Tank failures

[KolossalKraken]

All of these posts about tank failures are making me anxious to set up an aquarium. I have a 6 year old nuvo 10 I am wanting to set up. What should I check before I set it up to minimize the chance of a tank failure?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Always do a water/leak test before fully establishing a tank. This involves filling a tank with water and looking for any signs of leaks or integrity issues in your tank. Check around the bottom middle part of your tank; this is a common spot for seams to burst in tanks.

I wouldn't be nervous about it and would go ahead and start up your tank again!

 

[KolossalKraken]

Always do a water/leak test before fully establishing a tank. This involves filling a tank with water and looking for any signs of leaks or integrity issues in your tank. Check around the bottom middle part of your tank; this is a common spot for seams to burst in tanks.

I wouldn't be nervous about it and would go ahead and start up your tank again!

Good idea! I’ll make sure I do a fill test before I set it up for real

 

[BryanM]

Fill test for sure.... but most of the tank failure threads are specific to one manufacturer.

 

[Uncle99]

At 10G, if it holds water, I would have no concerns.
It’s generally 100+G where this is more frequent.

 

[get-salty]

Fill test for sure.... but most of the tank failure threads are specific to one manufacturer.

Bryan, I READ and SEE what you did there on your comment.

 

[hatfielj]

All of these posts about tank failures are making me anxious to set up an aquarium. I have a 6 year old nuvo 10 I am wanting to set up. What should I check before I set it up to minimize the chance of a tank failure?

Tank failures are actually pretty rare. They seem more common on the internet simply because people are more likely to post about their seam failure than their old tank that has been running forever without any problems.
I wouldn't be anxious about setting up a tank.

The key things to do to prevent failures are:

1. Buy a quality tank from a reputable source and check reviews.

2. Use a stand built for that tank (do NOT try to build your own or repurpose a piece of furniture) and make sure it's perfectly level before you fill the tank. If you don't have experience here, hire someone experienced to help you. *This is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT step

3. Avoid rimless tanks if you want to go big. If you want to go 100+ gallons, get a tank with bracing (perimeter and cross bracing ideally).

 

[KolossalKraken]

At 10G, if it holds water, I would have no concerns.
It’s generally 100+G where this is more frequent.

Thanks. I won’t let my anxiety get the best of me!

 

[exnisstech]

Tank failures are actually pretty rare. They seem more common on the internet simply because people are more likely to post about their seam failure than their old tank

While this is partly true I kept aquariums for many years and never had a reason to post about a failure until I became a RS tank owner and mine was a reefer 170 not a large tank that is most common.

OP I would have no problem filling and running a 6 yo 10g as long as it holds water and there isn't any visible seam damage from aggressive scraping.