Leaks: My Great Fear

[LogJam]

Hello All:

I would like to get my first aquarium soon, but I gotta admit that I really fear having 20 - 50 gallons leak all over my carpeting!

What steps can I take to prevent this from happening? I have heard that acryilic tanks are very strong and rarely leak, but stratch easily. I know that I would do something stupid and stratch an acryilic tank up!

What can I do?


Kind Regards,
LogJam

 

[kamla]

If you are not making th etank you self.. you should not have aproblem...
th etank you buy at the store are preety well made and will (Should) not leak.

many people here have had the same tanks for years without any problems..
HTH

 

[OrionGirl]

Buy a quality tank. Make sure the tank and the stand it is on are both level, and sturdy. Place the tank to minimize traffic.

I've never had a tank leak that hadn't been abused in some manner.

 

[Kires1]

Before placing the tank on your stand, lay a thin layer of cork on the stand (to place the tank onto). (like 1/8" thick cork from a hobby store. I used double sided tape to stick my cork to the top of my stand before placing my 55 gal on top of it.)

Many times the stand top surface is not completely flat (especially if it's wood) and the cork helps to eleminate any stresses after you fill the tank with water.

 

[LogJam]

Thanks for the responses, all.

The responses tell me to buy a qualitity tank? What do I look for to tell if it is a quality tank?

What are some good brands? My local store has Top Fin tanks, is this good?

Thanks!
LogJam

 

[cloud]

I agree with OG. Never heard of any new glass tank leak unless someone did something wrong to it.
I've not heard of the brand you mentioned but then again I'm in the UK. Clear-Seal do good tanks. Can you get them where you are?
But to be honest I've never heard anyone warn off from any specific brands.
If it's that same where you are then all tanks manufacturers will have to pass a quality test to get a mark they can display on their packaging that shows their product conforms to the quality standards relating to their product. In the UK it's called a Kite Mark. Maybe you have a similar thing where you are.

It is the biggest fear of any fish keeper. But it's not something you hear of often on this board, And the few times you do, then in my exp, it always concerns a 2nd hand tank, or one that wasn't set up level. Kires idea with the cork (or failing that, polystyrene) is a good idea. If you keep your tank level and have a thin medium underneath it to ease the load even more then you'll be fine with a new tank.

 

[OrionGirl]

Topfin is one of the lower cost brands--usually means the glass is somewhat thinner than a similar sized All-Glass. But, it's still sturdy enough, just thinner. I run a topfin 20 with no concerns.

 

[CharlieV]

I was worried about the same thing so bought myself a Juwel (don't know if their available over the pond?) and it comes with a 2 year warranty / insurance against breaks and leakages caused by defective parts
Hagen, Clearseal, Juwel, Rena (if you can afford it!) all top brands and as far as I know offer warranty on their more expensive models

 

[JohnGivens]

I had a 20 gallon tank that began to leak so I exchanged it and the second tank began to leak as well. I learned that this was caused by not having a stand that was specifically made for an aquarium. The good news about the leaks is that they occurred slowly, not all at once as you probably fear. I have had absolutely no problems since using only stands made for the two aquariums that I own. Perfecto, a division of Marineland makes some very good and inexpensive tank/stand combos so give their website a check and see if you like what you see. I purchased a 37 gallon Sedona series tank with cabinet, canopy, and light for 219.00 a few months ago. Good Luck

 

[ashdavid]

　　Everyone is giving you advise about getting a good quality tank so I wont press the point. :thm: If you get a reasonably good tank you wont have any problems. Jmo but I think the biggest problem we face is not the tank leaking,but the plumbing to the filter(If the filter is outside the tank). I have had about 350g of water out of my 400g tank all over my floor, and let me tell you when you come home from work and you go into your dark basement and there is 2 inches of water on the floor, YOUR NOT HAPPY AT ALL . :mad2: The reason for this disaster was that when I did the plumbing I forgot to put a hose bracket to stop it from comming out of the socket. Very dumb I know. Luckly my wife is very forgiving. Anyway check and double check the plumbing and you should be fine. I have never in my experience had equipment fail on me, all the mistakes have been made by me!
Good luck with your tank. :dance2: