Are my tanks seams beginning to fail?

[buruskeee]

Someone never made it past the first page

 

[buruskeee]

For example - IMs are rare to see breaks, but there's a member here (and has a decent Youtube following) that has had 2 different IM tanks (both replacements) leak within 6 months.

Actually just stumbled on this post too. So tanks fail. Just the G1s were very high rate relatively.

Is My Tank About to Bust a Seam?

I have an IM 50ext that is level, but I noticed this afternoon that the left panel has slughtly pulled away from the front panel on the bottom right. All other panels and seams look good. is my tank about to blow a seam? We have already emailed IM.

www.reef2reef.com

From what I’ve seen, the G1s (even G1 V3) were just flawed from the start. The G2 so far has seen one single fail in the 2 years it’s been out (we know of through all the Internet forums) and it was a replacement tank for a G1.

 

[StevenL]

Update:

New tank arrived today. Ive started rinsing the sand which is probably the most exhausting part of this whole ordeal. Need to disassemble the old tank next.

 

[BryanM]

Well, I'm stressed out reading this thread, glad the OP is calmed down. I saved the description for the used setup I purchased, and apparently its a RedSea G1 425XL V3.

So I am now stressed, and sad. I guess I will keep an eye on it, make sure if I don't already have appropriate wood and straps, get them to give me time if I start to see any signs of this BS happening.

UGH.

btw, OP, your tank was gorgeous, I'm sure it will be again soon .... I'd be running far away from RS at this point myself. Your tank tubs seem to be working, I'd be getting anything euro braced or otherwise recommended and selling the RMA'd tank to offset the cost.

 

[StevenL]

Interesting read. I am going to give this a try over the next few days and will post my results.

Brandon, I’ve rinsed my sand for hours and it’s finally coming in clear. I am going to do my final rinse with RODI water shortly. Do you typically wait for the sand to dry before rinsing with RODI?
Will any potential leftover tap water “contaminate” for lack of a better word the sand when I place it in the new tank?

I understand I will need to take the RODI aspect into account when getting the salinity right with the new water. I plan on transferring some of the tub water (~20? Gallons) into the new tank as well unless anyone thinks that’s a bad idea.

My goal is to have the new tank up and running by Saturday.

 

[brandon429]

No in none of the jobs in the rinse thread did we dry out the sand, just rinse and install

If some tap water remains it's no big deal, rinse what you can out. Within one day of running in the new system that small amount of tap water will dissipate

 

[brandon429]

You can use that tub water for sure it's clean and good

 

[StevenL]

Day 10 update:

The new tank & stand are assembled. It honestly looks the same as my old one, I can’t visually see what I would call “upgrades”. Glass thickness seems the same, corners look the same, it still has the front overhang. The cabinet looks mostly the same, there are minor differences. The plumbing is slightly different but nothing crazy. It came with an ATO which is interesting but I think the ATO reservoir was missing from the package (emailed CS about that waiting to hear back.)

I checked the level on the old & new tanks as someone requested earlier- they were both perfectly level.

The sand is rinsed and ready to go in the tank. I’ll probably get that in along with some water tomorrow.

Started scraping some algae off the rocks, will finish it eventually.

Will post a pic once it’s 100% set up. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me.

Ciao for now

 

[brandon429]

This thread has been used to help others as well, thank you for such great documentation and straight on follow through!

 

[North Borders]

Yeah, they did quite a bit, a lot of it is structural with the stand too. I’d ask them about if there was any changes to the stand for the G2 for your model.

Haven’t really seen a G2 failure aside from chips and glass breaking from handling the tanks.

My LFS also has a few “brand new” G1 they’re trying to offload. I wouldn’t touch a G1 tank period - they really cut a ton of corners with that generation.

I think I have one of the "original" Reefer 250's purchased in 2016. Was G1 released later on, or does that refer to generation 1?

 

[ingchr1]

...I checked the level on the old & new tanks as someone requested earlier- they were both perfectly level...

Was this the tank itself or the stand? Would be interested in knowing if the stand itself was completely flat in all directions across the top it, no sag anywhere.

When you place the level on it, were they any gaps between the level and stand. Assuming the level is long enough to go across most of the stand. Doesn't have to be a level, just something that doesn't deflect and is long enough.

This could help in determining a potential cause. The construction of the tank itself, the design of the stand or maybe a combination of both. Noting that measuring of the stand alone may not give the whole picture as there is no tank filled with water on it. But it would be a data point.

 

[StevenL]

Was this the tank itself or the stand? Would be interested in knowing if the stand itself was completely flat in all directions across the top it, no sag anywhere.

When you place the level on it, were they any gaps between the level and stand. Assuming the level is long enough to go across most of the stand. Doesn't have to be a level, just something that doesn't deflect and is long enough.

This could help in determining a potential cause. The construction of the tank itself, the design of the stand or maybe a combination of both. Noting that measuring of the stand alone may not give the whole picture as there is no tank filled with water on it. But it would be a data point.

Level was long enough to cover the entire thing. Both the tank and the stand were level, no gaps at all. No real indication as to the cause of the failure. My guess would be the tank overhang in combination with the force of the water inside the tank but I can’t say for certain.

 

[buruskeee]

I think I have one of the "original" Reefer 250's purchased in 2016. Was G1 released later on, or does that refer to generation 1?

If it had rimmed bottom and top edges, it was the models before g1. G1 was the first rimless I believe that wasn’t their nanos.

 

[StevenL]

I think I have one of the "original" Reefer 250's purchased in 2016. Was G1 released later on, or does that refer to generation 1?

What’s the serial #?

 

[flashsmith]

We’ll find out soon. Many of the G1 tanks that bursted happened around the 3 year mark. The G2 is starting to get there.

Purchased my G2 625 XXL in Oct. of 21. So three years old now. Pretty sure I got one of the first redesigned ones according to my dealer. Has the metal overhang lip, Thick marine plywood center braced stand with metal strut. Armour seams etc... So far zero issues and the seams look like they did on day one. I looked at WB at the time and honestly felt their stands were sketchy meaning poorly constructed and wobbly. I owned IM tanks and to my eye the glass clarity wasn't the best. So went with the redesigned RS knowing full well the issues. My thinking was they were aware and went hard to correct the issues and increased the warranty and in my opinion replacing alot of out warranty tanks they didn't have to. I know a lot of people hate on them but as business owner myself I feel they have done a good job dealing with the defective tanks as a whole. They stood up when a lot of companies wouldn't have. For reference try claiming anything for warranty with ecotech or any of their associate brands.

 

[StevenL]

Day 11 & 12 update:

Everything was transferred from the holding bin to the new tank last night and seems to be doing well today. It took ~7 hours from start to finish. I decided to change up my rockscape a bit instead of recreating the old. Probably not the final iteration but I am satisfied with it for now. I utilized fresh salt water as well as some from the holding bin. I plan on doing a 5-10gallon water change tomorrow.

 

[brandon429]

That's a lot of work you've done, a lot

All in one thread, ran just shocking perfect was so glad to watch you work and order all those intervention steps it's in my opinion the best thread I've been in during 2024 due to pressures handled on demand, no prep, pure follow through

 

[THE_MAD_REEFER]

Water box has changed their stands more than once but they ran the same or maybe larger? Overhang for quite some time.

Their current stand actually has wobble issues, ha.

Here is a stolen pic of what I mean

Wow, how many times have you bumped the top of the stand cabinet moving something in or out? I dont know why anyone thought this was a good design because if you bump that edge with something hard enough it will at minimum chip and at worst crack it all together. I would at least attach a thin foam strip for shock absorbance.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Wow, how many times have you bumped the top of the stand cabinet moving something in or out? I dont know why anyone thought this was a good design because if you bump that edge with something hard enough it will at minimum chip and at worst crack it all together. I would at least attach a thin foam strip for shock absorbance.

I’ve seen a few people with this issue. Honesty…I wonder if Waterbox is a ticking time bomb too? But I truly love my Waterbox and have had no complaints or issues these past few years. Unfortunately this is going to be more prone to happen with a rimless tank. It bothers me how most all rimless tanks aren’t supported by the front doors/it overhangs which to me is setting every tank like that up for failure eventually. I’d take peace of mind and support with a custom built stand over the aesthetic of the manufactured one and am not a fan you are forced to buy both and use the stand or you void the warranty. I forget if it was Waterbox or Red Sea I feel like it was Waterbox that released a brace to go under the stand to try and fix the wobbling issue.

 

[THE_MAD_REEFER]

I got my Waterbox 40-gallon AIO in December 2018, and three of my panels are not supported by the stand. The only panel supported is the back one. Looks like this design has changed over the years.

Man those edges so exposed creeps me out lol. I am too clumsy for that .