cracked acrylic???

C

craniumtide

AC Members
Mar 16, 2004
10
0
0
44
Visit site
Hi! Just got used 55 gal acrylic tank. It was in good shape (I thought) until I cleaned it. Scratches became more visible and I found these weird shatter marks on the botton rim. I felt them on the inside and outside and it doesn't feel like its really actually cracked. Its smooth on both side like its in the middle of the acrylic.

Is this a big problem? SHould I not fill with water? If I do, will it get bigger and eventually shatter from the water pressure? Can I fix or is it unfixable? Maybe silacone sealant? Any one else who has acrylic experienced this? Is this just normal wear and tear for acrylic?

Also- is it safe to use acrylic scratch remover on the inside of tank? How about scratch protector, is that ok on inside or no?

Sorry for the questions but I'm a little bummed out... Thanx guys and gals!!!
 
What i would do is fill it outside and see if it leaks. Unfortunatly if its cracked i don't no if there is anything you can do to save it. I bought a 300 gallons used acrylic tank and found it had a seam split i asked everyone what i could do and they all told me nothing. I even went and talked to a couple tank manufacturers who said the same thing. They said if you try to re-glue it the flumes from the solvent can weaken the seams higher on the tank. Sorry I know that not the answer you were looking for, but don't take my word as golden i could be wrong. Remember my tank was 300 gallon there is a big difference between that and 55 gallons. good luck
 
well youre right ... 300 is mucher bigger than 55 gallons. You think it would matter? The shatter cracks arent on seam though. theyare just above... One of them looks like its going towards the seam though.

What manufacturer did you call? what is their contact ifno.? Thanx for reply..
 
Shattered Acrylic

When I was building my Acrylic tank, I had ordered several precut sections of acrylic. At the time I wanted real smooth edges for solvent welding and asked the plastic company to Flame Polish the edges. When I told him what I wanted to do with the acrylic, he immediatly told me that you should never flame polish the edges of acrylic if you are going to solvent weld them. It causes the acrylic to shatter/crack (like safety glass) at the point where the solvent and the flame polish meet. In this case it would look like the acrylic is shattered in the middle of acrylic at the seam.

Your description appear to be similar to his description. I believe the tank is not usable in this condition.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom