crazing and bowing, risk of rupture?

[Rizzobitz]

I guess you got your answer. Sell or or use it and wait to see what may happen. If it was me and from the looks of it I would immediately get rid of it.

I am moving all seating to the far end of the room 8-9 feet away and hoping I can reinforce it myself. I just can't wrap my head around it right now. It seams like the 3/4" silicone extending into the tank all around would prevent me from easily reinforcing it because any reinforcement would be putting new silicone on top of old si

Based on the pic and the videos you posted in your other threads, the seams (that we were able to see) look clear, which is good. But the tank is underbuilt which is why you have so much deflection. Building tanks to the bare minimum specs to save money seems to be pretty common, but a certain amount of deflection over time is not out of the ordinary.
I've seen 4' tall tanks built out of 1" that have been up and running for decades without issue.
For what it's worth, I have a 10'L x 3'W x 4'H Tenecor tank made of 1.25" acrylic and it also bows quite a bit in the middle of the 10' panels. It's been setup for 4 years. When I first set it up, I did the same thing as your husband; I placed a level on the front panel and if I recall correctly, there was a 3/4" gap between the level at the top and bottom of the tank. I wouldn't be surprised if it's increased since then (I'll have to measure tonight when I get home). My tank also probably should have been made out of thicker material, but so far the seams are holding up and all is good.
A panel completely being blown off is really rare and would more likely be from a manufacturing defect (i.e.- poorly welded seams); from what I've seen, seams splitting (although not common) is much more common than a complete blowout. I think the biggest concern would be if you are in earthquake country...if it starts shaking, get away from that tank.
Disclaimer: I am not a materials engineer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Thank you Aldiaz. We will definitely flee during earthquake! I would love to know how much yours bows now.

 

[Rizzobitz]

I would just build a cross brace out of 2x4s, drain it down until it's flush and place the pre-cut, pre-measured brace on the top of the middle of the tank, then tighten the screws down until it's secure. To give you an Idea picture a piece of 2x4 the exact same length as your tank is WIDE - then 2 more pieces pre-drilled to prevent splitting attached perpendicular to each end of the 1st 2x4. The 2nd and 3rd pieces for the end will be attached so that the tops are all level, but the 1st piece will lay FLAT across the tank like a plank, while the other 2 will be upright like a pair of joists, so figure you'll have about another 1.5" extending downward to hug the top of the tank snug and prevent it from flexing.

The idea behind it is to fit it while tank isn't full, with the screws only partially in, then once you have it fit snuggly on top, finish screwing them in but GENTLY without squeezing the tank inward or counter-sinking the screws.

In short, the brace should look like "T", but with a top on BOTH ends.

Side note: 2x4s are not actually 2" x 4", but rather 1.5" x 3.5", as are all similarly labelled lumber

Thank you Frank.

 

[Rizzobitz]

Ok. Lets see what you got.
The bowing isn't going away. The crazing may be a weakening in the acrylic but a catastrophic failure may be just may be worth bracing.

I'm thinking "ell" shaped brackets. Acrylic "L" shaped brackets glued around the corners. Not pretty but effective.
By corners I mean all corners, top bottom and sides.
I once fixed a tank with acrylic angle stock welded to the inside corners bottom front, back, top-front, back and front, back ends.
barely noticeable.
If you can source the angle stock acrylic, bracing the inside seams is a viable fix.
Doing the outside is also effective but much more ugly.

Just my $.02

Thank you boldtogether.

 

[Rizzobitz]

Lots of great advise from everyone. Thank you.

I moved my son's viewing ottoman to the far end of the room about 8-9 feet away (the room is small). Seams are clear and no separation which makes me feel more secure. I received a quote to build a new tank, something to save for. I would not resell this tank. If I did I would sell it as a terrarium.

 

[wednesday13]

The majority of these posts are pretty rash and unhelpfull. As aldiaz stated its very rare for a complete panel to pop out unless the tank was built using the wrong glue/acrylic. Tencor was a reptutable company and im sure they sold alot of these lol... i have acrylic tanks 20-25 yrs old all underbuilt, all bowing, and running just fine. This is extremly common and quite comical to think not. People are cheap and dont want to pay for quality. this is what we get. ull have a hard time finding any tank built appropriatly these days unless your dropping 5-10k+ or build it yourself. Used acrylics tell a story... they craze and seams start seperating months/yrs before theyll pop... even then ur looking at maybe a small area to repair not a panel blowing off. If this tank wasent glued properly it would have exploded yrs ago. Sure it could be better made with thicker material, thats obious. Doesnt mean it wont hold another 20+ yrs. or need 2 be scrapped. thats just stupid. The material alone is worth an easy 2k.

o.p. - reinforcement can be provided using 1" square stock acrylic welded into the inside corners/seams of the tank with weld-on #40...(the glue used to make these tanks). You can pour fillets of this type of glue on the inside seams for the same effect. its possible to glue patches of material on the outside of the tank seams for reinforcement... you could also get a metal frame made to encase the tank. I wouldnt worry much considering your seams look good tho. Just wanted to give you some reassurance after getting blasted lol... these people seem to have never owned a factory made acrylic tank...or an older one. this is pretty normal.

 

[Fat Homer]

I have ZERO experience with acrylic tanks, but IMO, while a whole panel may not pop off, just the thought of even a leak in the middle of the night in one of the bottom corners of the tank would be enough to freak me out, especially with that large a volume of water...

Couldn't even begin to imagine the nightmare it would be waking up to 400G + of water all over the floor....

 

[Rizzobitz]

The majority of these posts are pretty rash and unhelpfull. As aldiaz stated its very rare for a complete panel to pop out unless the tank was built using the wrong glue/acrylic. Tencor was a reptutable company and im sure they sold alot of these lol... i have acrylic tanks 20-25 yrs old all underbuilt, all bowing, and running just fine. This is extremly common and quite comical to think not. People are cheap and dont want to pay for quality. this is what we get. ull have a hard time finding any tank built appropriatly these days unless your dropping 5-10k+ or build it yourself. Used acrylics tell a story... they craze and seams start seperating months/yrs before theyll pop... even then ur looking at maybe a small area to repair not a panel blowing off. If this tank wasent glued properly it would have exploded yrs ago. Sure it could be better made with thicker material, thats obious. Doesnt mean it wont hold another 20+ yrs. or need 2 be scrapped. thats just stupid. The material alone is worth an easy 2k.

o.p. - reinforcement can be provided using 1" square stock acrylic welded into the inside corners/seams of the tank with weld-on #40...(the glue used to make these tanks). You can pour fillets of this type of glue on the inside seams for the same effect. its possible to glue patches of material on the outside of the tank seams for reinforcement... you could also get a metal frame made to encase the tank. I wouldnt worry much considering your seams look good tho. Just wanted to give you some reassurance after getting blasted lol... these people seem to have never owned a factory made acrylic tank...or an older one. this is pretty normal.

Thank you Wednesday. I appreciate you sharing your insights with me and also how to reinforce the seams.

I imagine most people, including me, are fearful of a tank bowing like mine because they don't have experience with it.

 

[pops]

I agree, some thing like that is just to spooky, i would not feel right with myself to saying, ohh yaa that is fine to put in your living room. To me it is not.

 

[pops]

folks on the board can argue back and forth,. But it is not there house, to advice on something that does not effect them either way is easy.

 

[Rizzobitz]

This tank has been a lifelong dream come true for our disabled son who has been unable to visit aquariums due to his ill health the last few years. It has been hard to face that our tank could leak or rupture at any moment and harm the very person we were trying to bring joy to.

Maybe we can reinforce it until we can afford a new one.

Right now we also need to do something about the termites we just learned have severely damaged our porch and family room ceiling to the point the ceiling may collapse, leaks in our old shake shingle roof and the fact that our old cars keep breaking down and costing us more than a new car payment would. It's hard to even prioritize at the moment.