Tsarmina Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 300 litres of water, over the lounge and dining room floor, and a nice crack in the botton of our latest aquisition, 50cm x50cm x 1200 tank. two questions. 1 is it better to replace the glass, im thinking 10 mm as the 6mm might be prone to breaking again 2 can we silicone 6mm glass over the top of the crack covering most of the bottom. trying to find the simplest cheapest solution as the bottom of the tnk has some side supports about 2cm on most of the edges and would require a near rebuild, and im wooried that the cost will be uneconomical as it was only bought last weekend, and was a reasonable investment. i have silicone and a fair amount of spare glass which could do the trick. ideas please Mark - Tsars partner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I'd have a chat with Pete at Port Nicholson about getting it repaired and what he recommends. You can always get advice and do it yourself but with that size mess/tank I'd be calling in a pro. BTW, tanks usually bust when the surface they're on is unlevel and tweaks the glass too much. Either that, or VERY bad luck. Sorry this happened to you, guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 The big question is Tsar.. "What caused the base to break?" Was the stand not level..? Was there a styrene pad under it ..? Repairing a crack is pretty easy.. and if done correctly, then the repaired area is generally stronger than the other parts. You also don't have to cover the whole base... just ensure you have enough width to go around 50mm either side of the crack. Put the "patch" on the "inside" only.. and make sure everything is clean before applying the silicone. Just use the same thickness glass as the tank is made of. If it's 6mm... then the repaired area will become 12mm once patched.. so more than enough. Heaps of members have repaired tanks here... it ain't rocket science Take care now Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted June 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 managed to save all the fish. though it was fun trying to get 2 bns and 2 corys out of 2 inches of water. man, can they move! checked on them this morning and there have been no deaths. still mopping up water. even got the iron out to help dry the carpet. going to take a while to dry it completely. noow that we've had a good look at the crack, it looks like we will have to get the bottom replaced as it runs nearly the entire length. thanks for the advise all. Tsar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 Dang. That usually happens with unlevel surfaces. Pegasus brough up some valid ?s about the base and poly. Little cracks happen when you drop a rock. See if Chris Downs is able to help you out. That's pretty much your local expert. Good work, too. My local tank guy is on vaca and it's a mish to climb that Wainoui hill! Just thought of Peter as he said he had some free time this weekend. As for the carpet, get a dehumidifier in there and suck the water out of everything that way as well. Mops and irons only do half the job, though steam cleaning or a shop/shamppoing vac does a fair job as well. Rent one from your supermarket and don't even have to pay for shampoo - unless your rug needs cleaning anyways Good luck with the cleaning and sorry this happened to you. It happens to all of us eventually *knocks on wood* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 If you have insurance cover, use it. Then get the base done professionally with your 10mm glass. Insurance should cover your floor damage and re-instatement as well. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted June 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 yep. it was sitting on a piece of poly that is 1cm thick. thats too thin for a tank of that size. we will be get a thicker piece of poly to sit it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KP Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 man that sucks when stuff like that happen. I hate learning the hard way :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted June 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 not worried about the carpet, its worth less than the tank, advantage of buying warehouse carpet for $20 per metre, you can do all sorts of stuff to it, and not really care, including Tsar dropping shoe polish on it, two days after I had put it down, she beat the kids, and it was her tanks that flooded the rest. I bought this stuff, as we had young kids, not because of her hehe. Anyway have had an offer today from one of our local traders, to fix it for us, at a good price, so problem solved, im going to rebuild the stand its on, as it was a bit bulky, and the water hasn't helped, so all going well should have it ready to go in a fortnight or so. Funny thing, the earrthquake occured about and hour after we had finished tidying up, wonder of eqc would payout. hehe. Thanks for all your advice and help guys, most apprecited, gonna have to have a viewing once its all up and ready, will be worht the trip over the hill. Esdot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 1cm poly should be thick enough, its only there to take out the little bumps, if it broke just sitting there, ie you didnt drop something on the bottom, it more likely the stand that has a bend or twist in it, no amount of poly will fix this. If you waht a good solid piece of would for the base, I have used old work desk tops, you can sometimes pick them up far cheaper than buying wood or ply. or an old kitch beach work be the same. Check out your local building recyclers, or if your out poirua way trash palace on brpken hill road usually has old desks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted June 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 I would love to come take a look when its all finished - or ya can post pix! you'll have to come over for a coffee and a look see as our camera isn't working at present Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted June 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 No worries at all, we can do that! We are prolly coming over that way on Saturday - gonna be finished by then? (Juss kidding!) well, if you're over this way, then depending on time, stop round for a coffee. i have a wainui trade me members meeting at 1pm on saturday and i'm not sure how long it will last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted June 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 well, now we've got the camera working, heres a couple of pics of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 my first large tank broke in exactly the same way with a curved split. (i had it 1 day and lost 1000 litres onto my living room floor) i believe the cause was a lack of support in the center or the tank, but experience has told me the tank was badly sized and prone to break anyway, being the same dimensions as the 600l tank i have now, but a metre deep. (its actually the 'same' tank, just with most of the sides and all the bracing replaced) Those that know tanks better than me have noted that a split in that manner is somewhat unusual as glass prefers to break on a straighter line. Don't know how useful this is, but it might help with design considerations on fixing the stand. Enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 i would put a 10mm base back on, no way would i ever make one with 6mm. Does the stand have a brace running thru the centre? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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