On avg, what is the life cycle of an in-service glass aquarium before a major failure?

[ZoWhat]

What is the life cycle of a standarn rectangle in-service glass aquarium before a major failure?

 

[Antics]

I'd expect 10-20 years assuming it isn't repeatedly drained/moved/stored etc.

Hard to say really. Seems the majority of tanks are retired before the 5 or 10 year mark.

 

[afuel]

Can’t say I’ve never had one fail. My oldest is a 120 Oceanic. Gave a 75 gallon to one of my friends and it is well over 30 yrs old and still going also an Oceanic. Too bad they aren’t still making tanks

 

[Crabs McJones]

Can’t say I’ve never had one fail. My oldest is a 120 Oceanic. Gave a 75 gallon to one of my friends and it is well over 30 yrs old and still going also an Oceanic. Too bad they aren’t still making tanks

My uncle had a 45 gallon hexagon oceanic, when he broke it down the tank was 17 years old. Had he resealed it, it likely could have gone another 20

 

[WVNed]

I have only had one fail. It was a 55 gallon that was 20 years old and had been moved out of state and back again. It was moved years before it finally failed.

 

[ca1ore]

Properly installed and maintained and 20 years is achievable. I’ve had two last that long. All the others got upgraded otherwise they would have.

 

[tehmadreefer]

I've had a 30 yr old 180 that failed but that was due to an uneven floor, it would bounce when you walked by it lol. My current 180 was built in 1996.

 

[ZoWhat]

Bump

 

[ReeferReefer]

I wonder how long they can go?

 

[mfinn]

I had a 135 gallon tank setup for 10 years.
It was 6-7 years old when I got it.
I sold it to a friend that had it for a couple years.
I lost track of it eventually.

 

[fish farmer]

I maintain a 120 gallon(del ray?) which came up from Florida as used in 2001. It is still holding water, 20-25 years? The stand it is on is crap....it got reinforced some in 2001.

I had a 38 gallon that was in service for maybe 5 years before a major leak. It got moved a couple of times and where it leaked wasn't the best of stands. The next 38 gallon I had in service for 2 yrs, then sat for 8 years, then reef for 2. I think I sold it.

My 29 gallon has been in service since 2010.....knock on wood.

 

[HOOPDEEZ]

I had a 125 Allglass that was 22 years old when I sold it, it had been moved twice.

 

[LiveWire]

My guess would be 10-20 years. I have heard after 10 years that you should inspect and start to think about a re-caulking. I would imagine that goes with how bad someone cuts into the silicone when scraping the algae off the glass with a razor. IF I had a tank setup for 10 years I would most likely not want to break it down to re-caulk but if I buy a used tank that is over 10 years old I would re-caulk before setting up just for the peace of mind.