Small Chip on Front Corner Glass (12mm, 3m Tank) Safe?

[LaurentB]

Hi everyone,

My name is Laurent from Paris and this is my first post here on MonsterFishKeepers! Nice to meet you all.

I recently moved to a new place. I used to keep a Tanga cichlids tank, and during the move my tank got a bit scratched/bumped when it rubbed against a kitchen countertop.

Tank specs:

• 3.0 m × 0.7 m × 0.7 m (approx. 1470 L / 388 gal)
• 12 mm glass
• 3 cross braces
• Tank is currently empty

After the move, I noticed a small exterior chip (~4–5 mm) on the front glass corner edge, located about 12 cm (5 inches) above the bottom. The chip is on the outside only, it does not reach the silicone seam, and I don’t see any visible cracks radiating from it.


Photos:


My questions:

1. Is this kind of small corner/edge chip generally safe on a tank this size?
2. Since it’s relatively close to the bottom, should I be worried about structural integrity?
3. Would you recommend any kind of reinforcement, or is monitoring enough?
4. Any specific fill-test procedure or warning signs I should watch for as I slowly fill it?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

 

[Kilograms]

Probably absolutely fine. It looks like just a shell fracture. If you're worried about it, you can silicone a strip of glass onto the seams on the inside that goes from bottom to the to brace bars ( make sure there are no air pockets).

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I have seen tanks holding with chips. I have had tanks without chips fail. So it is a crapshoot in general. A thing is damaged glass is damaged glass. Hard to tell the extent of the damage from photos. Likely hard in person. But another thing is the chip is near the bottom (12 cm). That puts it in the higher-pressure zone of the water column. In short it is a concern. How much concern is hard to determine.

Next question is what will be damaged if the tank lets go? In a basement on a concreter floor with a floor drain no worries if it lets go. In a house or apartment a different story. On carpet a different story. On an upper floor with living space below another story. What do you have to lose? I had a 125 gallon let go and all i lost was the tank as it was in a basement. Had a 55-gallon let go on the upper living room of the same house with hardwood floors and damage.

If in a house which you own is one thing. In an apartment which you rent quite another. Do you have renters' insurance? Can you set the tank up somewhere safe if it leaks and test fill it for a few weeks?

Last thing is a tip for the future. I found some clear heavy plastic outside corners which I glue to the outside corners of my glass tanks. It is meant to go on the outside corners of wallpaper Jobs. I use clear aquarium silicone to glue the strips. So far, only a few decades, no more chips. The stuff I find is one inch wide so I use a straight edge to narrow it down some on smaller tanks.