dv79

Hi,

I've just bought a second hand 48 inch x 31 inch x 24 inch tank, with a wier and full length sump.

The wier is at about 25 inchs.

I've just started to fill this tank, and when it got about 2/3 towards the weir level, it made a quite loud, scarey cracking sort of sound.

I stopped filling it at this point and observed.. a minute or two later, it made the same sound. At this point I lost my nerve and have drained the tank down, thinking it was going to rupture.

Now that it's empty, I have had a good look around the tank, and cannot see any evidence of cracking, which i presumed to be the problem.

Can anyone shed any light?

Many thanks in advance for your assistance

David

Butterfly

Welcome to fishLore!
Were you filling it with hot water or extremely cold water?
Carol

David C

Look over your plastic pieces on the tank top and bottom to see if you might have gotten a hairline crack in that. Besides the glass, this would be the only other thing that could "crack"

Dave

rocky12

resilicone the top sides, the corners, anywhere the glass is joined together. You might want take out the old silicone and replace with new stuff. Is there a black middle piece in the center of the tank? This helps with the stressload as more water is dumped in the tank. If not you can buy them.

locoyo386

What SPECIFIC silicone do you recomend for this size tank?

rocky12

All Glass aquirium silicone or aquirium silicone. Please understand that tanks do take alot of wear and tear. People I have talked to say that an average span for a tank to last is around 10 to 15 years. It could be that it's just old. To play it safe, fill the tank with freshwater somewhere safe if something does crack it wont do any damage to anything. Leave it filled, see if you can hear any cracks. If you do let me know.

locoyo386

What is your opinion to the warning on the tube that says it should not be used on aquariums larger than 30 gallons and no taller than 18"? The 55 gallon tank is obviously more than 30 gallons and it is also taller than 18".

rocky12

Does ur tank have silicone on it right now? My opinion is that there saying they dont recomend it over thirty gallons and ur taking a chance that the weight of water may cause a leak. In this case I would go over the prexisting silicone with the new tube. Did u try fill your tank again yet? Try this if this doesnt work I have a another idea

bubblefish

New silicone will not adhere to old/cured silicone. I've attached a thread about resealing tanks.

55 gallon tank has a leak. what to do?