I Accidentally Broke My Freebie, Can I Still Use It?

[Kittiee Katt]

So we were given a free tank, it holds roughly 170ltrs. We need to clean it up and do a full reseal on it and add new braces, but other than that, it was in perfect condition... Until my bright spark hubby asked me (of all people) to help him get it out of the car. We heard a "CRACK" last night but couldn't find where it came from, well this morning I went out to inspect any potential damage and found a chip in the back left-hand corner, its only about the size of my fingernail, but it's still a chip. I'm wondering if, when we do the reseal, we could just put extra silicone around the chip or something similar?

Chip

Birdseye view of chip

Full tank shot (with my shadow )

Chip near my hand, for size comparison.



If I can get this up and running I plan to put my betta in it, and give his current tank to my sister for her poor goldfish - not that 120ltrs is big enough for four goldfish, but its better than the 80ltrs their in currently. :/

Any help would be muchly appreciated, thanks in advance.

Edit: I'm not sure if this is in the right section, if its not, I apologize.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I have run tanks with such chips without a leak or failure. That said I do not like such chips. Your chip looks to be at the very top of the tank and that may be the best place.

What I do with a chipped tank is to have an extended test fill somewhere safe before setting it up inside or putting fish in.

I have found a way to reduce the chance of chips. I get clear plastic corner protectors and silicone them to the outside corners of my all glass tanks. The stuff I have found is for protecting the outside corners of a wallpaper job.

Good luck

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Hello; I have run tanks with such chips without a leak or failure. That said I do not like such chips. Your chip looks to be at the very top of the tank and that may be the best place.

What I do with a chipped tank is to have an extended test fill somewhere safe before setting it up inside or putting fish in.

I have found a way to reduce the chance of chips. I get clear plastic corner protectors and silicone them to the outside corners of my all glass tanks. The stuff I have found is for protecting the outside corners of a wallpaper job.

Good luck

Thanks, I'll look into the corner covers.

I was wondering if, when we reseal it, we could get extra wide these things ( I don't know what they're called, the hubby does)
and maybe use them along with the corner covers I've just found out about, to help support where the chip is?

Also, it doesn't have a center brace at the top like all my other tanks do, will we need to put one on it? Would it be a bad idea to put one on anyway? It measures 80cm long, 60cm wide and 40cm tall and is made with 5mm glass. All measurements are taken from the inside of the tank.

Thanks again for any help.

 

[joe jaskot]

With the chip at the top of the tank, you should be fine. You don't have to fill the tank all the way to the top.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

With the chip at the top of the tank, you should be fine. You don't have to fill the tank all the way to the top.

I didn't plan to. The amount of ltrs 'approximated' was calculated 5cm down from the top, we used 80cm, 60cm and 35cm to work out how much it holds. I'm just looking for ways to ensure that it's structurally sound.

 

[Woefulrelic]

That glass looks thick, I would guess it would support the tank because none of the panels are particularly long nor tall. I don't think it would need a brace. Chip looks mild and as long as the water line didn't reach where it was in particular I wouldn't worry about it. That said I would also post a thread and ask lol.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

That glass looks thick, I would guess it would support the tank because none of the panels are particularly long nor tall. I don't think it would need a brace. Chip looks mild and as long as the water line didn't reach where it was in particular I wouldn't worry about it. That said I would also post a thread and ask lol.

Its 5mm glass. Would a brace be a bad thing if we were to add one anyway?

Thanks heaps for all the replies.

 

[smitty03281964]

I don't think it will leak based on where the crack is

 

[joe jaskot]

No brace needed. Fill tank with water to test. If it doesn't leak you are fine to go.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Thanks everyone for all the help, should I fill it and test it before we clean it up and reseal it? Or after we've done it?