Repairing a chip in corner of tank?

[piehunter]

This tank has been running for 2 years with the chip and is completely water tight .. i was lucky the chip is far away from the silicone and where the tank is actually sealed so was wondering has anyone ever repaired something like this .. it doesn't have to be perfect i just want to protect the chip and take the edge of it

Thanks

 

[Diesel]

Maybe a strip that you can silicone on there but other than that I would leave it alone.

 

[CSmooth2009]

If it ain’t broke (leaking) don’t fix it [emoji23] let it ride! [emoji1360]

 

[eb_reef]

how much water does it hold? and how much damage could be done if it fails. I know it water tight now but if that's 100+ gallons I would replace the tank.

 

[KrisReef]

That corner chip is not likely to expand (break) when you fill the tank. The force vectors are in your favor. I would not pick at the broken edge, I would leave it alone.

If you must fix it, you might
1. remove the broken piece and
2 use a torch to flame polish the corner.
The trouble with that simple plan is that applying heat to flame polish that corner or even just using some Emory cloth to sand the area has a great potential for causing a new, more problematic break than what you now have if you just leave it alone. Also, I don't think the silicon is up for heat treating, so flame polishing is out and sanding the edge will not greatly increase your tank safety as you can't get the paper onto both sides of the glass to remove any edge microfractures on the inside of this crack.

The good new is that this chip really broke well, if you had to have a "break", imo.

Another caution:
If the tank edge is always unprotected as it is in the picture, it needs to be protected on the edge. Not just the chipped area but the entire edge of the glass should be on the stand to avoid possible "bumps". Breaks happen easily if you bump an unprotected glass edge.

 

[piehunter]

Maybe a strip that you can silicone on there but other than that I would leave it alone.

Tempted To just leave it be as it’s been ok so far thanks

how much water does it hold? and how much damage could be done if it fails. I know it water tight now but if that's 100+ gallons I would replace the tank.

Only 120 litres I just hate worrying about it tbh .. it annoys the life out of me and if it was to eventually fail i would be done with the hobby after the wife finds out lol

That corner chip is not likely to expand (break) when you fill the tank. The force vectors are in your favor. I would not pick at the broken edge, I would leave it alone.

If you must fix it, you might
1. remove the broken piece and
2 use a torch to flame polish the corner.
The trouble with that simple plan is that applying heat to flame polish that corner or even just using some Emory cloth to sand the area has a great potential for causing a new, more problematic break than what you now have if you just leave it alone. Also, I don't think the silicon is up for heat treating, so flame polishing is out and sanding the edge will not greatly increase your tank safety as you can't get the paper onto both sides of the glass to remove any edge microfractures on the inside of this crack.

The good new is that this chip really broke well, if you had to have a "break", imo.

Another caution:
If the tank edge is always unprotected as it is in the picture, it needs to be protected on the edge. Not just the chipped area but the entire edge of the glass should be on the stand to avoid possible "bumps". Breaks happen easily if you bump an unprotected glass edge.

I always have the tank sitting on the stand perfectly so it’s never exposed to being touched or hit and and also it level and well supported .. im tempted to just silicone the chip to protect Must look up the method you quoted to see if it would work for me

Thanks for your input mate

Is it hard to replace the actual bit of glass anyone ?