry to hear that =/. Can't you talk to the person that you bought it from?

UC Hasting - is that the one in Civic Center? Hehe I work closed to it.
 
Yes, UC Hastings is right by the Civic Center. Yeah, i spoke to Kelly and theres not much he can do. I was hoping there was some warranty but there isnt. Kinda odd to me that a 3/4" piece of glass could break that easily.

If anyone has a good deal on a used 120 please let me know. Ill take it in any condition and put some elbow grease into it.

Id also appreciate a suggestion of a local glass person that could help out.
 
Really sorry to hear that, Theo. When I purchased my starfire tank last year, I kept it in storage for several months. When I finally brought it home to set-up, there was a huge chip at the corner. I have no idea how or when it cracked, but it did.

Hopefully, you can salvage the tank somehow. Maybe a local tank builder can redo the whole bottom glass for you.
 
Thanks Karl. I was hoping that would be the case, but after scouring the yellow pages, i could not find anyone that works on aquariums. I was hoping someone on the boards had a suggestion
 
So i just called Mitch at Interamerican. Since the crack isnt clean, he thinks the best option would be to replace the entire pane of glass. He says the piece of glass will be 100.00 and shippiing will be 100.00. Even then, i dont think i trust myself doing this, especially if a new all glass tank would be another 2-300 bucks. BUT, given that its starfire, it might be worth it. So here are the options:

1) Someone tell me locally where i can get this thing fixed cheap
2) Someone buy the tank from me and do it themself
3) Someone help me fix it and i buy them a six pack :)
4) Someone give me a REALLY good deal on a used 120 :)
5) Someone who owns a shop that feels really sorry for me gives me an awesome deal :)
 
Man that sucks on ice.

I saw a presentation where Mike Paletta built his own tank (he purchased the glass panes and put it together himself).

If you could get a hold of him, maybe he can give you some pointers or try the diy forum for some possible answers.

Good luck
 
What are the dimensions of the tank? I would not recommend going thinner if you replace the bottom (I imagine they engineer it that way for a reason). Did it crack because the dolly was resting on the bottome pane and not the rim? A starphire tank need not have a starphire bottom pane. Call up a local glass shop and price out a tempered glass of the same thickness and see what it comes to. I think if it's all clean and square you might be able to do it yourself, but since I have not built one myself, only done minor repairs, you should probably wait for someone more experienced to chime in. I'll have a 125gal (probably wrong dimensions) for sale next month (hopefully) for super cheap. Sorry to hear about the mishap. Best of luck to you.
 
Fwiw, I have an Oceanic 120g and the bottom is close to or is 3/4" glass. The sides are all 1/2" glass.

It's starphire tank and worth it in my opinion.

A brand new starphire tank will be far more costly as a whole, but it's up to you.

Used 120g are going to cost about $200 or so used (non-starphire)
 
Pepe - The tanks 4x2. I called one place yesterday and he told me 425-500 for a piece of glass. After that, i didnt bother calling any place else, thinking even if it half that quote, it wouldnt be worth it. Mitch from interamerican suggested that i actually just get a hammer and break the bottom, given how time consuming it might be to scrape away at the silicone. I might have to give it a try if i dont get any more suggestions.

Raddogz - I would be extremely happy if i could find a used 120 for 200 bucks. It seems that its a size people really like so pricing on that size seems a bit inflated. If you come across one, please let me know.

Mr. Ugly - I didnt think about plywood but i have thought about acrylic. The only problem i could think of is that acrylic expands and contracts and given that it will be siliconed to the glass, that might not be a good idea. I would like to know if anyone has experiences with butting acrylic up againt glass.

Thanks
 
The thing is... tank builders are not rocket scientists. It's a matter of how confident you feel replacing the bottom glass and being patient enough for the silicone to cure ;) . The only hard part is in the hands of a glass shop, cutting the sheet.
 
Yah, what Karl said. Don't use acrylic.

Check out GARF info on building plywood tanks. I"m sure there's other good info out there. Silicone will stick fine to the cured epoxy finish.
 
Hey Karl... somehow I was thinking that your new RC handle translated to un-RC. Then I ran across your explanation on a forum somewhere :)
 
Soli -

I'm selling a used 140g Oceanic - a bit taller than a 120G but same foot print. I was asking $250 as it has some scratches. Maybe we can work something out.

PM me if you are interested. I'm using it now, but it should be empty within a week.

Trevor
 
Originally posted by Mr. Ugly
Hey Karl... somehow I was thinking that your new RC handle translated to un-RC. Then I ran across your explanation on a forum somewhere :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, they've attributed it to mid-life crisis:p Guess that means you'll start seeing me with a mistress at Asia SF:lol:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7379727#post7379727 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Unarce
Yeah, they've attributed it to mid-life crisis:p Guess that means you'll start seeing me with a mistress at Asia SF:lol:
Click to expand...

Will you be driving a yellow Corvette, or a red Hummer?
 
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