Disaster - tank frame snapped at center brace

[jedimaster1138]

Marineland 120g reef tank. Dual rear corner overflows. 1 center brace. About 10 months old.

I was eating dinner tonight with my wife, parents and our puppy when we heard a crack/snap/bang. Hard to tell really what it was. Definitely came from the tank but as it's on the outside wall of the apartment, ie the hall is on the other side, I thought it was some putz in the hall making noise by slamming a door. No such luck.

Looks like the plastic frame snapped where the center brace meets the front frame. There's already a major bow. At the ends, the outer edges of the frames are 18 1/2 inches, end to end. At the center brace, it's a hair under 18 7/8.

Pictures from above.

 

[Custom05Taco]

Is there a warranty? That's not right, 10 months old! Has to be a defect!

 

[jedimaster1138]

I'm waiting to hear back from the vendor. He might still be up. *cough*

There better be a way to fix this by draining PART of the tank and then replacing the frame. If I have to swap the tank I'm probably done.

Just when everything is finally growing and looking healthy.

 

[Geraud]

You probably want to drain some water just in case. And then put some clamps to hold the tank together in the middle. Do not force it to its original size though, you just want to make sure the problem does not increase.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Yes drain a lot of the water. It will be a nightmare if it cracks.

 

[duromega]

wow
I'm really sorry to read this

 

[Bikeboss11]

Wow that sucks.... My 120 center brace also broke but unlike yours mines is not bowing.... I hope all turns out well.... Keep us posted

 

[Bikeboss11]

Wow that sucks.... My 120 center brace also broke but unlike yours mines is not bowing.... I hope all turns out well.... Keep us posted

 

[piranhapat]

Sorry to hear this.... Is it just me all I hear lately is tanks leaking and bowing. Years ago when I bought a tank. I never had a tank leak. Seems today silicone or tanks are not made like they used to be. To many nightmares on Marineland lately. Nothing in my opinion beat the old Oceanic tanks.

 

[edd]

i would drain it half way, put a piece of wood in front and back, clamp it and pull it back. then refill and wait for warranty. GL

 

[scubajay]

I read somewhere that this can happen if the tank is not level. Im pretty sure there is a fix. Good luck!

 

[TommyP]

Oh man, im sorry to hear. keep us posted. don't give up. 10 months later there's no reason why they can't replace your tank. Wish I was close to help,

 

[Affordable Aquatic]

I think you have a real problem there. That brace wasnt accidentally broken, rather tremendous pressure against the glass tore it apart. That glass is definitely moving outward. I think that the entire tank should be replaced just to be safe. My guess is that the pressures that caused the brace the first time will be present with a new brace. I dont know what caused the failure, whether one of the sheets of glass was of the wrong dimension or something was done incorrectly during manufacturing, I would be VERY concerned that the next brace will be subject to that same pressure.

 

[jcdeng]

drain the tank to the lowest point possible(I guess the tallest coral?), that should take some of the pressure off against the front glass. If you leave it like that I think it will burst or crack/leak very soon.

 

[don]

first make absolutely certain tank is level second temp brace to stabilize , recommend using flex marine epoxy by WEST system clean and infill area with epoxy mix and can add mat of fiber poly or carbon fiber mix thick and form to stay on all edges of frame and overlay epoxy it will take 10 hours to dry the hardest part is to keep horizontal joint from weeping out

 

[albano]

I think you have a real problem there. That brace wasnt accidentally broken, rather tremendous pressure against the glass tore it apart. That glass is definitely moving outward. I think that the entire tank should be replaced just to be safe. My guess is that the pressures that caused the brace the first time will be present with a new brace. I dont know what caused the failure, whether one of the sheets of glass was of the wrong dimension or something was done incorrectly during manufacturing, I would be VERY concerned that the next brace will be subject to that same pressure.

+1... Don't trust a repair to correct the real problem!

 

[jedimaster1138]

Well here's what's happened since.

I asked my building super and handyman to come up with a pipe clamp. While they were here the super had a good idea. Photo below. Basically it's a piece of 3-4 mm thick steel, 2" wide. It's bent at 90 degrees at the front and back, to fit around the tank frame, and with a little lip at the bottom to catch the bottom of the frame too (but not touch the glass). He even spray painted it black.

We put 2 more clamps, just on either side off center, then removed the center clamp. At this point we were back at 18 1/2" wide, where we should be. I had been tightening the center clamp a little bit every hour or so from 8 am till about 1 pm when they came back from their machine shop. Anyway, we put the steel clip/brace/tie in place, with a little persuasion, and used 3 short self tapping screws to secure it to the existing useless plastic brace just so that it doesn't slide laterally. Removed all the clamps...no deflection. Given the strength of the steel, I would hope there wouldn't be much and so far, there isn't. I measured both the ends where the glass is and in the middle and we're good.

Fingers crossed that this does it. As long as there isn't any glass damage, an I can't SEE any. I don't see any bowing in the glass when I look down the sides. Lord knows steel is stronger than plastic...

 

[jedimaster1138]

PS the tank is level, or EXTREMELY close to level. If it's off, it's not by much. My understanding is that if a tank is out of level, it'll blow out in the corners due to the slightly different quantities of force in either corner, so I'm not sure that's what we're looking at here. I wonder if the plastic they use for the frames is just low strength &%$# that degrades even further under our stupid powerful lights.

 

[TommyP]

Doesn't look half bad at all. Glad you came up with a solution. Best of luck with getting in touch with the seller/mfg.

 

[Rob&Gab]

make sure you put 2 braces on the ends just in case the pressure goes there now cause of the front being out of whack.