How concerned should I be?

troiusmaximus · Jan 4, 2016

I have a noticeable bow in the back panel of my 55 gallon acrylic tank, but the bow does not appear to be growing. It has been there for quite a while (a year of more). Is this something I should be concerned about? I definitely don't want the tank to have a structural failure but it would be a great pain to replace since it is wedged into the wall.

steve&mari · Jan 4, 2016

That's nothing I'd want to leave especially being it's been that way a while already. It's only time before it fails and causes a flood and major repairs. It's an avoidable extra expense you could avoid by taking action beforehand.

troiusmaximus · Jan 4, 2016

I figured that also but don't have the first clue of how to change it out. Maybe I can pay someone to do a tank transfer...

Justiful · Jan 4, 2016

troiusmaximus said:
I figured that also but don't have the first clue of how to change it out. Maybe I can pay someone to do a tank transfer...

I think paying an aquarium service to handle the setup/install/transfer would be a good options if those services are available near you. But it will cost.

Is it a built in? My parents have an in-wall tank dividing two offices in their business. I really don't think even super DIY kinda person would want to tackle swapping it out alone, or even could. But that is a special case, custom build.

If you feel uncomfortable, it might be worth the cost to hire a service to replace a built in. I want to say your looking at $250-500 in labor depending on the area and how complicated the move will be, and whether it takes 1 or more employees to do the job. Some areas it may be less especially if it has no complications and is a straight swap.

My new tank setup was only $100 when I did it 6 months ago. With a monthly $100 month maintenance plan. But with that I got at cost live rock delivered in water from SLC to my home in idaho falls out of tank only 6 hours, and they sell cheap copepods delivered fresh, and other benefits. They also clean, and do water changes, ext. Lots of fringe benefits of having a maintenance company.