Getting back in, but ahhhh the set backs...

[MiamiPete]

Hi All...I've been without a tank for a couple of years now, and am ready to jump back in...pause for applause...

With that being said, I was cleaning out an old 29 gal cube, and found a small crack in the bottom. It's about 3 inches and shaped like a shallow "S". Not sure how long it's been there. Don't know if it cracked in a move, or if it's been like that when I actually had it up and running. I figure I have three courses of action...

1. Fill that B up with some fresh water and leave it for a week to see if it goes south...
2. Use the same epoxy used for making baffles in sumps and try a super seal on it...
3. Scrap it and go a little bit bigger (which is what would eventually happen anyway, but I may be moving in 6-8 months...don't want to move a big one twice).
Oh...I lied...I could try that flex seal business where they sail on screendoors and see what happens!

Thoughts???? I figured since it's such a small tank, with not a lot of water/rock pressure, maybe that crack had been there with no fear of leak/failure and I didn't even know it...

 

[RogerO]

Hi,
I would choose option -3- go big go go home.

 

[dakar652]

i'd start with option 1 and go from there. plan to buy another tank so you can set it up at your new place in 6 months and it'll be ready to rock on moving day/weekend. plus it'll give you time to really plan out your new setup.

your situation is almost exactly like mine just about a month ago (search 'back in the tank' to see my story if you'd like)...I opted for the same 30g JBJ that I cracked (slightly different water to surface temperature cracked my tank when i took it outside to clean it and get it running again.)

but when i move about a year and a half from now I plan on upgrading everything and setting it up so I don't have to move everything in a panic...i'll give myself a month of overlap and viola! come moving day, i'll just cart the livestock to whatever corner of the country my girlfriend matches for residency at, and put them in my new tank.

 

[officeaquachuck]

u'd be amazed at how often silicone trails get identified as a crack. i suggest take a razor blade and scrape it to confirm.

 

[dz6t]

I will go for number 3. Not worth the efforts for cracked glassz


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[aresangel]

I would try b... but instead of just silicon I would do a piece of glass as a patch. Have it extend 1-2” outside of the crack in all directions and then silicon that whole plate to the bottom and give it a nice heavy seal on the edges. If you are going to use sand then looks don’t matter. I would gladly take it to try it if you don’t want to [emoji16]


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[Chris A.]

Have a glass shop cut a piece of glass with the full bottom dimensions and silicone the bottom and sides.

 

[MiamiPete]

I like the discussion. Thanks. I think I’m going with Aresangel’s idea. No, not giving to him but covering it with glass/silicone. Thanks all! I’ll keep you updated! If it doesn’t work, I’ll have a free stand to give away!

 

[aresangel]

Haha darn . Well good luck with it! Let us know how it works. As Chris A said the bigger the piece the better. He recommends doing a whole false bottom, but to do that you can’t have the new silicon touch the old. Silicon won’t bond well enough to silicon so glass on glass only. If it fails upgrade time!


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[MiamiPete]

Sounds good. It’s a curved front, so I’m thinking it would be more difficult for the entire bottom, no? And like I said, this is just to make me smile till I get my new house. I’m still searching the marketplace...

 

[cilyjr]

I'm going to chime in here. 1st I'd like to state that trying to use a cracked tank as is would be a mistake. At minimum it will slowly leak eventually (more likely pressure will crack it more. Patching it might work but there are a few caveats

See attached drawing
Fig 1 best case a piece of glass siliconed in May hold as the crack has two endings.
Fig 2 pressure from water presses on glass and forces open end of crack to continue past patch.

If this is a small cheap tank than the risk is simply not worth the reward. Especially as one is looking to spend $10 to $15 bucks to patch. A new 40b costs about $60 new when on sale at petco.