Acrylic Glue - How long does it last?

[reeftank1]

I am curious to know how long a tank is generallly good for? How do you know when the joints are going bad other that an apparent soaking of the carpets and the tank no longer should be safe to keep in the house.

 

[james734]

I really don't think there's a general rule for this. If a tank is built correctly I don't see why a tank wouldn't last forever. Not that a 50 year old tank would look all that great (scratches etc.) but i think the joints should hold up fine. I know they can and do blow out sometimes but, I think it's due to assembly and not some much the adhesives. Unless a bad batch of adhesives are used. Which does happen time to time..

JMO..

 

[reeftank1]

I have a skimmer that is acrylic that has a very small leak though one of the glue spots too that I wondered about and the bad glue may have been the cause. Does the glue actually chemically bind the pieces together or is it more or less a superglue type stuff that can be peeled away? On my tank I can hardly see the glue so it must be pretty tough stuff.

 

[bradreef]

it should be chemically binded together.

 

[james734]

Like Brad said, it's a Chemical Bond. More less it welds the to pieces of Arcylic together.

Kind of like the model glue and melts the plastic together.