Uh oh, I think my tank is cracked.

[Falconfree]

I was feeding the guppies tonight when I noticed a spot on the inside wall of my tank. I call it a crack, but there may be a more precise term. It's like where a rock hit a car windshield. Quite small, maybe an eighth of an inch, and circular. I tried to get a photo, but it doesn't really show up well.

The tank is a 55 gallon planted tank. The crack is about 40% of the way up from the bottom. How big an emergency is this? I read that cracks can be repaired with silicone, is this the same procedure for this kind of crack in glass? I have a very limited budget.

 

[fishorama]

Well, I'd keep an eye open to the Petco $1/gal sale..your tank needs more help than is feasible to fix, sorry

 

[pbeemer]

is it a chip, like you get on a windshield? does it go all the way through? is it leaking water?

 

[FreshyFresh]

Do you have rocks or other decor in the tank that could cause this type of chip?

 

[FreshyFresh]

Do you have rocks or other decor in the tank that could cause this type of chip?

 

[Falconfree]

I just vacuumed the gravel pretty thoroughly to see if that helped with my nitrate problem (it did!), so I'm guessing I managed to somehow fling one of the gravel into the glass. There is nothing in the tank but plants, gravel, and a moss ball (on the other side from the crack).

It looks identical to the windshield chips from rocks. It is not leaking, and does not go all the way through. This is the best picture I could get of it.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I can't really tell from the pic, but any chip that's not on the glass edges can be a danger. I suppose you could try to silicone a plexiglass or glass "patch" over it, but being a 55g, I'd just replace the tank. Hate to have to do that on an established rooted plant tank.

 

[fishorama]

Yeah, those "dings" mid-glass are trouble waiting to happen. Make a plan for what to do when all heck breaks out...& it will...probably in the middle of the night...or that's my experience...twice! But you "might" get lucky...

 

[myswtsins]

Yeah, chips on edges can be no problemo (I have a friend who has TONS of big chips out of his rimless 75gs and they have been fine for decades) but a possible spider chip mid glass sounds like trouble, big trouble.

It is very hard to tell from the picture, are you 100% sure it is damage to the glass and not something else? Flinging a piece of gravel couldn't cause that kind of damage, glass is surprising tough stuff.

BTW moss collects tons of stuff, adding to nitrates. "Fluff" it when you do water changes to help with that.

 

[Falconfree]

I can just barely feel the chip with my finger, tried to scrape it off in case it was something but no dice. I'm thinking now that maybe I missed it for a few days, because I pulled a big castle out of there several days back. Maybe I dinged it with that monster? I don't know.

I'm not taking any chances of having 55 gallons spill out on the floor, haha. We picked up a 20 gallon at the store today, and I'm waiting for it to heat up before transferring my filter and fish to it. I know it will have to cycle, but hopefully it won't be bad with gravel, plants, and the old filter all added to it. Thankfully, I'd only just started stocking the tank, so there are only a few guppies.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the help. I'm still pretty new to fish but my heart just sank when I saw that chip. Love the tip on the moss, thanks!! I had no idea how to help get the gunk out of all that moss. I tried rinsing a little one once, and apparently was a little too vigorous with rubbing because I rubbed a big part of it off!

On the upside, my daughter's mice are going to have a spacious new tank.

 

[dougall]

The next $/gallon sales starts a week on Saturday I believe. But I don't think they have more than a 29g tank included, at least not in all areas.


I agree that I wouldn't be taking a chance with 55g of water... but I would not be too worried about going through another cycle if you transfer over your filter, plants and gravel... If you lower feeding levels for a while while you make the change, and check your water frequently too you can make sure there's no interruption in service.


and depending on your current livestock and your water parameters, you might be able to start a colony of shrimp to pick away at anything in the moss too.