I should have never bought a used tank

[Paolissimo]

So I bought this biocube 8 for $50. I was thinking wow, great price. Let me pick it up. I bought it, in NYC by NYU from a student. I inspected the tank when I picked it up (empty of course) and looked fine. Gave her the money and left. Went home filled it and seemed fine. Decided to drill it, I never done this before. I bought the diamond bit and attempted to do it. When i started the drill was going all over the place, and ended up scratching the back, not a biggie, or so i thought. Eventually a made the hole and a few cracks too. Still determined not to lose the $50 by trowing the tank away, I cut out some plexiglass and siliconed it to the back of the tank, not spills, got my first drilled tank. I should mention all of this is done in the basement and backyard, so whatever water spilled, i was ok with it. I let the tank run with all the plumbing connected and it worked fine, no leaks or anything. Bring the tank to my room, where I have Parquet Floors. Put the tank on the stand that I bought for it, set all the plumbing, bring the water from the basement, fill the tank the sump, connect everything (stand is small so everything was a pain in the ass to set up) and I finish around midnight. Go to sleep. Next morning, I see a bit of water under the tank. Because I was tired, I snooze the alarm more then I should have done, so I was running late, so I didn't investigate the cause of the wetness under the tank. When I came home, tired ofcourse, and I inspect the tank. The leak is under the tank. I drain the tank, and what I find? The tank has a crack at the bottom of the tank! I kind of noticed it when I bought it but to me it was a scrach, but for whatever reason that "scratch" got bigger and cracked. I am soo frustrated I can't with this tank anymore. Everytime I wanted to set it up, I ran into problems. I should have never bought a used tank.

 

[skene]

You are blaming someone else after you go and drill a tank without checking for leaks first???? How do you know it wasn't just a "scratch" to begin with, but after you went all Tim "The Tool man" Taylor, that you weren't the one that actually damaged the tank.

 

[ming]

I would think the issue be your drilling of the tank and causing a "few cracks". Either way, I'd recommend buying a reef ready tank instead.
Also, plexiglass doesn't silicone well to glass.

 

[KathyC]

Hard lesson But good that you found out now instead of weeks down the line !

If it makes you feel any better, once you cracked the tank by drilling the back of it, it was going to be useless and leak anyway.
Whenever a tank panel cracks - it MUST be replaced. Even gluing a piece of glass or plexi onto it will NOT hold in the long run. There is no way to replace a panel on a biocube due to the curves, so the tank was lost at that point.
(btw - you cannot repair broken glass by gluing plexi onto it, when gluing those surfaces, it must be plexi to plexi or glass to glass)

 

[thirty6]

its only 50 bucks! could have been worse...i learned 50 bucks in this hobby isnt much at all

 

[royalson87]

You are blaming someone else after you go and drill a tank without checking for leaks first???? How do you know it wasn't just a "scratch" to begin with, but after you went all Tim "The Tool man" Taylor, that you weren't the one that actually damaged the tank.

lmao you guys are not easy, love the brutal honesty :biggrin:

 

[Paolissimo]

I checked the tank when i brought it home, filled and left it overnight. I didn't see any water the following day. I did break the back panel when i drilled the hole, but in my mind i "fixed" it. My thing was that the tank was cracked at the bottom when I bought it from the NYU student. I saw what I thought was just a scratch when I inspected the tank the same night. It was on his way out to begin with. What was leaking was that small crack, which most likely got bigger and deeper due to vibrations from my "delicate" drilling skills. The back panel after i repaired wasn't leaking, and beside the back chamber gets filled less then half (I put the hole low). The tank was perfect for my room, was $50 (I understand $50 might not be a lot in this hobby, but money is money, i don't like to waste it), I was gonna drill it because, i wanted to put a sump, I guess I made the rookie mistake of not being delicate and taking all the precautions. I am just frustrated and disappointed, because in my head i was gonna have a nice set up this weekend. I already have the LR and livestock in my bigger tank, downstairs. I just wanted a small one in my room. If my post came across as I was blaming somebody else, I didn't really mean to. I guess the point of this post is to be careful when buying a used tank, fill it out before you buy it. I know it's common sense to fill the tank before you buy it, but sometimes if you are buying in the middle of broadway in the middle of the day, filling the tank is not an option.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Small tanks like that have really thin glass and if you haven't drilled a tank before, I wouldn't start with one of these or use a cheap bit on them either. It's entirely possible that when you started drilling the stress on the glass turned the scratch into a crack if it was that bad.

 

[KathyC]

I checked the tank when i brought it home, filled and left it overnight. I didn't see any water the following day. I did break the back panel when i drilled the hole, but in my mind i "fixed" it. My thing was that the tank was cracked at the bottom when I bought it from the NYU student. I saw what I thought was just a scratch when I inspected the tank the same night. It was on his way out to begin with. What was leaking was that small crack, which most likely got bigger and deeper due to vibrations from my "delicate" drilling skills. The back panel after i repaired wasn't leaking, and beside the back chamber gets filled less then half (I put the hole low). The tank was perfect for my room, was $50 (I understand $50 might not be a lot in this hobby, but money is money, i don't like to waste it), I was gonna drill it because, i wanted to put a sump, I guess I made the rookie mistake of not being delicate and taking all the precautions. I am just frustrated and disappointed, because in my head i was gonna have a nice set up this weekend. I already have the LR and livestock in my bigger tank, downstairs. I just wanted a small one in my room. If my post came across as I was blaming somebody else, I didn't really mean to. I guess the point of this post is to be careful when buying a used tank, fill it out before you buy it. I know it's common sense to fill the tank before you buy it, but sometimes if you are buying in the middle of broadway in the middle of the day, filling the tank is not an option.

Thanks for posting this...we do understand your frustration with the tank and the $50. :grouphug:

LFSMarineguy is probably 100% correct..

It's entirely possible that when you started drilling the stress on the glass turned the scratch into a crack if it was that bad.

..after all, when cutting glass, the first pass is merely a 'scratch' until you get to the step of actually splitting the glass.

btw - even if you paid someone else to drill it - they would not guarantee the tank wouldn't crack. That is the downside to drilling a tank

Don't keep kicking yourself, everything happens for a reason. No doubt another tank will come your way soon and you will definitely be a more educated buyer

 

[thirty6]

Petco having nice sale, take a look. Maybe a 20g high, $20. I'd say 90% of my current set up was purchased used.....one or two i regret, but I consider it part of learning process. If you don't get an aio set up, i have a hob skimmer needs a pump, u can have just send a pm

 

[Paolissimo]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the support. I know petco has a sale. I have a spare 10g that I could use. It's just the biocube was really nice and fit on the stand, the stand won't fit a rectangular tank. Thirty6 I appreciate the offer and I thank you, but I have all my plumbing done, I must have another drilled tank. I am determined.