emergency..!! my 6ft tank has bowed..

[craigy boy]

i'm too stressed to say hi, after over a year with my 6ft 160gal tank i accidently restricted the flow to the overflow whilst cleaning, as the water in the tank rose i noticed that the glass rim that is all around the top of the tank was only making contact with the water in 1 perticular spot on the middle of the tank at the back....
this made me suspicious though i had seen this once before about 5 months ago and thought nothing of it..
i inspected the rear of the tank and saw to my horror that the entire length of the back glass has bowed outwards and is now touching the wall it is against, it was about 1/2 inch away from it when fitted.
ive already taken down 1 6ft tank because i wasn't happy with the glass but this is a quality made 10mm glass tank with 20mm base. (when i say base i mean they made the entire tank of 10mm and in the bottom they braced it with another 10mm all around and -----well a kind of window effect is the best way to describe it looking from the top down.) so this is very sturdy, but i have a huge amount of rock, but this shouldn't make a difference as the weight in water displaced by rock should be equal.
i really dont know what to do as i have just finished this weekend instaling the riff 1000 from aquamedic and all the plumbing and its finally all as it should be, ozone, skimers, calcium reactor, nitrate reductors, uv lamps, top off and just about everything i should need has finally been installed.
its cost an absolute fortune and i had to take out a loan to do it all, if this thing breaks then my dreams of reef keeping will be just dreams again as i think of this as more of an endurance test than a hobby these days...
ANY ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED AS I'M BEGINING TO THINK I HAVE WASTED NEARLY £6000....
p.s just when you think things cant get any worse its inevitable they will.!!!!!
thanks guys and girls for reading.....a glass of wine is helping to make sense of this hobby.....lol

[Jimmer]

Does your tank have a brace running across the middle of tank? IE a piece of plastic running front to back to keep it from bowing. If it does not I would STRONGLY suggest you partially drain your tank and construct a brace to hold the glass together.

I have a tank from All Glass where the middle brace broke and it was bowing like crazy! I partially drained it, ordered a new top piece (brace now intact) ripped off the old one, glued on the new one and its as good as new now.

[craigy boy]

hi mate, yeah there is a piece of 10mm glass at the top of the tank siliconed from front to back...right in the middle....i'll try and post a pic

[TroyF]

Craig I'm not sure if this is what you want to hear but 10mm is awfully thin for that size of tank. I would try and get a hold of a tank builder in your area and have him put some perimeter bracing on if this is possible.

Best of luck.

[Jimmer]

Originally posted by TroyF
Craig I'm not sure if this is what you want to hear but 10mm is awfully thin for that size of tank. I would try and get a hold of a tank builder in your area and have him put some perimeter bracing on if this is possible.

Best of luck.

My thoughts exactly!!

[ShirleyM]

Originally posted by TroyF
I would try and get a hold of a tank builder in your area and have him put some perimeter bracing on if this is possible.

Premium Aquatics had this problem with their acrylic tanks 4 yrs ago in their old location, and they had acrylic perimeter bracing installed all around all their tanks. They had been told the width of the acrylic was sufficient, but it wasn't and it was bowing badly.

I have no clue about glass or acrylic bowing...just sharing how PA took care of it. The bracing looked like right triangles stuck to the glass, bottom to top, extending a few inches on the base toward the center of the tank. That could look a bit odd on a show tank on the front.

Sure am sorry this is happening...I would definitely be losing sleep.
Shirley

[craigy boy]

losing plenty of sleep and now have got the manufacturers (clearseal) to come and inspect it....
you'd think paying £600 for a tank from a reputable company that they would have some idea about glass sizes, but after reading the comments above i'm concerned and looking back 10mm does seem thin i guess.
the bracing idea sounds good but not practical and if i had to drain the tank i might as well just start again (and of course go bigger....lol)
it would be cheaper for me to look at the display tank in the lfs every day...!!!!
take care
craigyboy

[Casey]

thats it Craigyboy drain that baby and go bigger make sure the glass is thicker.

[Mrs Smith]

Goodness. I hope your nightmare resolves soon - and I hope the company makes it right with you, although transferring a tank into another isn't the best way to spend a day off...

Have another glass of wine. Or perhaps something stronger. I know I would be if I were in your shoes.

Danielle

[craigy boy]

i thinks its some kind of unwritten law that states "just when you think you've spent your last penny on your tank, you havn't"..!
major structural changes required for a bigger monster tank of 10ft length and 3ft high...or maybe i'll just buy a glass house and fill it with water....lol

[alaskaknucklehead]

Wow, what a bummer! What, do these guys not test the tanks they build? Hopefully they will make it right. Best of luck


Adam

[Joel]

so did you find anything out yet?

[512148048]

well first i would call the manufacture and tell them you wanted a new 160 with 20 mm glass all round (if not 25 mm) then when they told you the price(make sure you get the price befor you tell them the reason they might bump it other wise) you tell them the reason you need this tank is because of their bad advice so you would return their tank with in 1 week delivery of the new tank and the price you paid for the old one would go towards the price of the new one and you will have to come to some sort of arrangements for the shipping.
that’s what I would do; worst case scenario call your lawyer.