Seam failure?

[Kooma]

I'm currently looking for a new tank. Reached out to planet aquariums as this tank is only 6 years old. Told my wife about it a few minutes ago and she told me to order what I want. I'll have to look for someone to help with holding coral and fish until I get a new tank if I decide to stay in hobby..... Or sell everything real quick which would be hard to do. We'll see what today brings in my tank search.

I’d buy a pond tote, and put it in the basement with everything over selling it all.

Where are you from? I’m sure a local reefer could help.

 

[Reefanatik]

I’d buy a pond tote, and put it in the basement with everything over selling it all.

Where are you from? I’m sure a local reefer could help.

I'm 1 hour south of Houston. I already have a 300g tote available. i used it to store everything during my move a couple of months ago.

 

[UncommonSense]

going to have my aquarium built like a tank with the extra protective inside seams. we'll see.

Thee seam protectors used by almost every single manufacturer are just strips of plastic, stuck in the corners to prevent over-enthusiastic algae scraping from causing structural seam damage…

These seam protectors do next to nothing for a tank’s ability to hold itself together, hence my deep dive into glass rod cutting, to make my own real seam reinforcements!

 

[W31Olds]

Thee seam protectors used by almost every single manufacturer are just strips of plastic, stuck in the corners to prevent over-enthusiastic algae scraping from causing structural seam damage…

These seam protectors do next to nothing for a tank’s ability to hold itself together, hence my deep dive into glass rod cutting, to make my own real seam reinforcements!

So would you think a Standard Seam is stronger or a Seam with Seam Protector? Reason I'm asking is I finally got my new Waterbox Tank and it has no vertical seam protectors. I thought this odd that a $10K Tank does not have them. Even odder still is there are Seam Protectors, however they are around the bottom perimeter of the Tank.
I called WB and inquired about this, but Technical Support never got back to me.

 

[UncommonSense]

So would you think a Standard Seam is stronger or a Seam with Seam Protector? Reason I'm asking is I finally got my new Waterbox Tank and it has no vertical seam protectors. I thought this odd that a $10K Tank does not have them. Even odder still is there are Seam Protectors, however they are around the bottom perimeter of the Tank.
I called WB and inquired about this, but Technical Support never got back to me.

I think the structural seam strength (from the perspective of the tank trying to rip itself apart due to hydrostatic force) is quite similar between protected, and unprotected vertical seams (When plastic is used)! The protectors primarily help with glass scraping, and keeping the likes of coralline algae from creeping into the structural seams! (A sacrificial barrier)

The plastic protectors are siliconed in place, sometimes pre-treated with chemical etching to help silicone adhesion… however, they are still quite flexible, and wouldn’t appreciably resist the top-down seam peeling effect (often seen on rimless tanks, particularly those from RS)!

If I had to guess, WB omitted the vertical seam protectors on your tank to minimize the “bulk” of those visible seams!

 

[Reefanatik]

Well I took the tank down and have everything in a temporary 300g Brite container while I rehome /sell everything. It was fun while it lasted (18 years).

 

[NCsalt]

Well I took the tank down and have everything in a temporary 300g Brite container while I rehome /sell everything. It was fun while it lasted (18 years).

Once again I wanted to say sorry about your tank. Kudos to you for doing the hard work to get the livestock out and continuing to keep them sustained in their temporary holdings.

18 years is a long time. It can be good to take a break. Especially with the disappointment and difficulty you are currently dealing with.

I would say reconsider getting out. I’ve just recently watched Hardy Reef go through a seam issue and successfully make a full transfer of a large system with some challenging species. After all you have already done some of the initial work and if i recall your spouse gave you the green light.

The Phoenix only rises from ashes. Hard times+strong men=good times.

 

[Reefanatik]

Once again I wanted to say sorry about your tank. Kudos to you for doing the hard work to get the livestock out and continuing to keep them sustained in their temporary holdings.

18 years is a long time. It can be good to take a break. Especially with the disappointment and difficulty you are currently dealing with.

I would say reconsider getting out. I’ve just recently watched Hardy Reef go through a seam issue and successfully make a full transfer of a large system with some challenging species. After all you have already done some of the initial work and if i recall your spouse gave you the green light.

The Phoenix only rises from ashes. Hard times+strong men=good times.

Yeah, Innovative Marine reached out to me and told me they have a 200g they can ship me in 3 days. It would be a somewhat easy transfer. But I think I'm just going to take a break. It's hard and I'm a little sad but I need to focus on other things in life right now. Maybe in a few years I'll jump back in.

 

[gkprevite]

Sorry to hear. It blows my mind that tanks back in the day lasted a long time but somehow the $3-10k ones a lot of us are running can’t have a warranty longer than a reef tank settling into its stride or apparently even lasting a half decade.

The LFS that got me into this back in 2006 had a reef display that was 9 or 10 years old. My family’s All Glass freshwater tank was running for 20 years.

Its is not just one company its a lot of the high end and the internet is bringing it to light.

IMO it’s the lack of bracing. Rimless tanks became all the rage and usable lifespans were cut in half. If I ever went big again rimless would be out of the question

 

[Kooma]

I think the structural seam strength (from the perspective of the tank trying to rip itself apart due to hydrostatic force) is quite similar between protected, and unprotected vertical seams (When plastic is used)! The protectors primarily help with glass scraping, and keeping the likes of coralline algae from creeping into the structural seams! (A sacrificial barrier)

The plastic protectors are siliconed in place, sometimes pre-treated with chemical etching to help silicone adhesion… however, they are still quite flexible, and wouldn’t appreciably resist the top-down seam peeling effect (often seen on rimless tanks, particularly those from RS)!

If I had to guess, WB omitted the vertical seam protectors on your tank to minimize the “bulk” of those visible seams!

Not all internal bracing is plastic.

My 225 miracles is braced too and bottom, and has the armoured vertical seams. It’s all 5/8” glass for these pieces.

 

[Kooma]

Yeah, Innovative Marine reached out to me and told me they have a 200g they can ship me in 3 days. It would be a somewhat easy transfer. But I think I'm just going to take a break. It's hard and I'm a little sad but I need to focus on other things in life right now. Maybe in a few years I'll jump back in.

Sorry to see you go, but I get that side. I recently upgraded and switched to a mostly FOWLR tank, minimal frags and I’m focused on fish health over coral I have left over.

It’s made a busy life much easier to reef with and enjoy, so just a thought.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Eurobraced FOWLR with a good skimmer and no-fuss lighting... it's the way to go. All I do is feed-and-enjoy; water-changes are 'next-to-never' and glass scraping is minimal.

 

[UncommonSense]

Not all internal bracing is plastic.

My 225 miracles is braced too and bottom, and has the armoured vertical seams. It’s all 5/8” glass for these pieces.

Interesting! I only know of two other brands that do this, and wasn’t aware Miracle offered glass vertical seam reinforcements on their larger custom stuff!

Thanks for the info!