Glass Chip!!!!! Please tell me i'm not screwed!!!

[carmelpi]

Just for the future - you can check to see if glass is tempered by looking at an LCD screen (most cell phones) through the glass while wearing polarized sunglasses. If it is tempered it will look like there are lines across your phone screen. Un-tempered glass will not have the patterns and your phone screen will appear clear and normal.

 

[Doclight]

Started the water test and leveling.

 

[Fudsey]

Cool reflection

 

[Doclight]

Ok. Full.. just under overflow because I don’t have plumbing done yet.. will leave it for a while and see.. on a brighter note, they hydro Korellia 3250gph is circulating nicely.. and I have 2.

 

[WWIII]

I hope it works out wonderfully and lasts for years and years! Did you ever end up measuring the glass thickness? Maybe it's just the pics, but man that looks thin.

Awesome spot for a tank!

 

[Doclight]

I hope it works out wonderfully and lasts for years and years! Did you ever end up measuring the glass thickness? Maybe it's just the pics, but man that looks thin.

Awesome spot for a tank!

3/4”

Don’t mind the Christmas mess..lol

 

[WWIII]

3/4”

Don’t mind the Christmas mess..lol

Oh ok! Good deal, from earlier in the thread and when I saw the pics, I was like wow that looks thin! The new pic shows the true thickness! Congrats on the tank, I can imagine how stressful it was to have the incident. Hope now you can enjoy the rest of the process! Merry Christmas!

 

[Blizzahjh]

Have you thougt about taking it to 1 of those auto windshield repair shots and maybe they can fill it with the same stuff they fill windshields. Not sure how smart this is just an idea for you to research yourself.

 

[O'l Salty]

Personally I'd be apprehensive about a 180 with chipped glass no matter how small. You've got a lot of weight and pressure there.

 

[grassy_noel]

what about a glass drill to take it out and then put silcone and glass plate over the hole..
i've seen it done to patch closed loops
and drilling it out would keep from walking

Building on this...could you drill it out and install a permanent bulkhead with caps? That would effectively be like drilling the bottom of the tank for a pipe to the sump, but then never installing the pipe, just capping the bulkhead instead. Sure, you'd have a big knob of hardware sticking above and below the bottom of the tank, but it seems like drilling the bottom of tanks is not totally uncommon...

*Disclaimer, I have no expertise in the area of glass at all, this is merely a suggestion for discussion, not a recommendation.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Building on this...could you drill it out and install a permanent bulkhead with caps? That would effectively be like drilling the bottom of the tank for a pipe to the sump, but then never installing the pipe, just capping the bulkhead instead. Sure, you'd have a big knob of hardware sticking above and below the bottom of the tank, but it seems like drilling the bottom of tanks is not totally uncommon...

*Disclaimer, I have no expertise in the area of glass at all, this is merely a suggestion for discussion, not a recommendation.

A mistake in drilling would cause more damage then what we believe is already damaged. Tho it’s a fine option I wouldn’t do it unless necessary

 

[Doclight]

So far the glass plate i put in is working fine. I am starting to glue rocks into islands.. that will be second test.. I doubt the sand will be an issue.

 

[Sycoticrealm]

180 have 1/2" thick glass a small chip shouldn't hurt it if it didnt crack.
Put some silicone over it to prevent any erosion from happening.
Because a chipped area never smooth so over time it could be dug out deeper from more micro chipping from the sand and rocks.
A piece of glass or acrylic silicone over the chip would help also.
Or return it and claim it came this way is what you should of done lol.
Post kinda ruined that though lol. Goodluck!

 

[Doclight]

It took 5 months to get it due to many issues..lol.. not sending it back

 

[MnFish1]

Glad it has water again

 

[Jim-n-Sheila]

If it were mine. I would epoxy the hole and sand it flat after cured. Then have a piece of 1/4 Lexan cut to cover the entire bottom. Undersize enough to fit just inside the original silicone. Clean everything spotless so there’s no chance of sharp sand and silicone that piece in with a big heavy bead being sure in fills the gap and connects the lexan to the side panels. Just my 2 cents. Glass in place of lexan might be a better idea but being it’s a very small imperfection and near an edge whichever is more cost effective would work in my opinion.

 

[m3rcfh]

I know it's already filled with water at this point, but I would think that cutting a piece of 1/4" acrylic to fit the whole bottom of the tank as opposed to glass would better distribute the weight over the surface as acrylic can give and get somewhat shaped to any imperfection... glass just sounds like you are applying pressure on the corners. I would be nervous too, but it should be fine! Just keep an eye out for the crack increasing in size

 

[flat6guy]

I wouldn't feel comfortable with a chip that low in a tank. Lots of pressure on that. I've had a tank seal blow out before. There's never a good time for a tank failure but I can tell you from experience, it will happen in the wee hours of the morning when your least expecting and prepared to deal with it. Be proactive and take care of before it can fail. The tank may seem like a lot of money but repairing your home from extensive water damage will pale in comparison!

 

[NowGlazeIT]

I wouldn't feel comfortable with a chip that low in a tank. Lots of pressure on that. I've had a tank seal blow out before. There's never a good time for a tank failure but I can tell you from experience, it will happen in the wee hours of the morning when your least expecting and prepared to deal with it. Be proactive and take care of before it can fail. The tank may seem like a lot of money but repairing your home from extensive water damage will pale in comparison!

Tho I fully respect your opinion I must say I find it so ironic because I (a commercial/industrial glazier) recently bought a used tank with a chip on it but the first thing I did after I cleaned the tank was tape the seams and resealed every edge with silicone ;Hilarious I don’t trust anybody else’s work when it comes to my families safety but None of us know how much pressure that glass is rated for or reduced to. So the op has decided on some diy piece of mind work. So far so good yea @Doclight?

 

[Doclight]

So far so good.. Its had water for about a month.. Rocks are on top of glass.. Sand will be in today.. I'll have a full load of water this weekend testing the pipes.. All is good.