glass cages .com tank cracked, almost burned down my house. For real.

[Jho0101]

I purchased a 150 gallon tank from them last July. I drove from philadelphia to tennesee to pick it up. When i got there they forgot to drill my tank. While i waited a nice guatemalen guy drilled my tank. When he was done i asked him if it needs to be polished where he drilled. He said "œno, its ok".
I drove the tank home and setup up an sps tank.
A few days before Christmas, i was woken up at 430am to my smoke alarm going off. The smoke was coming from my basement. When i went down there my fuse box was glowing red and smoldering. I called the fire co, and they had to call the power co to disconnect electric to the house.
What happend was the hole around the bulkhead cracked because they didnt polish it. The water leaked down the wall and into the fuse box. My wood floor and fuse box were ruined. I had to give away/donate all of my corals and fish that morning. I called glass cages and they said it was my fault because i over tightend the bulk head, which is BS. They put me in touch with their ins co NATIONWIDE. They said the same thing and denied the claim. This situation created $10,000+ damage. Before you call these guys for a tank think twice. Please share this story with anyone who has one of these tanks or is thinking of getting one. Attached are the pics of everything and also a pic of me in the factory with the guys that built the tank. Im in the gray shirt on the right.

Heres what my tank looked like a week before this happened:
https://youtu.be/j6kOUYowU9E

 

[Jho0101]

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[Joe0813]

wow sorry that happen... could have been A LOT worse though. I have heard nothing but negative things about that company and when the time comes for my upgrade i wont even give them a look

 

[ramseynb]

I'm not taking any side in this and I've certainly heard of other complaints over the years about this company (as well as praise) but I've drilled a number of tanks and never polished anything. I've never had it crack like that because I didn't polish it. Either way, that really sucks!

 

[shred5]

I'm not taking any side in this and I've certainly heard of other complaints over the years about this company (as well as praise) but I've drilled a number of tanks and never polished anything. I've never had it crack like that because I didn't polish it. Either way, that really sucks!

Agreed I have not heard much good about them but I have drill lots of holes and never polished them... I have heard of it breaking around a drilled hole when the bulk head was to tight or it was chipped around the hole badly...

It does stink it broke and maybe it cracked due to that or something else they did..

 

[shaginwagon13]

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I had a tank crack about 10 years ago. Lost about $10,000 in coral, fish and equipment and caused another $20,000 in damages.

The insurance company tried every excuse to not pay. Be persistent, take pictures of everything before you throw anything out and hang in there.

It took about 10 months but they eventually paid for everything.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Jho0101]

Ramseynb, the tank was fine for 4 1/2 months and then started crack leaking. I tightened bulkhead by hand. Nothing moved or disturbed the tank. I had a commecial glass guy look at it and he agreed the crack started because the inside of the glass was not smooth.

 

[chriscobb]

I’ve used glasscages 2x in the past. Both tanks were excellent. I’ve drilled way to many tanks and have never polished , so not buying the theory of holes not being polished causing the crack. Was it possible the drilled holes were chipped badly before hand?

 

[ramseynb]

I've used glasscages 2x in the past. Both tanks were excellent. I've drilled way to many tanks and have never polished , so not buying the theory of holes not being polished causing the crack. Was it possible the drilled holes were chipped badly before hand?

This would be my guess. Either way, a tank shouldn't just crack like that.

 

[ClownNut]

i dont think any company out there polish the drilled hole.
yeah if crack around the bulkhead, the usual go around will be you over tighten it.

 

[mpsteve]

Good thing I desided to go with tankmeusa.com after a very nice quote. I almost pulled the trigger on a glasscages Frag tank and Tom was nice but when I called back to place the order Tom was busy and a women answered the phone and she was very rude so I said to myself I would think about it. Then a friend recommended Gaston at tankmeusa.com


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FullBoreReefer]

All these people crying wolf about that company. How many of YOU own their tanks? I personally do, going on 8yrs, and 4 drilled holes. No issues.

I'm sorry to say it...

#1- You over tightened it

OR

#2- You bumped the stand pipe.

I literally just cracked a 30gal last night. Luckily it was an old tank. But after 10+yrs of use on that one, why did it crack sitting on the ground empty. I BARELY backed up into it BARELY bumping it, I hit the bulkhead...BAM giant crack!


I'm glad you didn't lose your entire home. I'm glad you are safe. But, in all honesty, I don't buy the story...glass just doesn't break...

 

[thegrun]

I would suspect the hole was either drilled too close to an edge or the bulkhead was over-tightened. . I like others who posted above have drilled LOTS of tanks, never polished one and never cracked a tank.

 

[kupadupapupa]

I'm not taking any side in this and I've certainly heard of other complaints over the years about this company (as well as praise) but I've drilled a number of tanks and never polished anything. I've never had it crack like that because I didn't polish it. Either way, that really sucks!

Same here. The last 125g I had was obvious to the touch that the bulk head holes weren't polished and I've cut quite a few bigger tanks for friends and never polished anything. I should say that in one tank i had a tiny leak from the actual bulk head inside where the threaded pvc adapter went, I siliconed over the threads and it was all good.

 

[homer1475]

I would tend to agree with their emails.

Tanks don't just crack, and no one polishes drilled holes. Where ever that idea came from is beyond me.

You either over tightened the bulkhead, or it got bumped causing it to crack. As far as burning down your house, ever heard of GFCI outlets and breakers? It would have shut off the power to the outlet/circuit before it became an issue.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[Member No. 1]

I would tend to agree with their emails.

Tanks don't just crack, and no one polishes drilled holes. Where ever that idea came from is beyond me.

You either over tightened the bulkhead, or it got bumped causing it to crack. As far as burning down your house, ever heard of GFCI outlets and breakers? It would have shut off the power to the outlet/circuit before it became an issue.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Just a point of clarity... OP's tank was on first floor, breaker panel was in the basement under where the tank sat. Water ran down the wall into the basement, then into the panel. GFCI for the tank might have tripped, but not every breaker in the panel is GFCI, and certainly not the main breaker.

 

[homer1475]

Just a point of clarity... OP's tank was on first floor, breaker panel was in the basement under where the tank sat. Water ran down the wall into the basement, then into the panel. GFCI for the tank might have tripped, but not every breaker in the panel is GFCI, and certainly not the main breaker.

The water leaked down the wall and into the fuse box. My wood floor and fuse box were ruined.

Guess I missed that part, sorry. I stand corrected.

 

[Member No. 1]

:beer:
Those are filled with coffee!

That is until it's 5 O'clock somewhere!

 

[alton]

I wish you would of showed pictures of your plumbing and the crack, unless I missed it? When I was young and dumb I would tighten my bulkheads with 460 Channel Locks breaking a couple a few times but never cracking the tank. I had a friend who I helped transport his two tanks that where built like tanks from glasscages, but had green glass and sloppy silicone work. Also he asked for a brick style tank which should of been easy since it was 18" tall but they still installed 3 glass cross braces which made it tough to clean. The next tank you buy make sure it has a great warranty which means you will have to purchase their stand also.

 

[shred5]

Same here. The last 125g I had was obvious to the touch that the bulk head holes weren't polished and I've cut quite a few bigger tanks for friends and never polished anything. I should say that in one tank i had a tiny leak from the actual bulk head inside where the threaded pvc adapter went, I siliconed over the threads and it was all good.

That is true it could have been to close to the edge too that is something I missed in my post.