Why do our tanks fail?

[9supratt4]

With the recent heart crushing event that Sunny had to endure as well as my experience with two tanks of my own having seams fail...what does everyone think is behind the failure of tank seams? Is it just that saltwater is so corrosive that it kills the silicone over time? Are manufacturers not using the best bonding silicone available? Is it chemicals we add to our tanks? What does everyone think?

 

[diana a]

I don't know if the silicone they are using now is to blame...I hope not! I know an uneven tank and also scraping the seam with a razor doesn't help. I would think one would see the seam starting to peel away before it starts leaking. What a scary thing to happen. I hope I never do.

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[Trio91]

I read a thread on R2r where a member had a marineland 300 gal that sprung a leak in the seams....

I think it has to do with the quality of the build....I think certain manufacturers use lesser grade materials to keep the cost down to give then higher turnovers....and faster build times <~~IMO

 

[diana a]

There have been many 200+ gallon Marineland tanks on RC that have leaked from the bottom seam

 

[Jeremy Brito]

I read that if you don't do enough water changes ... the fish tanks gremlins come and cut your seams

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Good topic. I as well wonder if it just cutting cost to pad bottom lines or is there stuff we are adding to our tanks that weakening the seams. I am inclined to believe its cutting cost and not what being added. I have no data to back my claim but I am seeing more and more stuff being built cheaper so I am applying that to tanks as well.

 

[kschweer]

Could be a combination of a the things mentioned above. You see this happening more in the "mass produced" tanks. More tanks means less oversight and quality control. Another thing I believe may be a factor is the relatively "new" practice of heavy flow. Today's flow rates are much more than in years past and maybe the tank manufacturers haven't changed their process to compensate for this. Also the flow now is rarely constant. Almost all who run powerheads either have them on a wave maker (simple on off) or with the higher tech powerheads complex wave patterns. I have no proof of this just a thought.

 

[mikem]

I didn't see anyone mention the age of their tank. I have a 150 gallon tank. The bottom seam started dripping 2 weeks ago. Two days later, 150 gallons of water on the floor. How long do we expect seals on our tanks to last on a big tank with 1200 lbs of water and another 200 lbs of rock? And this is only a 150 gallon tank. Twice that much weight in a 300 gallon. Then add in age factor. And add scraping the glass with a razor and hitting the seam. Plus all pumping power heads like Kevin said. Just how long can silicone hold up under these conditions? Not a manufacturer defect. My tank was 5 years old.

 

[Mark...]

It time for manufacturing to take tanks into the future. I wonder if its possible to design an over built acrylic tank with a glass coating. Acrylic for strength, glass coating to prevent scratches.

 

[radiata]

I have trouble buying the argument that silicone fails in a well built tank. I have a 90 and a 65 (both O'Dells) that have been holding water for close to 40 years. However, "bad" batches of silicone have been manufactured. O'Dell went out of business because of a bad batch that caused all the tanks made with that batch to fail.

Perhaps a solution for a larger tank is to get Feng to build it for you.

There actually is (at least) one critter that can cause leaks - one of these days I'll get around to writing my article about the dreaded Andromeda Worm...