Glass Damage Red Sea Reefer 170 - Thoughts ?

[Kanaka]

Hello ... well, I knocked the top portion of my Red Sea Reefer 170 and voila ... I took a chunk out of the glass. Lord give me strength .... At any rate, thoughts as to the remaining structural integrity of the tank would be greatly appreciated. As well, any ideas on how to approach a fix both physically and cosmetically. This tank was setup a few months ago and the thought of having to replace everything is rather depressing. That tank glass is approximately 19.5 inches in height. Thank you in advance for taking the time to review this post.

 

[vtecintegra]

New tank. No way to fix it that I'm aware of.

 

[Whiskeyboy84]

Well honestly with it being that high up I wouldn’t worry too much about it as long as it looks like a normal oyster chip and doesn’t have any spidering to it. Also if you can break the tank down you should be able to find a glass shop that could replace and reseal that pane for you generally cheaper than buying an new tank.

 

[Kanaka]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I think it may just be ugly and nothing more - I hope.

 

[Kanaka]

New tank. No way to fix it that I'm aware of.

Thank you for your reply.

 

[Brian_68]

Unfortunately I am not sure anyone can say with confidence that chip will not form a spider crack over time and pressures even though it is on top.

 

[Whiskeyboy84]

Unfortunately I am not sure anyone can say with confidence that chip will not form a spider crack over time and pressures even though it is on top.

Nobody is a fortune teller for sure glass is finicky sometimes you can beat on it and it not break and other times you blow on it and it shatters. That being said as long as it’s not spidering the break won’t grow. If it was going to shatter it would have by now. At this point the OP is taking a calculated risk for sure but everyone who has an aquarium is taking a calculated risk everyday just by having one in our home.

 

[Brian_68]

Nobody is a fortune teller for sure glass is finicky sometimes you can beat on it and it not break and other times you blow on it and it shatters. That being said as long as it’s not spidering the break won’t grow. If it was going to shatter it would have by now. At this point the OP is taking a calculated risk for sure but everyone who has an aquarium is taking a calculated risk everyday just by having one in our home.

I do disagree that if it is not spidering now it will not in the future. A potential stress like the weight of a light, or bump / lean on the front etc. might change things but yes it is a calculated risk, but my point we just can't calculate it......

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I'm sorry that happened, that's always something I worry about with these rimless tanks, even leaning on them is sketchy. That's why I like the euro brace style too, but maybe this is an opportunity to start planning the big upgrade in the near future
If it were me I would tape off a little strait edge, put some black aquarium silicon on the broken edge and make it safe from sharp edges, and start looking for a replacement or reach out to RS and get the ball rolling to replace the tank.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I do disagree that if it is not spidering now it will not in the future. A potential stress like the weight of a light, or bump / lean on the front etc. might change things but yes it is a calculated risk, but my point we just can't calculate it......

True, that's why some rimless don't want you to put wave boxes in them, not that it's going to brake on the first wave but after time it could cause damage, same as this it may be fine until it's not..

 

[Whiskeyboy84]

True, that's why some rimless don't want you to put wave boxes in them, not that it's going to brake on the first wave but after time it could cause damage, same as this it may be fine until it's not..

Ok so I have grown up in the glass industry and work with glass quite often the oyster chip at the edge of the glass really doesn’t present much in the way of a stress riser at the moment yes if you add in other variables like a second strike that changes the dynamics adding silicone over the top is useless op would be better off sanding it with an orbital sander but then you get glass in your tank. Literally that tank could be drained and the top edge of that glass sanded past the imperfection and you would never know the difference. Yes rimless tanks don’t like wave boxes that is generally because of two things the glass panels are not really thick enough to resist deflection with the mass of shifting water weight and the silicone seams don’t have the strength to hold back that deflection either when rimless tanks fail due to wave makers it’s a joint failure not a glass panel failure. Solution use much thicker heavier glass and wider more robust silicone seams not to mention higher grade silicone and you would greatly minimize that problem however folks don’t want to pay the premium for those measures so you settle for the restrictions.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Yeah thats just my suggestion to put silicon to make it safe from cutting skin and fingers but I see he has the shard I'd silicon that in place just for safety while you look for a tank replacement.
I'm sure you could be right and I'm sure you know glass but like you say and I was thinking a bump or knock in the unforseen future could cause it to crack from that weak spot, its been hit once it could happen again, ultimately its up to the individual if it's worth the risk in their house, for me it's not .

 

[Tamberav]

If it is a scallop type chip and no cracks... I would just silicone it back on so it wouldn't be sharp and carry on with life and forever be angry at myself every time I looked at the tank.

It is a red sea so technically you were already risking water on the floor - mwhaha

 

[Whiskeyboy84]

Yeah thats just my suggestion to put silicon to make it safe from cutting skin and fingers but I see he has the shard I'd silicon that in place just for safety while you look for a tank replacement.
I'm sure you could be right and I'm sure you know glass but like you say and I was thinking a bump or knock in the unforseen future could cause it to crack from that weak spot, its been hit once it could happen again, ultimately its up to the individual if it's worth the risk in their house, for me it's not .

I 100% agree it’s definitively a personal choice at this time for the OP I just wanted to let them know that this doesn’t have to be on overnight me a tank, type situation this tank could very well go ten years without issue just never know.