Cracked Tank

[Jer-]

hi My tank cracked!!!

and now all the water is all on the floor....but most is soaked up by towels

this was so devastationg. i moved my tank and was filling it back up with water but half way through there was a loud crack and the water jus started leakin like crazy. I found a piece of TINY gravel under the tank. I kno, i kno i shuddve had a layer of stylofoam under the tank, and i didnt , and that was a big no-no. But now that the worst has happened, i am not up for any lectures on how i shuddve had styrofoam so please dont say anything like that.

well the tank is cracked at the bottom and its not along the edges of the tank where the silicone holds the glass together. its a crack right in the bottom pane pf glass. the crack lines start form a point and radiate out in 3 lines.

My question is CAN I FIX THIS WITH GLUING THE PIECED FIRM WITH AQUARIUM SILICON GLUE or is a tank with the bottom pane cracked fully wasted?? I know ppl fix their tanks but is that only when the sides of the panes are nto stuck together properly (ie at the edges where the silicone is)??

THX GUYS.....its been such a bad day for me. I studied my ass for this anatomy exam last night only to find out TODAY that its been delayed till next week cos the head of dept had an emergency with something......i got home and moved a bit of furniture around in my room and found that the bed left a deep groove on the floor and now i have to patch that up too. and now the tank.

God.

 

[Zenn]

I wouldnt if i was you, if the pane is crack, that it mate, you need a new tank, i had a tank crack on me as well, my 3 foot tank crack, however it was full, and had my fish in it and was all happy and that, but it cracks because the vibrations of a hammer drill my neighbour used without telling me that he was going to drill on the wall my tank was near, and so i lost my bedroom carpet, and had holes in the dowstairs ceiling draining the water out the floor boards, and the wallpaper was coming off the wall's downstairs, a horrible thing to experience, but once done, hats it, the crack was right across the bottom of the tank, which render it unusable, so i went out and bought anohter one, despite the fact the price went from £33 to £58, i needed a new one for my fish and so i had to get it, there is no way of repairing a broken pane, the only way to save the fish tank is to buy a new glass pane to fit the bottom and use aqua sealent to fit it in after taking the old one out, but that would come to the same price as buying a new one mate

 

[Paul_MTS]

what you can do is get a peice of glass cut to fit inside the tank across the bottom then silicone it to the cracked pice and lots of silicone aorund the edge.

alot of big tanks have double bases for strength and insurance purposes. 1 of the display tanks at work has a double bass with 1 pane cracked and in use!!

so if you can find a local glass cutter then it shouldn't cost to much to get a peice of glass cut then use plenty of silicone, give it a couple of days to cure probable and you have yourself a tank, don't forget the syrofoam tiles this time

 

[Zenn]

It actually depends on the size tank will depend on how much it will cost to get a piece of glass cut, i thought of that idea myself Paul MTS, went down to a local glass cutter, £125 for a piece of glass o be cut just to fit inside of my tank, £130 to get a piece to replace the bottom, the bigger the tank the more expensive, but then again it might be different in poland, it could be cheaper, so check it out first before you do anything else, explore your possiblilities, but also be prepared incase you do have to buy a new tank, if not, i am moving to poland, it blady expensive here

 

[Paul_MTS]

i think you met some cow boys!!

i'm getting my 4x2x2 tank built in 10mm glass for £130.

They also supply cut glass at £1.50 per square ft.

i know there's a few glass cutters locally that i could probable use quite cheaply, never tried them though, i know 1 of the guys at work used to get all his glass sliders from there so couldn't of been that expensive.

Even using some acrylic will do.

on 1 of the display tanks (fish for sale in) at work we crack 1 of the sides moving it aorund and just put silicone on the inside, it's held so far, looks a bit messy though.

 

[Torrean]

is there anything you can do if you didn't put foam under your tank. It's a 29 gallon and I really don't want the bottom to crack. I assume my only option is to empty the tank put down the foam and then set it back up.

 

[Paul_MTS]

yep thats about all you can do really.

but the polysterene is put under the tank to allow it to level out and incase there are impurities on the stand.

if the unit stable though i wouldn't really bother, if the ubit can move about/wobble i would get some tiles under there.

 

[Zenn]

Me myself, i use padding foam, it cushions the tank and levels it out, also the best shock abosrber you can get, because with the polysterene and stylofoam, i helps support the tank and cushion it, however does not provide too much room for shock absorbtion, but thats only what i use and i can get it by the tones from my dad's work place...

Oh and for the glass cutting place, there arent many glass cutting place around here, though i could get it cheaper, it would be froma crap dealer, so the only place i could get some decent glass that would be suitable for my tank would be the place where it costs £130, your very lucky in your area if you can get it cheaper than that, i could get my new tank if i had £130

 

[Jer-]

Oh everyone, i have decided to make the cracked tank my to be chameleon tank.

I am getting a veiled chameleon sometime very soon or if not, around october.

i am jus gonna glue up the bottom with glue or get some cheap PVC plastic and double layer the ottom cos the chameleon doesnt need any water at the bottom of the tank, jus a water dripper so the tank bottom sould not be bearing too much weight.


Do any of yous know of any site that teaches u how to make a lizard enclosure?? i mean like with a glass sliding door thing....

also do u think my plan will be good??

 

[nc_nutcase]

My first thought was to get Plexiglas to cover the bottom and silicone that in place. Although when you put weight on it the crack very well may continue cracking until it hits the edges. So if you try it, silicone it to accommodate the crack continuing.

And what I would do... is pick a method of repair and try to fix it to hold water. If it doesn't work... use it for lizards... if it does... then it's up to you what to use it for. Although a cracked tank is a good reason to upgrade to a bigger tank (it doesn't take much to get me to get a bigger tank )

Good Luck!!