Will a glass tank with silicone seals eventually fail?

[ZoWhat]

Will a glass tank with silicone seals eventually fail?

What are the warning signs of an all out catastrophe?

 

[Backreefing]

Yes an aquarium glass/silicone will inevitably fail . It usually takes decades. Honestly I’ve had seen them go 30+years easy . Generally the bigger the shorter its life . Just because more weight more water pressure. And moves can be tough on a large aquarium. Like one person, not lifting evenly like say his right side is stronger than his left side, and it makes twisting forces on the aquarium. I have a 20 gallon that I’ve had since I was a child and it still holds water and I’m 57 .

 

[IceNein]

Yes an aquarium glass/silicone will inevitably fail . It usually takes decades. Honestly I’ve had seen them go 30+years easy . Generally the bigger the shorter its life . Just because more weight more water pressure. And moves can be tough on a large aquarium. Like one person, not lifting evenly like say his right side is stronger than his left side, and it makes twisting forces on the aquarium. I have a 20 gallon that I’ve had since I was a child and it still holds water and I’m 57 .

I wonder how often this is a factor in seam failure? This is why I am extremely hesitant to buy a used tank. The seams may be great sitting in their living room, but moving it through their house, loading it onto a truck, driving twenty miles, unloading it off the truck and moving it into my living room. Will the seals that have already aged still be up to the task after that?

 

[fishywishy]

I wonder how often this is a factor in seam failure? This is why I am extremely hesitant to buy a used tank. The seams may be great sitting in their living room, but moving it through their house, loading it onto a truck, driving twenty miles, unloading it off the truck and moving it into my living room. Will the seals that have already aged still be up to the task after that?

Thats why i add some extra silicone every time i buy a tank, no matter where its from.

 

[GARRIGA]

Yes an aquarium glass/silicone will inevitably fail . It usually takes decades. Honestly I’ve had seen them go 30+years easy . Generally the bigger the shorter its life . Just because more weight more water pressure. And moves can be tough on a large aquarium. Like one person, not lifting evenly like say his right side is stronger than his left side, and it makes twisting forces on the aquarium. I have a 20 gallon that I’ve had since I was a child and it still holds water and I’m 57 .

Wouldn't water pressure be purely height with total volume being irrelevant? For example, that 20 being only 16" tall would have similar water pressure regardless if 200 or 2000 so long as all tanks were 16" tall. My understanding of why taller tanks require thicker glass. Akin to diving the ocean and atmosphere pressure.

 

[IceNein]

Wouldn't water pressure be purely height with total volume being irrelevant? For example, that 20 being only 16" tall would have similar water pressure regardless if 200 or 2000 so long as all tanks were 16" tall. My understanding of why taller tanks require thicker glass. Akin to diving the ocean and atmosphere pressure.

No. Volume matters. The pressure according to depth is pounds per square inch. If you double dimensions of a rectangular piece of glass, the pressure goes up times four.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Since we are talking about eventually, I discuss here what happens to a 100 gallon aquarium and some other reefing equipment after 3 billion years...

Reef Chemistry Question of the Day #188 Dr Who and Evaporation 2!

Reef Chemistry Question of the Day #188 This is a continuation of the last question. New info begins at the bolded print: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-chemistry-question-of-the-day-187-dr-who-and-evaporation.237295/ This section is the same... You have a very special...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[vetteguy53081]

Will a glass tank with silicone seals eventually fail?

What are the warning signs of an all out catastrophe?

Over many years, ive seen the major reason being a tank out of level. I know a few people with 20-30 year aged tanks with zero leaks and some with failure in the first year *we know what tanks these are).

 

[BeanAnimal]

Thats why i add some extra silicone every time i buy a tank, no matter where it’s from.

The vast majority of the strength is in the thin layer of silicone in the joint, not the bead over the joint. Moreover, fresh silicone does not adhere well to cured silicone, you are not really adding much in the way of strength.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Yep, all tanks will eventually fail but it could take years. Like mentioned above, of tanks are not level that significantly decreases the lifespan to a few years depending on the severity of the issue. Also, tanks that have been dry for awhile or exposed to the outdoors (excessive heat, freezing temps, etc) will also have a shorter lifespan.

Usually it's pretty easy to spot when a tank is going to give out. Check the seams for bubbles, or imperfections.

 

[csnmusic02]

When I use to buy glass tanks you can look at the silicon if clear your still good but turning white it’s time to replace water keeps silicon good but I normally would strio silicon and reseal it

 

[Shooter6]

Acrylics eventually fail as well

 

[BeanAnimal]

No. Volume matters. The pressure according to depth is pounds per square inch. If you double dimensions of a rectangular piece of glass, the pressure goes up times four

That is not how the math works, pressure is a function of the water column height, not the volume.

12” tall by 12” wide tank is 144 sq/in
6” tall by 24” wide tank is 144 sq/in
6” tall by 6” wide tank is 36 sq/in

The 12” tall tank exerts twice the pressure on the seams as the 6” tall tanks. Both 6” tall tanks have the same pressure on the seams.

… I intended to post some math here for both force and pressure, but got sidetracked

 

[PharmrJohn]

I wonder how often this is a factor in seam failure? This is why I am extremely hesitant to buy a used tank. The seams may be great sitting in their living room, but moving it through their house, loading it onto a truck, driving twenty miles, unloading it off the truck and moving it into my living room. Will the seals that have already aged still be up to the task after that?

I would never, ever, ever buy a used tank again. Ever. My used tank purchase went sideways in 6 months, leading to a 2 or 3 day adventure (tank swap) I'm not willing to endure again.

 

[GARRIGA]

That is not how the math works, pressure is a function of the water column height, not the volume.

12” tall by 12” wide tank is 144 sq/in
6” tall by 24” wide tank is 144 sq/in
6” tall by 6” wide tank is 36 sq/in

The 12” tall tank exerts twice the pressure on the seams as the 6” tall tanks. Both 6” tall tanks have the same pressure on the seams.

You can hold the entire ocean back with with a 1/4” thick 6” tall piece of glass the length of the Atlantic cost if you could manufacture it.

That’s what I thought.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

In Heating and Air Conditioning, we used a Formula in Feet of water to PSI. Here it is in inches for fresh water.
1 Inch Of Water
= 0.036091625769833 Psi.

For Seawater. 1” = 0.037036668241535 Psi

 

[radiata]

I have a 90 gallon and a 65 gallon tank made by O'Dell. In terms of age, they're in their mid-forties. Please don't tell them they're due to self-destruct!

 

[mch1984]

That’s what I thought.

The total size of the aquarium does matter. The force acting on the glass is area-dependent. The bigger the area, the more force acting on that pane of glass and the seams. The bigger tanks need thicker glass to avoid any deflection in the glass, as this would lead to seam failure. Rimless tanks need thicker glass because there is no outside bracing, so any deflection will affect the seam even more. Braced tanks can have thinner glass because the seams are supported by a brace, not just the silicone.

You are correct; water pressure is depth-dependent, but you have to look at the total hydrostatic force acting on the glass. It's not as much the volume of the tank as it is the size of the glass pane.

 

[afuel]

I think it comes down to quality. This last spring I had a 200 dd from marineland that failed. It was only 5 years old. My stock was put in a 120 gallon Oceanic tank for temporary use while I had a new acrylic tank made by @advanced acrylics for me. Having a tank bust a leak just about had me quit the hobby. The oceanic tank was one I bought in the early 90’s. It was on a stand I made for an in wall installation in Texas. It was moved overnight to Iowa and put in a basement on a stand that I made in ‘98. One year later it was moved again to a stand that I made for another in wall installation. There it was used for another 20 years. So that old oceanic tank is still viable over 30 years later. Too bad that company isn’t still around

 

[BeanAnimal]

The total size of the aquarium does matter. The force acting on the glass is area-dependent. The bigger the area, the more force acting on that pane of glass and the seams. The bigger tanks need thicker glass to avoid any deflection in the glass, as this would lead to seam failure. Rimless tanks need thicker glass because there is no outside bracing, so any deflection will affect the seam even more. Braced tanks can have thinner glass because the seams are supported by a brace, not just the silicone.

You are correct; water pressure is depth-dependent, but you have to look at the total hydrostatic force acting on the glass. It's not as much the volume of the tank as it is the size of the glass pane.

I think people are interchanging force and pressure…. And that may be where the confusion is coming from.