Acrylic tank cracking

Xxflounderxx · Feb 4, 2024

I have an 150 gallon acrylic tank 5x2x2 been running over 2 years got it second hand. I did water change last weekend and just cleaned the front pannel today and noticed some very small look like little cracks in the middle of the tank over about a 1ft span. They just appeared out of no were. Any ideas can they be polished out? Maybe an magic eraser?

klc · Feb 4, 2024

It’s called crazing. Unfortunately not much you can do about it after it occurs. Sanding them out and repolishing is the only solution but that’s only if it’s not too deep.

Xxflounderxx · Feb 4, 2024

I'm guessing it's structurally sound?

klc · Feb 5, 2024

Yes, it's just surface degradation. I've had several acrylic tanks get crazing areas for no apparent reason. I suppose in a forum discussing the technical properties of acrylic there could be instances where crazing would shown to weaken it but i've never seen an acrylic tank panel fail like that before, and I've been around for a while. My first big tank, an acrylic 8x2x2 240 made out of 1/2", crazed on one end only. It was not anything I felt caused any harm so I lived with it. There are some videos on youtube that demonstrate crazing repair if you want to try and eliminate it.

Butterflygirl · Feb 13, 2024

I'm also looking for advice on my acrylic tank. Freshwater, not sure how old- maybe 15 years? Slight crazing on one corner. A new larger crack just appeared, I'm unaware of any impact or cause. Looks ok right now but I can feel the crack on the outside with my fingernail. No signs of leaking so far, but would you recommend replacing or attempt a repair? Seems like it would be difficult on a smooth edge. Thanks.

Sisterlimonpot · Feb 13, 2024

Xxflounderxx said:
I have an 150 gallon acrylic tank 5x2x2 been running over 2 years got it second hand. I did water change last weekend and just cleaned the front pannel today and noticed some very small look like little cracks in the middle of the tank over about a 1ft span. They just appeared out of no were. Any ideas can they be polished out? Maybe an magic eraser?

Do you have an urchin?

randomfishdude · Feb 13, 2024

Butterflygirl said:
I'm also looking for advice on my acrylic tank. Freshwater, not sure how old- maybe 15 years? Slight crazing on one corner. A new larger crack just appeared, I'm unaware of any impact or cause. Looks ok right now but I can feel the crack on the outside with my fingernail. No signs of leaking so far, but would you recommend replacing or attempt a repair? Seems like it would be difficult on a smooth edge. Thanks.

This is a saltwater form.... some can probobly help but just letting you knoe

blecki · Feb 13, 2024

Tank is a tank regardless of the salinity of the water. If it's a crack and not crazing it could hold for a long time then fail all at once. Just for peace of mind it sounds like it's time to upgrade.