Would you fill this tank?

[zoajohn]

Hey all,

So I bought an innovative marine 30L all in one from someone locally off craigslist in May. I did a brief inspection when we met and a test fill for a week after purchasing and all went well. It then sat in my room unmoved until today. Now I’m finally able to set the tank up and everything, but felt a crackling of glass on one of the corners I hadn’t noticed originally. Upon further inspection I found there was a pretty decent crack on the back pane in the left corner. You can see it in the attached pics. It is where the back chamber water is and would assume it would bear the load of just that volume? Is there any saving this with silicone or other methods, or am I completely screwed on this tank?

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[zoajohn]

Hey all,

So I bought an innovative marine 30L all in one from someone locally off craigslist in May. I did a brief inspection when we met and a test fill for a week after purchasing and all went well. It then sat in my room unmoved until today. Now I’m finally able to set the tank up and everything, but felt a crackling of glass on one of the corners I hadn’t noticed originally. Upon further inspection I found there was a pretty decent crack on the back pane in the left corner. You can see it in the attached pics. It is where the back chamber water is and would assume it would bear the load of just that volume? Is there any saving this with silicone or other methods, or am I completely screwed on this tank?

Edit - it appears where the glass is cracked, is where the left pane and rear pane meet, and the crack is completely underneath the silicone that attaches both panes. Does this provide more hope?
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[york1]

It doesnt look to deep.I would probably give it a shot

 

[AquariumSchmo]

Since it is the back pane, maybe silicon a small piece of glass over it. I would put silicone on the inside of that corner too.

 

[zoajohn]

It doesnt look to deep.I would probably give it a shot

It seems to go through the pane, but the other side is completely covered by silicone that connects the rear and side pane. It held full water level for over a week, so I may just do what the other poster suggested and silicone a small piece of glass over


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[jcook54]

Silicone is the direction I'd go. Personally, I'd have an issue with it if it was in the front not because I'd be worried about a leak but because I'd be worried about the look. You can really get in there with some silicone from the inside and put a lot in. I mean, large tanks are held together with the appropriate silicone and a small patch on the back with plenty of silicone around it might not look great but nobody's going to see it anyhow.

I know @Doberman13 just resealed a tank and he can tell you exactly what he used. Shoot, I think his was even black and if you went with that color it would hardly be noticeable.

 

[zoajohn]

Silicone is the direction I'd go. Personally, I'd have an issue with it if it was in the front not because I'd be worried about a leak but because I'd be worried about the look. You can really get in there with some silicone from the inside and put a lot in. I mean, large tanks are held together with the appropriate silicone and a small patch on the back with plenty of silicone around it might not look great but nobody's going to see it anyhow.

I know @Doberman13 just resealed a tank and he can tell you exactly what he used. Shoot, I think his was even black and if you went with that color it would hardly be noticeable.

True. I will use lots of silicone on both the inside and outside around the crack. The whole piece is cracked through but since it is still on the tank, would probably be sound enough long term once held with more silicone.

Would be interested to hear what he did!


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[Steve Burton]

I agree silicone should be fine, as long as the cure time is long enough to match the thickness you apply.

 

[Doberman13]

I have resealed a few tanks. From what I have read previously you cannot put silicone over older silicone. However in this case it doesn't look like there's silicone there at all or maybe very little so as long as you get the new silicone to contact with glass all the way around it should be good. The standard 24-hour cure time is for very small beads so if you were to put down a larger patch I would recommend waving at least 72 hours or 24 hrs after you can no longer have the smell of vinegar coming off the tank.

I used Aquascape Pro black silicone from Amazon. It was $9.99 per tube and I have some left over if you are close to Gwinnett.

 

[Doberman13]

My bad I do see the silicone seam now. Can you take a picture of the inside of the tank at that corner? I'm not familiar with innovative Marine tanks. Is the seam similar to a Red Sea(where the silicone is only where the glass contacts)or is it more like a standard glass tank where it has the extra seam on the inside? I would just put a patch as others have suggested.

 

[zoajohn]

My bad I do see the silicone seam now. Can you take a picture of the inside of the tank at that corner? I'm not familiar with innovative Marine tanks. Is the seam similar to a Red Sea(where the silicone is only where the glass contacts)or is it more like a standard glass tank where it has the extra seam on the inside? I would just put a patch as others have suggested.

Here’s a pic from the other corner, as I already put a little silicone on the inside of the affected corner (which might’ve been a waste now that I see you can’t bond silicone to silicone). But it does not appear the inner seam connecting is disrupted

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[Doberman13]

I think it is good from what I just looked up innovative Marine uses a pretty heavy duty silicone so even that little bit of seem that is still covering the glass should hold tight. Just don't scrub/scrap that corner and it should hold

 

[zoajohn]

I think it is good from what I just looked up innovative Marine uses a pretty heavy duty silicone so even that little bit of seem that is still covering the glass should hold tight. Just don't scrub/scrap that corner and it should hold

Awesome thanks for checking into that! So you think just siliconing over the crack will suffice?


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[Doberman13]

Yea I think that'll be good. Just make sure you use the right type of silicone, either GE I or aquarium specific types.

 

[joseayes]

I’ll play the rotten apple here. I’m sorry. If you feel in risk, if your valuables, floors, electrical outlets, furniture, any risk for minimal you could consider is at a Jumper Board, don’t do it. You’ll regret bad that you did.
My intentions are it not to cause harm. Just consider and put in a balance what you can loose vs what you can prevent from loosing, in the case that this tank decides to go kaboom.
It’s just a IM30 gallon... I mean, personally, I wouldn’t be looking to setup or waste time resealing, knowing that one of the panels is on doubt, and even worse if the panel it has already signs of rupture or probably that corner received an small hit.
I’m sorry again to play the devil here.

 

[civics14]

I’ll play the rotten apple here. I’m sorry. If you feel in risk, if your valuables, floors, electrical outlets, furniture, any risk for minimal you could consider is at a Jumper Board, don’t do it. You’ll regret bad that you did.
My intentions are it not to cause harm. Just consider and put in a balance what you can loose vs what you can prevent from loosing, in the case that this tank decides to go kaboom.
It’s just a IM30 gallon... I mean, personally, I wouldn’t be looking to setup or waste time resealing, knowing that one of the panels is on doubt, and even worse if the panel it has already signs of rupture or probably that corner received an small hit.
I’m sorry again to play the devil here.

This...

And once its filled up, how many times are you going to check it due to paranoia of it failing. Just the stress of thinking about the tank failing would ruin the enjoyment of having the tank in my opinion.

 

[firethorn77]

If it were my tank, I'd probably replace it. The thought of a potential failure would always be in the back of my mind. 30 gallons wouldn't ruin everything, but a real pain to clean up.

 

[Trizzino]

I wouldn’t be able to use the tank. I’d be paranoid and then if it ever failed I’d beat myself up.

 

[joseayes]

To me just the thought of water running through an electrical cord due to failure.... arghhh.... gives me the chills... it’s not even 30 gallons need it to it.... a slowly drip through that crack? Nah... I better going to sleep lol !

 

[firethorn77]

Had a cat jump on a temporary fixture once and broke it, into the tank both went. Nearly started a fire but I was able to shut everything down quick since I was in the room at the time.