Acrylic Aquarium Crazing or Seperation?

[Squar3Lak3]

I bought this tank 2 years brand new. I am the only owner. I don’t recall the seem quality when I bought it. This is what the seem looks like now. There is only one seem on the side. It is a 28 gallon Sea Clear. It has been freshwater for 2 years on a level 20x20 stand. I am wanting to setup a small reef tank and I just broke it down and cleaned it. Is this normal crazing?

 

[KrisReef]

Yes, that is crazing, but it looks fairly advanced for only a 2 year old tank. (I had a SeaClear tank once, it had thin material that bowed more than I liked, so I upgraded. It never leaked while I had it.)

Is this an octagon tank? They have weird angles (not 90) and mating edges on these tanks (glass or acrylic) often look sketchy for seals, ime.

I have a protein skimmer that is crazed much worse and has been that way and running for 10 years. I would expect this tank to be a candidate for slowly crazing across much of the view panels as there a thin hairline surface cracks visible in the first image. These "propagate" ime.

Will it break? Yes, certainly, but it might take 35 years, or only 3.5. or? I recently tossed out an old tank that I had in storage that had failed (dry!) from crazing and material stress (heat and cold expansion), popped apart like there was no glue in the seams. But again, that was 35 years old. That's all I got, except that you can't put an acrylic solvent on these seams and "heal" the issue. It would expedite the crazing, maybe cause it to fail as it dries but it will not reseal or reweld the failing joint(s).

I would probably use it at home, in my garage, but not in the house if I didn't want to buy a new one.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I bought this tank 2 years brand new. I am the only owner. I don’t recall the seem quality when I bought it. This is what the seem looks like now. There is only one seem on the side. It is a 28 gallon Sea Clear. It has been freshwater for 2 years on a level 20x20 stand. I am wanting to setup a small reef tank and I just broke it down and cleaned it. Is this normal crazing?

Ive had several acrylic tanks and this is not abnormal to see. If you run your nail along the surface, the panel should be smooth, not rough but is a higher risk when at the joints of aquarium which then risk spreading and catastrophic failure.

 

[Squar3Lak3]

Yes, that is crazing, but it looks fairly advanced for only a 2 year old tank. (I had a SeaClear tank once, it had thin material that bowed more than I liked, so I upgraded. It never leaked while I had it.)

Is this an octagon tank? They have weird angles (not 90) and mating edges on these tanks (glass or acrylic) often look sketchy for seals, ime.

I have a protein skimmer that is crazed much worse and has been that way and running for 10 years. I would expect this tank to be a candidate for slowly crazing across much of the view panels as there a thin hairline surface cracks visible in the first image. These "propagate" ime.

Will it break? Yes, certainly, but it might take 35 years, or only 3.5. or? I recently tossed out an old tank that I had in storage that had failed (dry!) from crazing and material stress (heat and cold expansion), popped apart like there was no glue in the seams. But again, that was 35 years old. That's all I got, except that you can't put an acrylic solvent on these seams and "heal" the issue. It would expedite the crazing, maybe cause it to fail as it dries but it will not reseal or reweld the failing joint(s).

I would probably use it at home, in my garage, but not in the house if I didn't want to buy a new one.

Copy that, I am a first time home owner and not willing to risk it at this point. I have a 55 gallon tank setup right now. I am not super into buying an entire new tank/setup. I may turn this into a reef tank. I love a good planted tank but this thing is far too easy at this point. I really want to start a reef tank.