Broken Tank: Can It Be Fixed?

So I've been considering breeding my danios, and it all sounded great until I realized I might not have enough room for the babies A friend gave me their 10-20 gallon(I can't really tell)tank to use for my praying mantis babies, since they could't use the tank anymore for fish because there was a crack down one side, but the poor tiny things cooked in the summer heat when I left them at my friend's house while I went on vacation in two separate small bug catchers.

My question is, can I somehow patch up the crack in the tank wall and use it again as a fish tank? I'm kinda broke right now, and I really don't want to spend 50-100 dollars on a brand new one.

 

Are you in the US? You can get a new 10 or 20 gal when Petco has their $1/gal sale, so it's only $10 or $20. I wouldn't trust a patch, and it'd be more expensive to replace the pane of glass than it would be to get a new tank.

You might be able to find a used tank even cheaper somewhere like Craigslist or through your local fish club.

 

Wow I did not know about that. Thanks!

How would I patch it up if I were to

I don't live in the US, and I'd have to get it shipped over, defeating the purpose of the $1/gal deal

 

I'd check for used tanks then. Patch jobs don't usually hold very long. You can google how to patch an aquarium for ideas.

 

Okay. Searching Craigslist now....

 

Craigslist is a US thing. Where are you located?

 

BC

I could take a road trip and drive across the border to the Petco in Bellingham, but I'm too lazy for that. And the gas would add to the cost too.

Craigslist works for Canada too.

 

Don't know if you have Walmart up there but they have 10 gal. for 14.99

 

Wow I did not know Walmart sold tanks. The cheapest one I found was $45, with all the equipment and stuff. The brand was Tetra. Trustworthy or not? I did find a tank selling for 14.99 though: a 1 gallon Finding Dory Starter Kit.

Mmm no good I checked the reviews. Darn

 

can I see a picture of the crack. Some cracks are patchable and some are not

 

I would caution on the side of patching a tank. The insurance side of me would say the risk is higher for leaks. Think about damages to your property and other people property if any.

Perhaps you should see if you have any friends coming up to BC and see if they can bring the tank to you.

 

When I run a finger across the crack I don't feel any difference.

Yeah, I don't think re-using it is a good idea.

 

You can't feel the crack on either side of the glass? Are you sure it's not a scratch then?

 

I can see it. I don't know if you can see it there in the picture, it's on the right side of the tank slanting down diagonally to the left.

My phone has a terrible camera

 

Hey, if you need help with figuring out the gallon size of your tank. Here is a video.

 

Thank you so much! I will measure my tank now, if I can find the measuring tape.

 

Wow I did not know Walmart sold tanks. The cheapest one I found was $45, with all the equipment and stuff. The brand was Tetra. Trustworthy or not? I did find a tank selling for 14.99 though: a 1 gallon Finding Dory Starter Kit.

Mmm no good I checked the reviews. Darn

A 1 gallon is way to small for ANY fish. Buy at least a 10 gallon

 

I wasn't planning on using a one gallon! The smallest tank I have is a 2.5 gallon. Thank you for your concern though!

 

Just wondering how high the chances are for a tank to actually break

 

I wonder that too sometimes. I'm a paranoid person, so I avoid older or used tanks for that reason. I also stayed away from brands that had quality control issues with leaking tanks. I wouldn't care too much with a smaller tank, but anything larger would be brutal if it all leaked out.

 

Thankfully not. I've had a canister filter leak though.

 

I have never had a tank break, but when I was filling up my 5.5 after a water change, I wasn't paying attention and it overflowed.

 

If the tank is a quality name brand, on an appropriate stand, correctly leveled, out of the way from little kids & flying projectiles, chances are slI'm for an aquarium failure.

 

I wonder that too sometimes. I'm a paranoid person, so I avoid older or used tanks for that reason. I also stayed away from brands that had quality control issues with leaking tanks. I wouldn't care too much with a smaller tank, but anything larger would be brutal if it all leaked out.

Right, I only have a 10 gal that I’ve moved around a lot and always think dang it’d suck if I stressed out the seals and it breaks.

My friend wants to get a 40 but she always gets secondhand tanks, pretty sure she is going new this time. 40 gallons of water crashing all over the floor.... no thank you.

 

I have only ever had two aquariums break

One was my fault....about 15 years ago trying to be clever in moving a large aquarium that was sat on the floor without emptying it first....one foot on each end frame and one foot slipped and went straight through the side

The other was in the last month when a new aquarium was delivered smashed

 

My second-hand tank (current one 31 gal) is a little bit leaking so I can't top it with water fully, also when the water is evaporating because of the temperature and is leaking. I wish I could do something with this so I could fully top the tank with water.

 

I've never had one break. I had one I thought was cracked, got a new one, and low and behold, the old one just had some silicone dripped across it.....

So from now on, I'm bringing a window cleaner's razor scraper to clean the aquarium before buying it!

 

I mean, I have a 60 gallon angel/guppie/platy/most species of cory tank now, so it wasn't all bad LOL