AAHHH Broken 180Gal Reef (LONG!!!)

[cavediver]

Well, today started out fine. I’m on holidays!! I’ve got the week off and I’m going away camping Tuesday, and planning an being back Friday….Or so I thought anyways…

I slept in this morning, till about 10:00am, gotta love holidays. Woke up and checked out my new tank. Went through my mental checklist:

All critters accounted for,
Water Temperature Good,
Skimmer working away nicely,
No toppled corals or clams,
Reactor flowing as expected,
Everybody inside looks happy and waiting to be feed, All is good

Or so I thought,

I noticed a small dry water streak on the front pane of the tank, and seeing as how I was doing some water tests last night, I figured I’d splashed some water on the tank, and didn’t clean it. So off I go to grab a paper towel and some fresh water to clean this up. Not a problem, cleans up great. Well I decided to go have a shower and then get ready to head out and do some shopping for the week, get groceries, and of course visit my LFS.

Well, after I got ready to head out the door, I noticed another drip, in the same spot as the first one….Oh Oh, that’s not right!!…..I quickly flipped up the hood and checked the water level, guessing that possibly both of my 1.5” returns were blocked with something and that the sump was overflowing my main tank. Nope, it looked fine. ..??..

Well after I scratched my head for a while trying to guess where the water was coming from, I went back to the canopy and had a closer look. The water was coming from under the black plastic edge trim around the top of the tank.

It turns out that the top trim on my new beautiful 180Gal was falling apart!!.. It has two plastic cross braces that run front to back across the top (and bottom) of the black glass trim. Both braces on the top are split open and have made a gap about ¼” across, meaning that my front glass and back glass have separated by about ¼”, and now have no support. YIKES, the last thing I want is 180 Gallon of Saltwater in my living room if this thing bursts! And living on the 12th floor in my building, I’m sure the people below me don’t want to see it either, talk about a water fall!!

SO, after all that, I drained 1/3 of the water (Still a lot) onto a couple of buckets and Rubbermaid trash containers. It seems to have relieved the stress from the glass. I’ve droped in a pair of 802’s that I had with screens on the intakes to provide some circulation. I’ve got light and current on my tank, and figure it should be o.k., I’m going to add my heater from the sump too, just to maintain the temperature. I’ve lost the use of my protein skimmer and calcium reactor (both in the sump) until I get this fixed and can raise the water level.

I drove down to my LFS and explained what was going on. They are trying to have a new plastic top couriered over ASAP, but they figure it will still take two days to get it here.

I’m leaving tomorrow (figures) and will be back on Friday evening. I’m pretty confident that things will be O.K., any suggestions?

Was anyone ever tried to remove one of these plastic trim pieces?? I think they are siliconed on.


My apologies for ranting, and for the length of this post, I just needed to vent!! And most other people don’t understand how stressful this can be!!


Thanks for listening

John

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

The plastic trim is structural? I ripped mine off all around the top of my tank when it was delivered (I asked the delivery guys from the LFS to do it). I did this to put wood trim around it. I didn't think it was structural at all and still don't. I hope I didn't do something stupid lol or maybe I'm just misunderstanding the post.

 

[cavediver]

Maybe it isn't structural??

It does wrap the top edges of the glass tank, I think it's purpose is to prevent the 4 ouside glass panels from separating when the weight of the water is pushing out on them. If your tank is fuctioning well without them (what size?) then maybe I don't have to worry as much about returning from my vacation to a flooded appartment building!!

Lets hope!!

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

I was always under the influence that it was just as a finish. I never imagined it was structural. Seems like it would be stronger than plastic if it were structural. My tank is a 230 but has only been filled for a week so it may still burst because of the lack of plastic trim lol I dunno. :?

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

Oh and my tank has glass braces (3 of them 3/4" thick) from front to back. So the plastic wasn't doing much. Are there any kind of braces across the top of your tank?

 

[cavediver]

No my tank has no glass braces on the top......Soon, within the next few hours, its gonna have a couple of bar clamps and hockey sticks( to spread the pressure of the clamps) untill I get back from vacation!!

 

[SPC]

Posted by cavediver:

No my tank has no glass braces on the top

-What is the make of this tank?
Steve

 

[cavediver]

The tank manufacturer is Miracle.

 

[SPC]

Posted by cavediver:

It has two plastic cross braces that run front to back across the top (and bottom) of the black glass trim.

How wide are these cross bars? On my 6' 180 there are two glass pcs on the top that are 9" wide. The reason for these wide glass pcs is to prevent what you are experiencing, you don't have perimeter bracing do you?
Steve

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

cavediver, can you take pics of the leak and of the top of the tank facing down into it?

 

[AWD]

Sorry to hear what you are going through I had experienced something similar with my 125 gal. mine came apart at the seem and poored 100 gallons of water on the floor and caused some $$ damages. I fixed it by putting on three braces of 3/8" plexy glass I made them shaped like little tables I snapped one in the middle of the tank and two on each end. They aren't very noticeable. Good luck to you. I hope this helps. You may want to check your warranty but my remedy cost $25 and will at least buy you time.

Andy

 

[cavediver]

How wide are these cross bars? On my 6' 180 there are two glass pcs on the top that are 9" wide. The reason for these wide glass pcs is to prevent what you are experiencing, you don't have perimeter bracing do you?
Steve

Steve,
These two cross bars that I have are 3" wide each. They are made/moulded into the same piece of plastric trim that circles the top perimeter of the tank.

can you take pics of the leak and of the top of the tank facing down into it?

I wish I could. I don't have a digital camera yet, but I'm thinking about it!!

Sorry to hear what you are going through I had experienced something similar with my 125 gal. mine came apart at the seem and poored 100 gallons of water on the floor and caused some $$ damages. I fixed it by putting on three braces of 3/8" plexy glass I made them shaped like little tables I snapped one in the middle of the tank and two on each end. They aren't very noticeable. Good luck to you. I hope this helps. You may want to check your warranty but my remedy cost $25 and will at least buy you time.

Andy

Andy,
My LFS (where I bought the tank) is going to cover it under warranty. I just don't want to have to tear it down. They are going to courier me a new top surround with braces and I'll remove the old one and install this one. They said it should be easy to do. I asked them what happens if I break the glass while attempting to remove the old one. And they said they would take replace the whole thing and take it up with their sales rep.



Thanks guys!!

 

[esmithiii]

My advice is to take lots of pics during the move and of the leak in case they come back later and try to lay it on you.

Ernie

 

[jamesw]

Yikes,

Those BRACES across the tank are very important to keep the front and back of the tank from bowing out and cracking. If those split, you need to take action.

Is the front of your tank bowing?

You can go to the hardware store and get these really big clamps that look like this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos ... /01034.gif

Clamp the front and the rear of the tank together across the top w/ one of these. This should serve as a temporary fix until you get a new top frame/center brace.

If your center braces are not broken, then you do not need to do this.

HTH
James Wiseman

 

[SPC]

Posted by cavediver:

Both braces on the top are split open and have made a gap about ¼” across,

-If they are molded to the perimeter trim (one pc) then are you saying these cross pcs broke?
Steve

 

[cavediver]

Yep, both cross pieces that are moulded to the trim have broke. I've removed 1/3 of the water to a rubbermaid holding tank and the gap between the braces has closed up. Sudgesting that the bowing of the glass is reduced due to the lower pressure from the shallower water.

"A picture is worth a thousend words" <--- I'm going to have to go and buy myself a D-Camera!!!

 

[cavediver]

Ah HAAA

I remember borowing the D-Camera from work and snapping off some pictures last week. I checked the CD and I have a sutable picture for you guys to see.....

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

So what cracked? The 2 black ones going across the top?

 

[cavediver]

Anyone know how to edit out one of those pictures??

You can see on the left hand side of the closest brace, it's separating right where the canopy rests on the black plastic trim, right where the cross brace is pulling away. This picture was taken last week, and the cracking is now 1/4" wide and about 12" long on both front braces (front only).

:x

 

[jamesw]

I edited out the double post for you.

I think he has sort of a strange top frame configuration. It looks like the center braces come across and attach, then the front frame is made of a number of pieces which fit in between.

It looks like everything is distorting and bowing.

What matters most is the question: Are those center braces still strongly connecting the front to the back of the tank???? Please answer this important question, then we can help you.

Cheers
James Wiseman