Advice on new acrylic tank seams

[Ben31]

Hello, new member here, looking for advice from those more experienced in acrylic tanks. I just got a 180gal acrylic from Acrylic Creations ( didn’t see some of the negative stuff on this forum until after the fact). They’re 2 hours from me so being able to pick up vs ship was appealing. Tank is 72x24x24, 1/2” top and bottom, 3/4” sides.

Side seams all look good as far as I can tell, maybe not the entirely neatest finish but looks secure. I’m a total novice to acrylic but some spots on the bottom seams concern me slightly. I don’t care about appearance really whatsoever, just security. The reason I’m going acrylic is 1) I have young kids and don’t want a glass explosion and 2) I just finished flooring my basement and would rather not have a flood. I was going to talk to the builder tomorrow but figured I’d get some opinion.

 

[KrisReef]

I agree the seams are not perfect. Will they fail?
When in doubt
Fill it out
side.

There should be a lot of people with opinions on these seams.
Good luck.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Acrylic seams when properly joined create chemical bonds. The images you posted show areas where proper bonding has not occurred. They will fail.

 

[Ben31]

Acrylic seams when properly joined create chemical bonds. The images you posted show areas where proper bonding has not occurred. They will fail.

The one spot that looks to be most grievous is pretty much right in the middle of the front bottom seam. Think I’m going to contact them and tell them I want to bring it back. The glopped line of Weld On 40 or whatever isn’t enough to hold panels that aren’t bonded I don’t assume.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

What usually happens is the seam starts to give slowly beginning at the flaw and then at some point it rips apart. Not pretty. Bonding the tops and bottoms are the most challenging. Although a piece of acrylic looks flat, the thickness can vary to the point where proper bonding technique needs to address it. It is not as simple as putting two pieces together and squirting some solvent between them. Done incorrectly the low spots fail to join.

 

[KrisReef]

The one spot that looks to be most grievous is pretty much right in the middle of the front bottom seam. Think I’m going to contact them and tell them I want to bring it back. The glopped line of Weld On 40 or whatever isn’t enough to hold panels that aren’t bonded I don’t assume.

I was thinking that was a lame attempt with Weldon 16 to fix the seam after the first attempt to bond. I really can't see how big the flaw is with my vision but the concensus observation from others indicates that you need to return that terrarium.

 

[Ben31]

They offered to build a new tank, no problem. Question is, give them another shot or just get out of it altogether and go glass or find another vendor. I know with anyone it seems to be a crapshoot, one tank is good, next is bad.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

They offered to build a new tank, no problem. Question is, give them another shot or just get out of it altogether and go glass or find another vendor. I know with anyone it seems to be a crapshoot, one tank is good, next is bad.

This is a pretty simple tank. Get in touch with one of our client specialists and see if you like our numbers. The quality will be impeccable

 

[italquam]

How did this ever go?