OMG catastrophic seam failure on acrylic aquarium HELP!

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Kimba91016

Kimba91016

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 16, 2009
50
1
38
california
ok, so i bought a used 115 gallon acrylic aquarium that appeared to be in good shape. I filled it up with water for the leak test and literally within 20 minutes of filling it the seam between the front and the right side burst.....it was very loud and is 3/4 of the length of the seam.:WHOA: There are also some areas of white along some of the other seams. Is this tank a total loss or can it be repaired safely with confidence this won't happen again? Any help would be appreciated.....as it looks like I may be out $100.00. :(:cry:
 
I'm curious as to where you had this set up. Was it on a stand, that fully supported the entire floor of the tank? Not sure about fixing it, hopefully somebody else can chime in on that.
 
If you do attempt to fix it, I got some acrylic dowel and weld on #3 and 16 for sale. I can be repaired very likely but if there are other bad seams you might wanna trash the tank. I bought an acrylic and some of the seams were looking a little suspicous so I bought some acylic thats shaped into a triangle and reinforced the seams that concerned me. Someone with more experience will probably chime in. But I'm sure it can be fixed. But how? I'm not completely sure. Good thing it wasn't in your house when the seam went.
 
thank you for all the responses....I am not sure I would trust it either so I am going to put it out curbside with a "FREE" sign:)

@Jcardona1 - it was fully supported on my cement patio...the patio is completely flat so no worries about poor support :) I guess the previous owner may not have had it on a supportive stand.

win some, lose some I guess.....next time I will go with new. ;) or close to new. This tank is about 5 years old. Darn shame to waste it though it has 1/4 " acrylic all round. Will make someone a nice reptile tank.
 
Most acrylics require a piece of styrofoam between the tank and the stand or in your case the patio, but I doubt thats what caused the failure unless your patio is really uneven. Is there a chance it got handled roughly during transport? I wouldn't trust it in the house but might in a garage.
 
Kimba91016;5123345; said:
thank you for all the responses....I am not sure I would trust it either so I am going to put it out curbside with a "FREE" sign:)

@Jcardona1 - it was fully supported on my cement patio...the patio is completely flat so no worries about poor support :) I guess the previous owner may not have had it on a supportive stand.

win some, lose some I guess.....next time I will go with new. ;) or close to new. This tank is about 5 years old. Darn shame to waste it though it has 1/4 " acrylic all round. Will make someone a nice reptile tank.
Click to expand...

1/4 inch is pretty thin, I wouldn't be comfortable with one that thin

BTW I'd call the person you bought it from and ask for your money back.
 
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