Huge problem! acrylic tank seem seperating....

[Skeptic9962]

well tank is only 6 months old....and obviously the guy that did it didnt know what the hell he was doing...the seem on the upper left hand corner is coming apart slowly...its a rimless so is it possible to drain it down about an inch or two and repair this before it gets way worse?

 

[returnofsid]

I'd guess that if it's only 6 months old, it's still under warranty. I'd contact the manufacturer for advice.

 

[JPG@CFI]

Can you post a pic of the problem area? More info on the acrylic thickness, and the l x w x h of the tank?

Jason

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Lower the water level to below the split seam and get a new tank by warrantee or purchase. Repaired acrylic seams are NEVER reliable. Perhaps if you added a stainless steel band to the top, but hardly worth the effort

 

[Skeptic9962]

well it was made by a guy up in belevue before i found out about BR and CFI....so there really is no warranty...so idd really like to just try to repair it atleast so it wont keep breaking the seem...it really isnt horible like water pouring out of it but its bad enough to get salt kreep and its from the top of the acrylic down about an inch...basically not a huge deal yet...but dont want it to become a huge deal...

the acrylic is 1" thick and tank is 24"x24"x15.5 deep...the guy had leftover 1" stuff so he gave it to me for pretty cheap...guess thats what you get for going with someone that you dont know to well....ill get a pic asap.

 

[Skeptic9962]

hard to tell but i tried to highlight the area....

 

[Skeptic9962]

much better shot...had to figure out how to use my g/f camera lol confusing...

 

[dailydriven911]

Sorry to hear about that Dan! Hope you fix it and don't have any future problems!

 

[Chichas01]

I would think that if he is local to the Seattle/Pacific NW area, he would be willing to either take the tank back and give you a refund or replace the tank at a pro-rated price if not replace for nothing. He might not want everyone who reads this forum to hear that he does not stand behind his work.

 

[Skeptic9962]

well...ive allready heard lots of stories about this guy after the fact...im going to try to call and talk with him but its almost a garanteed thing that hes not going to do anything about it...we will see but my main thing is atleast trying to fix it i dont care if its not the best bet yes the best bet would be to buy a new tank or to have him rebuild one but its not going to happen most likely...and as of right now it just seems like something that could be fixed fairly easy if not by myself by someone that knows acrylic....for a price.

 

[cali_reef]

Can you confirm the seam is separating by sticking a small needle into the area you think is splitting? Hard to believe a short tank with thick acrylic like yours can split at the joint. The person putting it together had to be pretty bad to screw this up.

 

[xon432246]

You will have to break the tank down to fix this problem because acrylic solvent is toxic to marine animals or anything for that matter. Here's how to do it.

Tools required:

single edge razor blade
acrylic cement
needle bottle applicator
pliers
hammer
30" bar clamp

Procedure:

Stand tank up on the end with the split. Hold razor blade with pliers on work it into the slit between the to peices of acrylic to slightly separate them. Use the hammer if needed to tap the razor blade in. The seam may split open more but don't worry about this. Place the clamp across the end of the tank with the pressure area of the clamp over the split seam. Apply the cement with the needle bottle into the seam. The cement will probably not fill the seam completely down to were the split stops but the repair will still hold. Give the cement 10 or 15 second to thicken up, remove the razor blade and tighten the clamp snug only. Let this dry for 24 hours and test fill the tank.

The original seam didn't have enough glue in to completly soften the pieces of acrylic thus a weak seam was formed. I would inspect the rest of the tank to make sure there are no other dry joints. Good Luck

 

[Skeptic9962]

talked with jason @CFI and decided i would fix it myself...have full post in DIY forum check it out its fixed just need to work on the cosmetics now need to sand it down and polish it up and should be pretty decent looking all i can say is im happy it isnt leaking anymore!

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=387501#post387501