Potential huge problem with friends tank: need opinions

[dbcb314]

My friend called me last night when I got home from picking up a tank in Indy with a potentially horrible problem.


He has a 120 or 150 can't remember with assorted american cichlids (I think gt, jd, oscar) and some LSN. The tank is in the corner of a room and the side panel against the wall is covered in green algae.

He decided to clean that finally and once he did and the tank cleared off, he saw a really really small cloudy dot. Almost like the color of silicone. He went to scrape it off and it didn't go anywhere. Inspected it some more and realized it is like "smashed?" He thinks putting a rock or something in the tank he nicked the glass and "dented" it. It really looks like a kinda deep scratch in a circular patter. His words not mine lol.

He wondered if this is going to eventually crack and blow from that point. the dent doesn't go all the way through (you can feel it from the inside but not the outside). I had no idea whether or not it would cause a problem so I thought I should ask.


Any ideas or experience with doing this? He thought maybe he should drain the tank down past that point and put some silicone over it, let it try and cure, and fill the tank back up. Or is this a lost cause and he needs to take the tank down NOW. or can he just ignore it?

thanks for any help in the matter. I have no experience with something like this. biggest worry I have had is a scratch lol. I am the fish "guru" among some friends... i dont tell them i just come to this website to get info lol.

 

[nfored]

We will need picks to see how bad it really is. If its not to bad he should be okay, it its bad he might need to put a section of glass over it, or replace the panel.

 

[12 Volt Man]

sounds like a classic scalloped shaped chip.

the strength in that panel of glass could be compromised.

siliconing over the chip won't help because the strength of that local area of the panel might be weakened. so the panel could potentially crack.

its just like a stone chip in a windshield (which look much like you are describing). it could begin to crack all of a sudden.

if I were your friend, I would look at replacing that panel.

if it were a 10g tank I would say leave it if its not leaking.

but 120/150 gallons? thats too much water to take a chance on IMO.

hope this helps.

perhaps consult the DIY area for help on a repair for your friend.

oh, and if you can get pics of the chip, that would help a lot.

 

[dbcb314]

I asked

 

[dbcb314]

I asked for a pic and he sent a phone one over and yhou can't see anything. He said it is like a millimeter in diameter

 

[dbcb314]

When u say section of glass how big are we talking? And would u simply take said piece and silicone it on the chipped part? That sounds doable without destroying the tank and getting rfid of the fish depending on how low the chip is.

Would the stuff tghey put on chipped windshields work?

Who knows how long its been like this.. he said he hasn't added any rocks or anything in a long time.

Sorry for all the questions. Not my area and obviously it needs to addressed asap if it indeed needs addressing.