How long does a tank "last"

Mulla

Mulla

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May 16, 2003
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Hi all,

Done a quick search but nothing has turned up, I'm sure this would have been discussed before. Just wanted to get an idea if a standard rectangular glass / silicon tank will have some form of use by date?

Would the pressure of the water gradually wear out the bonding properties of the silicon and the tank will need to be rebuilt / replaced at a certain point in time? Or are we talking about a long time like 20 / 30 + years that's not worth worrying about.

Just a little paranoid that my tank will suddenly give and all that water isn't going to be good for the carpet not to mention the little ones in the tank! :(

Thanks in advance.
 
usually a tanks frame and silicone sealant work hand in hand to create a more solid structure. unless you accidentally use a terranium tank (a tank for lizards, snakes, etc) which has thinner glass than a standard aquarium tank meant built to hold water, then you'll have trouble. thats not to say one won't get a defective tank, but the chances are slim. i believe a fellow forumite here had a large tank that was defective because the frame was bending and the glass was bowing out. but that was the first time i even heard and saw it.

as long as you keep your tank on a flat surface without having any of the edges hanging off, or use stand approved for the tanks size and dimensions, i don't see a reason for why a tank would explode or leak. keep a good eye for leaks when doing a daily or weekly inspection, because they can save you a lot of trouble in the future.

if your really paranoid, have your insurance (if you have any) cover an aquarium.
 
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I havnt heard of such. But im interested in the answer :read:
 
Thanks for the detailed guide icecubez189. Just wanted to get an idea if one should simply "refresh" their tanks say every 10 years / 20 years... and the cost of some larger tanks would probably make this an expensive exercise to perform!

I've been upgrading tanks fairly quickly in the past 6 years or so of fish keeping thus I never worry about my tank getting old and failing. Now I've got a 400G tank which I think I'll keep for a while I'm beginning to wonder.

Got my tank / stand from a reputable LFS who's been in business for many years... Hopefully she's good!!! :)

Anyone else have any experiences to share?!
 
If the frame is 1 peice, and it's full all the time (at a constant temp), it would be 30+ years before I would worry.
 
My oldest tank still in use is a 29 gallon that I bought in 1984. (The one I had before that was damaged by the movers when we moved back from Edmonton). It has some scratches that would be nice if I could replace it, but there's really no NEED to.
 
I've had tanks with failing seals, and they were fairly old and had not been cared for well (i.e. left dry in a basement for long periods of time, etc). The only time I've had seals fail, it hasn't been a catastrophic, all 4 sides collapsing kind of failure. One day I noticed there was a drop of water at one seam, so I wiped it off, and a little while later it came back. At that point, I knew it was time to replace the tank.
 
Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. At least I now know that catastrophic failure is unlikely and tanks shouldn't be left dry. Should be properly secured on flat surface with proper stand.
 
my 80 gallon cichlid tank was 20 yeas old when i got it and i have been using it for 5 years now.
 
My 25 gallon tank was nine years old when it sprung a leak. I had just topped it off the night before when the next morning I noticed that the water level was lower then it should of been. The carpet around the tank was also wet. The tank was in constant use over the nine years and well taken care of. It was never left to just sit and dry out and this still happened. I ended up replacing the tank as the leak was not repairable.Sometimes these things just happen.

Marinemom
 
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