I bought a used 180 gallon tank a few weeks ago. It is now on its stand. However I was in the tank cleaning it out and noticed one chip in the bottom of the left panel right in the middle. The guy had corals in there and chances are one must have fell or whatever. What should I do? The chip is probably 1/6 the thickness of the glass. I am thinking about going to the auto parts store and getting the thing that people use for their windshields whenever a windshield gets chipped. I do not want to get another one-I believe this could be fixed.
Help please!
- Thread starter Eric99
- Start date
In all likelihood you have nothing to worry about. However because of the shape of the chip, the location of the impact and direction (orientation) could speak volumes.
I'd really hate to say anything that would cause you not to use the tank, however I think that you should have the information. A chip is a stress concentrator, meaning that when the tank is full, the stresses will concentrate in the area around the chip. Secondly, glass stores stresses invisibly. You can't tell if there are stored stresses by looking at it. The breaking of the chip could have released all of the energy in the impact, or there could still be stored stress in the glass. At 12mm, it sounds like there is enough 'engineering safety factor' in the tank (post the dimensions of the tank). The safety factor is to account for the uncertatinities involved in the design process and for unforseen events when a product is put into service. I haven't studied failure analysis of amorphous materials, so I can't give you good advice based on the shape of the chip. If you have access to a university library, you can get good information from research journals in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering.
I'd really hate to say anything that would cause you not to use the tank, however I think that you should have the information. A chip is a stress concentrator, meaning that when the tank is full, the stresses will concentrate in the area around the chip. Secondly, glass stores stresses invisibly. You can't tell if there are stored stresses by looking at it. The breaking of the chip could have released all of the energy in the impact, or there could still be stored stress in the glass. At 12mm, it sounds like there is enough 'engineering safety factor' in the tank (post the dimensions of the tank). The safety factor is to account for the uncertatinities involved in the design process and for unforseen events when a product is put into service. I haven't studied failure analysis of amorphous materials, so I can't give you good advice based on the shape of the chip. If you have access to a university library, you can get good information from research journals in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering.
when you look at an aquarium stand and the aquarium itself you see that the bottom glass is not in contact with the stand. this might lead someone to think that the weight of the water is supported by the side walls and not the bottom. If you decide to use the chip repair kit from the auto store and still feel leary, I would suggest measuring the depth of the cavity under the aquarium and placing something under the damaged area to provide additionalsupport for the bottom glass. I,m obviously not as book smart as the other guy but, a little common sense is sometimes all that is needed!!! good luck let me know how you make out with the tank.