Faulty silicone seal in new 50 gal tank?

Hi all,

I just bought a 50 gallon tank from Top Fin (Petsmart store brand) and noticed that one of the silicone joints in one corner has a big air gap. See the picture I took below. I found some threads in this forum about "bubbles" in the silicone and most people seem to say not to worry about those.. but calling what my tank has a "bubble" is a little bit of an understatement I would say. So far I put about 20 gallons of water in it and it hasn't leaked, but I'm not sure if I should be worried about it. Should I?

 

i'd take it back and get a different tank. inspect it thoroughly at the store.

 

Could it be just extra silicon that wasn't wiped off when built? Not sure if the store will return it if it isn't leaking. If not fill the tank to the top and wait a few days, sometimes these tanks take awhile to start leaking.

 

Could it be just extra silicon that wasn't wiped off when built? Not sure if the store will return it if it isn't leaking. If not fill the tank to the top and wait a few days, sometimes these tanks take awhile to start leaking.

No it really is an air gap where the two glasses are supposed to be attached to each other. See below for a schematic of where I think silicone is from a top view cross section.

I'm 98% sure the tank will not leak if I fill it with water now. But will that still be the case in 5 years? I'm not sure how silicone ages and whether this is going to be the weak spot that eventually leaks?...

 

No it really is an air gap where the two glasses are supposed to be attached to each other. See below for a schematic of where I think silicone is from a top view cross section.

I'm 98% sure the tank will not leak if I fill it with water now. But will that still be the case in 5 years? I'm not sure how silicone ages and whether this is going to be the weak spot that eventually leaks?...

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Yes that looks bad to me. It's an obvious quality control problem. I would definitely try to return it. At some point it probably leaks. Edit to add i was looking at the blob of silicon sticking out and didn't notice the big air gaps. I would even be nervous of the tank front blowing out.

 

There is a primary and secondary seal on all glass tanks. The primary is the glass to glass joint. The secondary is the silicone on the inside of the tank. If all the silicone on the secondary seal is removed the tank should still be water tight.


The primary seal on the tank in question looks very shaky. The secondary seal is possibly the only thing that would prevent a leak right now. I would certainly return.

 

IMO I wouldn't trust it I would get a new one,I had a tank that was running a long time and started to get bubbles in the silicone then one day it sprung a leak ,had to get a new tank.Now I'm not saying that will happen to that tank but you really don't want to take a chance with it as far as over time and how it will hold up.Mabey when they built it they didn't put enough silicone around there.

 

I too would take it back. A few bubbles in the inner seal isn't as big a deal. This is a leak or actual blow out just waiting to happen.

 

Thanks for all the replies!

I think what worries me the most is that none of you guys seemed to have ever seen this kind of defect in a silicone seal, right? I probably wouldn't have bothered if this was a common quality flaw that only sometimes happens to be a problem. But if it's that unusual, that can't be good haha.

It's going to be quite a pain to replace it though! Like I said, I already filled it half way, and even have some (non-fish) animals and lots of plants in there now - and unfortunately I don't have a spare tank. I hope PetSmart can think of a way to make this easy for me...

 

I wouldn't look forward to it either but I wouldn't trust it not to let go sooner rather than later. If it were just a tiny spot I might not be as concerned but this looks like it is almost the whole seam. I would not be at all comfortable with it.

 

Thanks for all the replies!

I think what worries me the most is that none of you guys seemed to have ever seen this kind of defect in a silicone seal, right? I probably wouldn't have bothered if this was a common quality flaw that only sometimes happens to be a problem. But if it's that unusual, that can't be good haha.

It's going to be quite a pain to replace it though! Like I said, I already filled it half way, and even have some (non-fish) animals and lots of plants in there now - and unfortunately I don't have a spare tank. I hope PetSmart can think of a way to make this easy for me...

Flaws in the glass aren't uncommon but i never saw one where almost the entire side was affected. The silicon is meant as an extra seal it adds little strength. Water wants to press outward. Except for the part that is glued the only strength is the plastic top brace. Who knows what the bottom seal looks like? I know its a real pain but this tank is a disaster waiting to happen, bring it back. Topfin seems like it has a serious quality control problem.

 

get a plastic storage container, tranfer the plants etc into it, and take it back for a new one.