Marineland Seal Failure

Give some serious consideration to what it would cost to repair your home from 29 gallons of water leaking into it. Even if Marineland won't replace the tank, could you make those repairs for the $30 it would cost to replace the tank?

Your much better off starting with a fresh tank and having a piece of mind. Personally, I wouldn't even consider using that defective tank.
 
ReeferNtraining said:
Thanks Windlasher, why would you take a chance on a replacement rather than having it resealed?
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Sorry - This isn't a big or expensive tank. You are however contemplating putting hundreds or even thousands of your hard earned dollars into it in terms of livestock. The LFS, should just replace it with the expectation that you would become a repeat customer and spend lots of money in his store.

I know lots of LFS owners personally. Most of them wouldn't bother trying to fix that tank. They would drop it in the trash, hand you a new one and call it a day.

As most of us have stated, tanks that are repaired usually fail long before one that had not failed in the first place. If your LFS says he is going to fix that tank correctly I personally would not believe him. It's really not worth the time it would take to fix properly. I would call it a day and buy a new tank from a different LFS.

It's not taking a chance on a replacement. The chance you would be taking is on a tank that was repaired incorrectly. If your LFS won't replace a $30 or $40 tank, what do you think they are going to do when you come home one day and $3000 of coral and fish are dead on your living room floor?

Buy a new tank and use the one you have for a succulent garden or planted garden and call it a day.
 
I'm guessing this is a true LFS and not some big box pet store. You have to remember Petco get's tanks cheaper than your local mom and pop LFS. I can go to my local mom and pop LFS and tank prices are double if not triple or more. So I'm guessing he doesn't want to eat the cost of a new tank and is offering to repair it as it would be cheaper for him. Not Every store get's tanks at Petco price...Trust me I have worked at a few over the years.

If you are going to Marineland for assistance I'm pretty sure they will not cover it unless it's on one of their stands. In fact, if you drilled it then that voids the warranty right there. I had contacted them several months ago asking if a tank had tempered glass and they confirmed it wasn't but the disclaimer said if I drilled the tank it would void any warranty by them.

Even if he re-seals it a couple weeks of not leaking won't mean you are safe. Failure could happen in a month or a few months or a year. I'd probably just ask him to exchange the tank for a new one and inspect it before you leave. If he won't do that then I'd go buy a new one.

Tank re-sealing isn't as hard as people on here make it sound but it's not for the faint at heart and you need to know how to do it properly. It takes a lot of time and patience. I've done so many I can actually take the trim off without ruining it. :D and no I'm not saying everyone can re-seal a tank. I been re-sealing tanks since 1996 so I've got some experience.
 
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ReeferNtraining said:
Ive dropped $1300 on this setup with top of line equipment and its extremely disappointing....
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Wait....what? 1300 for a 29 gallon salt water set up? We're not talking about a red-sea (which by the way you could get for like 900 bucks with everything including their warranty). I am somewhat disturbed at the amount of money you have been charged for a 29 gallon tank. I spent that much on a new marineland 180 gallon tank, skimmer, lights, tank, stand, and delivery.


Right now you can get a 29 gallon tank for 29 dollars at petco (1$ per gallon sale) there is no reason, I repeat, NO REASON, for the owner to "repair" this tank. You repair that tank and you put it up Mainland will NOT be responsible. And he most certainly CAN contact marineland about the abnormal cut. Marineland will replace a tank, almost no questions asked, that small and with a total seal break. They've replaced tanks for having bubbles in the silicone.
 
CrayolaViolence said:
Wait....what? 1300 for a 29 gallon salt water set up? We're not talking about a red-sea (which by the way you could get for like 900 bucks with everything including their warranty). I am somewhat disturbed at the amount of money you have been charged for a 29 gallon tank. I spent that much on a new marineland 180 gallon tank, skimmer, lights, tank, stand, and delivery.


Right now you can get a 29 gallon tank for 29 dollars at petco (1$ per gallon sale) there is no reason, I repeat, NO REASON, for the owner to "repair" this tank. You repair that tank and you put it up Mainland will NOT be responsible. And he most certainly CAN contact marineland about the abnormal cut. Marineland will replace a tank, almost no questions asked, that small and with a total seal break. They've replaced tanks for having bubbles in the silicone.
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Funny - I missed the $1300 part. Hopefully, he didn't pay the LFS 1300 for that setup. And YES thank you for reiterating.... NO REASON. The LFS owner sounds a bit shady.
 
I have $1300 invested, not in a tank alone. You have to understand that I needed a very specific setup due to the space i have for a tank. I considered the RedSea Reefer 90 for $1500 and it just would not have looked right. Plus, im not a fan of this open top thing. I probably overpaid for the tank, having it drilled and plumbed and the Marineland stand but i did that out of convenience for myself. Prime HD & mount he gave to me at BRS price. Reef Octopus 110-SS he gave to me at BRS price. I had him make a custom 20g sump and then all the other misc. items. Live rock, sand, miracle mud, salt mix, 36g distilled water, TDS meter, test kits. All totalling about $1300
I stopped in to see the damaged seal and talk to him yesterday. His reasoning is solid. I told him what i have been reading on here and asked him straight. Why would you go thru all the trouble to reseal this tank and not just drill and paint a new one? His answer was "I feel bad that this happened to you and I want to be sure it doesnt happen again. The person at Marineland probably seals 50-100 tanks a working day. I cannot guarantee that a new tank wont leak on you because im not there to watch it. However, i only seal 1-2 tanks every 6 months and I guarantee you that this tank wont leak when I am done with it. Not to mention, it will look much better". Hes the owner of the store, obviously im going to be spending alot if money based on the items ive already purchased. I dont think he's trying to scam, i think he's trying to make it right and attempt to make sure i teturn as a customer.
 
Not to be rude or come off wrong, but you came to the forum to ask the question. The answer by most all was to replace it. Personally knowing the amount of knowledge available here I would take their suggestion especially since the question was asked. The ultimate goal for all is a safe and comfortable home for our pets.
 
Frankly, that did come off wrong and I am unsure why you felt compelled to post it. I asked what others would do in my circumstances. In no way was I implying that i cannot make a decision on my own. As i read the OPINIONS and thanked everyone for their input, I made the decision I am most confident in. I simply do not trust a new Marineland tank and will never buy their products again.
 
I get where you're coming from in regards to not trusting a new tank after having a one fail. I've had a small one fail from a tiny glass chip after a year. It sucks. FWIW, though, it really isn't a common problem with any of the big tank manufacturers. I have 3 marineland tanks (29 like yours, a 27 cube, and 110 tall.) All have been in use from 1 to almost 3 years. Also had a 93 cube of theirs for 2+ years with no problems that I ended up selling. Anyway, just thought I'd share. Hope everything with the tank goes well and there aren't any further issues.
 
Thanks Gimp! Ive had probably 10 different tanks in my life and have never had a problem. That is why I am so nervous now. I just really never expected it...
 
I too have owned many marineland tanks. Yes, they do have tanks fail, but the sheer VOLUME at which they produce tanks will make it seem as if they have a higher percentage. Especially, as someone pointed out (maybe or maybe not on this thread I can't remember) more people complain loudly than praise. The only marineland, or just about any commercial brand tank, I would have an issue trusting would be anything larger than a 180. Simply because of the time and man power it takes to assemble the tank in that optimal first few minutes before the silicone cures. It's still sticky at that time but there is that adhesion time I would not want to miss and let's face it, big companies are going to work at the bare minimum crew to maximize profit.
But the point is this. Your chances with marine land are as good as with any other commercial tank. The massive number of these tanks being used in the hobby (especially the smaller ones) should tell you that. Plus, I don't know of many other tank brands that have remained in use for 20+ years. I know myself I've used marineland tanks that are 12-15 years old (used) and they've done great.
I'm still in a little bit of a sticker shock on the price you paid, but I didn't figure in the labor for assembling the stuff. I do most my own assembly, the significant other handles any engineer stuff. Anyhow, I'm sure the LFS will make the tank sound. But just so you know, don't be afraid of another marineland because they are, overall, good tanks.
 
Personally I can't imagine of evening pondering of having someone reseal a small tank but my two cents is he going to make those corners look like the other two? It would drive me nuts if the silicone work looked different. (Saying two because he should remove the piece clean it and reapply it) if he didn't touch the other side then you know it's done wrong

Sent from my S60 using Tapatalk
 
When i checked it out the other day, he had removed all the old silicone and cleaned it with alcohol. The Marineland silicone job looked like a 3 yr old put it in. It was globbed everywhere and one corner the silicone was spread out about 2" into the side glass. But to answer your question, the whole tank will be resealed. Not just the area that failed.
 
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