Marineland Seal Failure

R

ReeferNtraining

New member
I regret that I am posting this. After 6 days of being set up and running with the cycle started and ammonia at 1.0, I left the house to go to the grocery and received a frantic call from my 13 yr old son that the tank was pouring water on my newly remodeled $5,000 floor. I flew home to see about 3-4 gallons of water laying on the floor!! The Marineland 29G, framed tank silicone failed!! Luckily I believe we caught it in time to not damage the floor. As you can expect, i am extremely apprehensive about putting another tank in its place. My question to anyone listening is, would you take your chances with a replacement or trust the store owner to remove the failed silicone and reseal the tank?
 
ReeferNtraining said:
Thanks Windlasher, why would you take a chance on a replacement rather than having it resealed?
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I wouldn't trust the store to actually take the tank totally apart and do it right. I would buy another thank from a better manufacturer. A 29g tank is too inexpensive to bother with trying to reseal anyway.
 
It is extremely rare for a tank that small to have seal failures if it is new. The cost of resealing it would have to be greater then a new tank. One thing to check on is make sure the tank is on a level surface.
 
Yeah I agree. That is really unusual that a new tank that small would fail. Even an older tank. The water pressure is minimal really. I also agree that you should replace it. Resealing a tank that small would out way the cost of a new tank. And like someone already said, the only way to do it right is to take it apart and then it just becomes too expensive.
I'd also contact marine land if the tank is new. They guarantee their tanks.
 
Replace. Most 'reseal' jobs, they don't actually disassemble and redo the structural seams, they just cut the sealant bead out and replace it. It works... mostly... but is _not_ as strong as a properly sealed tank.

it's a 29g tank, right? A new one is just not that much money.
 
New silicone does not bond to old, so unless it is completely taken apart and every hint of the old is removed, it's just basically a band aid that will most likely fail in time.
 
Thanks for all the input. The stand was shimmed to be level when i set it up and i kept checking it as i filled it. The store owner is going to completely remove the old silicone and replace it with aquarium sealant. He will do this at his cost because he says he is more confident that i wont have a future problem. He's also doing it at his cost because he cant determine if the broken seal was a defect or that something happened to the tank while it was in his store. Either way, i am still terrified to set it back up. Ive dropped $1300 on this setup with top of line equipment and its extremely disappointing....
 
If you are confident in the store's ability to reseal go for it. Though if you were buying all top of the line stuff, why skimp out on the tank?
 
ReeferNtraining said:
Thanks for all the input. The stand was shimmed to be level when i set it up and i kept checking it as i filled it. The store owner is going to completely remove the old silicone and replace it with aquarium sealant. He will do this at his cost because he says he is more confident that i wont have a future problem. He's also doing it at his cost because he cant determine if the broken seal was a defect or that something happened to the tank while it was in his store. Either way, i am still terrified to set it back up. Ive dropped $1300 on this setup with top of line equipment and its extremely disappointing....
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It's just not worth it. Is he going to pop the rim off, pull all of the glass apart, clean, and reassemble? Seems doubtful. If you've spent that much on this setup another few dollars for a new tank is the way to go. Is it a used tank? If not you should be able to just return it for a replacement and not have to deal with any of this.
 
Well i told him how terrified i was. I asked him what he is most confident in that i wont have $1,000 worth of livestock laying on my floor in 6 months or a year. He said he would be most confident in resealing the tank himself. That hes done it numerous times over the last 10 years and has never had one fail. After the comments here, i asked him about removing all the old sealant because sealant doesnt stick to sealant and he said he would be completely removing it.
 
Frankly, I'm surprised that the retailer would even waste his time trying to repair the tank. If it leaks again he has now just assumed responsibility. Even if he insists on repairing it, for a 29G, I would just go buy another new one.

Keep an eye out for Petco or Petsmart's dollar per gallon sales. Its not worth messing around with for a $30 tank.
 
I find it very strange that an LFS is wanting/going to reseal a 29G Marineland tank. A leak like this is definitely out of the norm, and IMO, there's a better chance of the reseal job going sideways than another leak with a new replacement tank. I have the same 29G Marineland tank as my QT and I bought the pre-made kit minus the stand (tank, light, cover, HOB filter, heater) for about $130 on sale at Petsmart. No leaks and I've had it for a couple years now. They should just be replacing the tank for you and not trying to band-aid it.
 
You should contact the tank manufacturer and tell them what's going on and ask their advice, I personally would not accept this tank repaired by store owner.
 
I got a call from the owner of the LFS today. He said that it appears that the original sealant was cut in a fairly straight line all the way up the corner that I had a leak in. Hence the reason the sealant gave out. He's not claiming that I did it, but hes saying that he cant go back to Marineland because he doesnt know whos responsible. But it was definitely abnormal. At this point i think I am going to let him reseal it and then i am going to do a very thorough investigation before taking it home. I may even run it for a couple weeks in my basement to ensure i dont have another mess. Thank all of you for your input!! Gave me alot to think about!
 
ReeferNtraining said:
I got a call from the owner of the LFS today. He said that it appears that the original sealant was cut in a fairly straight line all the way up the corner that I had a leak in. Hence the reason the sealant gave out. He's not claiming that I did it, but hes saying that he cant go back to Marineland because he doesnt know whos responsible. But it was definitely abnormal. At this point i think I am going to let him reseal it and then i am going to do a very thorough investigation before taking it home. I may even run it for a couple weeks in my basement to ensure i dont have another mess. Thank all of you for your input!! Gave me alot to think about!
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Is this a drilled tank? If not we are talking about a $50 tank at most. I'm just not understanding why you are bothering with it.
 
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