There seems to be a rash of tanks cracking within club

[tcoral]

With Brian's and Mose's tanks cracking, I'm wondering if there is a trend or any kind of connecting factor, like size, manufacturer etc. For those who have had tank failures in the past, (I'm so sorry, this is every aquarium owner's worst nightmare) can you answer the following in case there is a trend?

1. Manufacturer of tank
2. Approximate age of tank
3. Standard rectangular or special shape and size of tank
4. Type of flooring
5. Slab floor or is there space under the flooring?
6. Where was the failure
7. Was the tank empty for an extended period before use?
8. Where did the tank fail? At a joint or?
9. foam under tank?

Again this is for curiosity purposes to learn if there may be a pattern or particular manufacturer, size or something in common happening.

 

[Western_reefer]

The ONLY problem with my tank was that it was made in CHINA! NEVER get a tank that was made in China!

 

[bluenassarius]

i saw moses tank.. don't get a glass tank that is curved at the corners and made in china. lol. it was bound to crack.

 

[superglue]

That's why I try to stick to tanks smaller than 30 gallons. I don't know how you guys sleep at night with tanks so big.

 

[bluenassarius]

did you find a new tank tommy?

 

[Western_reefer]

Even Dubai's 10 million gallon tank cracked!
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2868305/Terror-as-mall-shark-tank-cracks.html

 

[marioensf]

My brother had one (made in China) too cracked due to vibrations from an excavation/foundation for a new building around the corner, ever since plexi for him

 

[bwade209]

I wonder if there's been seismic activity in the area lately? Even a slight quake would definatly stress a tank.

It took me a year....seriously a year to talk my wife into upgrading to a 300 gallon, after seeing Moses tank today, she totally freaked. I told her china uses cheap thin glass. HEHE What a shame though... I bet that tank looked sweet all set up.

 

[n2prelude03]

Had the exact same tank and the same problem as Moses. It cracked about a year ago. Made in CHINA. Brand is called Blue Ocean.

 

[bimmer88]

how thick was the glass?

 

[Western_reefer]

I wonder if there's been seismic activity in the area lately? Even a slight quake would definatly stress a tank.

It took me a year....seriously a year to talk my wife into upgrading to a 300 gallon, after seeing Moses tank today, she totally freaked. I told her china uses cheap thin glass. HEHE What a shame though... I bet that tank looked sweet all set up.

Its possible...

lol Yeah, if your tank was made by a good company, you should be fine.

 

[Western_reefer]

how thick was the glass?

The glass is 3/8 of an inch think, almost 1/2 inch thick.

 

[bluenassarius]

3/8" thick for a 180!?

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

With curved corners which means there were spots thinner than 3/8" supporting ~1500 lbs.

 

[camlov2]

talking about earthquakes, here is a neat site you can check out.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/

I had my 125 fail two summers ago. It was a new AGA 125 on their stand. (no foam) The house is raised foundation and the flooring is tile. The tank had been up and running for about 2-3 months when it failed. The only difference is that the tank didn't crack, it seperated along the lower seam. They covered a replacement stand and tank but I decided to downgrade.

 

[GreshamH]

With curved corners which means there were spots thinner than 3/8" supporting ~1500 lbs.

The way to due it there is no loss in thickness.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Did you mean to say there's a way to do it where there is no loss in thickness? I'm sure they could make it much thicker in the corners if they wanted to. All I'm saying is that it's very likely that there were weak spots that were thinner in the corners.

Ron

 

[tcoral]

Could it also be a flaw or weakness in the glass itself? Like a heat issue, or the type of glass used?

 

[GreshamH]

Did you mean to say there's a way to do it where there is no loss in thickness? I'm sure they could make it much thicker in the corners if they wanted to. All I'm saying is that it's very likely that there were weak spots that were thinner in the corners.

Ron

If you wrap a piece of glass around a corner and do no pull, just wrap, it does not make the glass any thinner then the sheet is normally. I have had this conversation with 2 different Chinese plants and have followed up with looking at their product.

What probably happened was the tank wasn't annealed long enough, or properly.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

My tank didn't crack. The silicone seem failed. I think that's what happend with Moses' too.