Bubbles appearing in the tank seam! Am I out of options?

[fishguy242]

sorry to see ,meantime ,ratchet straps, top and bottom, just snug. best wishes.

 

[homer1475]

To me(correct me if I'm wrong) it looks to be in the filet around the edges, and not between the panels? If so that is only "window dressing" as is no way structural. As long as the silicone between the panes is ok, the tank won't blow the seam. With no eurobracing or any bracing on a 5 foot rimless would scare me anyways.

If the bubbles were between the panes of glass, that would worry me.

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

Some backstory. This is my third large reef in this spot, both others were lost to poor manufacturing. The tank is a Planet Aquariums 125 gallon rimless, set on a maple stand that has been leveled, and the tank has been in this spot for nearly two years now. I haven't noticed the bubbles until tonight, just a few hours ago. The biggest bubble is near the edge of the glass in the middle of the seam. The lumpy area of silicone in picture 4 is directly across from the biggest bubble (picture 3), and if I press the spot, I can see the bubble change shape. There's also a slightly ragged area in the corner that has been there since day one.
I'm about to mark the glass to measure growth, is there anything I can do to hold back the spread, or will I be able to save the tank?
This is just about the worst time for this to happen. My sister just went into early labor and my family may be flying overseas to care for her.
Does anybody have contacts for Planet Aquariums manufacturers?

@Joe Glass Cages I'll tag you here since you've got experience with glass aquariums.

Reall hoping this can hold for a bit. I've yet to tell any of my family, everyone is distressed enough as it is. Thank you so much and God bless you.

@Mr_Knightley

just reviewed your post and the replies. excellent suggestions.

typically when a tank's seam is separating, many if not hundreds of micro bubbles start to appear in the middle of the seam. they grow in size and numbers as the seam separates. at first look, those bubbles look like they have been there for some time. possible there when you received your tank and didnt notice them. Possible?

Marking them and measuring any changes would be the best indicator of any issues. Hope that helps.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

@Mr_Knightley

just reviewed your post and the replies. excellent suggestions.

typically when a tank's seam is separating, many if not hundreds of micro bubbles start to appear in the middle of the seam. they grow in size and numbers as the seam separates. at first look, those bubbles look like they have been there for some time. possible there when you received your tank and didnt notice them. Possible?

Marking them and measuring any changes would be the best indicator of any issues. Hope that helps.

Thanks a lot. I is possible that I just didn't notice them, life has been really stressful lately and with my luck I may have just forgotten about them. Whatever the case, I clamped the seam very lightly last night, enough to slightly shrink the bubbles, and after I removed the clamp this morning the bubbles stayed in their shrunken state.
I'm crossing my fingers. I've now got marks on the glass to measure the bubbles' growth and a clamp laying next to the tank in case something goes off.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I'm going to scour through old pics of the tank to try and see if there are signs of the bubbles.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I thought this was the air bubble in question. This looked like a leaker.

this next one here looks benign to me, almost like it was here since manufactured.

this last one here scares me a bit. I would keep a close eye on this one. You may be able to cut the glue out and clean it, to then squeeze more caulking in there and redo or repair that area. Normally a leak on a frameless requires a break down and a complete reglue. This tank would benefit from some added kick plates or euro bracing top and bottom.
In your shoes I would weigh out these two options.
1-Leave it and pray it doesn’t get worst or leak.
2-Replace or repair.

Luckily, the first one is just a piece of dust or something that got stuck underneath the seam, probably during manufacturing. I may get a tube of black silicone and attempt the re-seal the biggest bubble, since it appears to be the most 'impending-doom'-ish.
I may end up adding a eurobrace actually, it's always been something I had considered and now I may have a reason for it!

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Update. I clamped the corner monday night and squeezed the bubbles a bit, shrinking them by about 10-20%, and over the course of the past two days they have not regained their shape and have stayed smaller.
I have a plan of action. When I get the chance, I will clamp the corner again and backfill the largest bubble (since it's right near the surface) with more silicone, let it cure for a week and see where I'm at. I'll make an edit to my overflow as to lower the water level in the tank, and hopefully that will reduce stress enough that the tank will stay in place over the next 7 or 8 years, until I move to a new house. Any new opinions would be greatly appreciated, and if anyone knows what type of silicone to use then that would be fantastically helpful!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Very sloppy silicone job by manufacturer.
I personally would drain or lower water level, cut silicone away and reseal with aqueon tank sealant, not siicone allow to dry at least 24-36 hrs

 

[CanuckReefer]

Luckily, the first one is just a piece of dust or something that got stuck underneath the seam, probably during manufacturing. I may get a tube of black silicone and attempt the re-seal the biggest bubble, since it appears to be the most 'impending-doom'-ish.
I may end up adding a eurobrace actually, it's always been something I had considered and now I may have a reason for it!

Sorry for your druthers here.... replaced mine after 16 years this week ( several small pin leaks) ..... following, and hopefully you can manage to repair/ mitigate the issues. I know all about the $$$ involved after the past few weeks. I really couldn't afford it, but had to....sigh....

 

[Mr_Knightley]

@Mr_Knightley

just reviewed your post and the replies. excellent suggestions.

typically when a tank's seam is separating, many if not hundreds of micro bubbles start to appear in the middle of the seam. they grow in size and numbers as the seam separates. at first look, those bubbles look like they have been there for some time. possible there when you received your tank and didnt notice them. Possible?

Marking them and measuring any changes would be the best indicator of any issues. Hope that helps.

It appears that a new bubble has formed, a really tiny one in a similar spot as the biggest one, about 3/4s up the tank wall from the bottom. The biggest bubble has stopped expanding vertically, but has started moving outwards towards the outer seam of the tank is has nearly reached the edge. This bubble also has water vapor in it now, which tells me that it is open to the inside of the tank somewhere.

I also discovered a much, much bigger problem: I completely forgot to install a leveling mat underneath the tank. So, the tank has been resting against bare wood. Meaning that,in the middle of the tank, there's a ap between the stand and the glass that is as wide as 1/30", which I can slide a thin peice of wood through quite easily. This explains the stange tension effects at the corners of the tank completely! I'm just completely crushed that I didn't figure this out sooner. If I had discovered this before the bubbles started appearing, then I could have saved it, but now I think it's too late as the seperation has already begun. I've stuck two basla wood shims under the tank and wedged them as far as they could go, to hopefully race against some strees, and I've got a clamp holding the corner together tightly. I've got a tube of black silicone arriving in the mail tomorrow or the next, so I may be able to make a temporary fix until I can adress the issue in it's entirety.

This is all incredibly taxing. I don't want to quit the hobby, as I've just begun to conquer my flatworm & bryopsis issues, and I've bought new livestock recently too. But this is the third seam/structure failure I've had in the past 4 years, and I'm really getting sick of it. Really hoping that I can stick this one out, I'm going to find my warrantee and see if I'll still be covered for the damage. The tank didn't come with a leveling mat, so I'm hopeful.

 

[unchin]

Sorry to hear about these issues. I commented earlier that my tank lasted months without leaks, but my tank's bubbles weren't expanding and yours sound like they are expanding rapidly with new ones forming, which is concerning. Not sure what options you have, but if you can get a replacement tank fast that would probably be a good option.

 

[ylreefer]

I'm definitely no Tank builder myself but I did run a LFS in the UK and a 5 ft tank with no bracing and bubbles in the seams would definitely frighten e into doing something fast.

If it were me keeping it as cheap as possible I'd silicon a 10mm Euro brace in ASAP which you can do without removing any water I suspect, make sure all 4 braces make contact with each other and silicone together as well as to the sides of the tank.

That quick fix with monitoring the bubbles for size would satisfy me. Obviously as long as they don't get and larger.

Definitely not the best time of year for singing kind this. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I'm definitely no Tank builder myself but I did run a LFS in the UK and a 5 ft tank with no bracing and bubbles in the seams would definitely frighten e into doing something fast.

If it were me keeping it as cheap as possible I'd silicon a 10mm Euro brace in ASAP which you can do without removing any water I suspect, make sure all 4 braces make contact with each other and silicone together as well as to the sides of the tank.

That quick fix with monitoring the bubbles for size would satisfy me. Obviously as long as they don't get and larger.

Definitely not the best time of year for singing kind this. Fingers crossed for you.

Thanks for the advice. I've got the tank clamped across the problem area and I've put shims underneath the fill the gap, hoping that will hold it over until I can fulfill my warrantee and get a replacement. I would honestly rather get a new tank (since I can get it for completely free) than try to fix this one, since the issues will still be present even if I do eurobrace & reinforce it. It's just not possible to re-attach detached silicone.

 

[ylreefer]

Thanks for the advice. I've got the tank clamped across the problem area and I've put shims underneath the fill the gap, hoping that will hold it over until I can fulfill my warrantee and get a replacement. I would honestly rather get a new tank (since I can get it for completely free) than try to fix this one, since the issues will still be present even if I do eurobrace & reinforce it. It's just not possible to re-attach detached silicone.

Absolutely correct. You will never be able tk repair it unless you strip it apart and rebuild it. If you still have the warranfy that's 100% the way to go.

 

[Kiwi reefer]

I would mark off the area you have concerns with with either tape or marker pen

This was you will have a clear identifier if they bubbles are bad

If you really are concerned now would be a great time to have a back up plan ready to go, buckets, and places to store you tank inhabients

I have one lot in my reefer tank and its never moved i have no concerns

 

[Chrisv.]

Thanks for the advice. I've got the tank clamped across the problem area and I've put shims underneath the fill the gap, hoping that will hold it over until I can fulfill my warrantee and get a replacement. I would honestly rather get a new tank (since I can get it for completely free) than try to fix this one, since the issues will still be present even if I do eurobrace & reinforce it. It's just not possible to re-attach detached silicone.

It's hard to believe that they would give a warranty replacement for a tank that's not level, has no mat under it, and is sitting on a surface that allows you to slide a shim under the full tank.

There have been a few comments about this being sloppy construction, but honestly, isn't this outcome to be expected given the circumstances? I know very little about planet aquarium, but this doesn't sound like a planet aquarium problem.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

It's hard to believe that they would give a warranty replacement for a tank that's not level, has no mat under it, and is sitting on a surface that allows you to slide a shim under the full tank.

There have been a few comments about this being sloppy construction, but honestly, isn't this outcome to be expected given the circumstances? I know very little about planet aquarium, but this doesn't sound like a planet aquarium problem.

The stand and tank are completely level & it was sold to me without a mat, so I wouldn't expect it to be required by the warranty. The issue is that the stand itself bows downwards a bit near the center, which is technically a construction issue. The seam in question that is failing also has several rough spots (also a manufacturer's issue) so I don't think I'll be denied. It would really & truly suck if it did.

 

[IUSTINIAN75]

So my tank use to have a middle brace and once I filled it I noticed the glass bowing like crazy!!!I was also worried about the silicone actually holding the weight of the water! I decided to build a cap for the top that fit over like a glove to straighten things out and take up the weight planing on doing same to the bottom. The reason I am bringing this up is that could be a cheaper alternative if you are not completely broken yet my tank is kind of older too and I wasn’t sure about the age of the silicone so to prevent any major catastrophes I capped the top and the bottom(soon)it’s better to spring a small leak or odd stream in a small spot from silicone failure, then just completely lose the entire load, instantly causing loss and damage. At least with the glass being held in place ull have time to react to any problems. I added a few pics for example.

 

[IUSTINIAN75]

The stand and tank are completely level & it was sold to me without a mat, so I wouldn't expect it to be required by the warranty. The issue is that the stand itself bows downwards a bit near the center, which is technically a construction issue. The seam in question that is failing also has several rough spots (also a manufacturer's issue) so I don't think I'll be denied. It would really & truly suck if it did.

I don’t think Ull have any trouble just stand ur ground and put the blame where it belongs. Things get out together like crap now a days and half the things we buy we are paying huge mark ups so for them to dish out a free tank will be no problem it’s the matter of getting them to dish it out lol

 

[Mr_Knightley]

So my tank use to have a middle brace and once I filled it I noticed the glass bowing like crazy!!!I was also worried about the silicone actually holding the weight of the water! I decided to build a cap for the top that fit over like a glove to straighten things out and take up the weight planing on doing same to the bottom. The reason I am bringing this up is that could be a cheaper alternative if you are not completely broken yet my tank is kind of older too and I wasn’t sure about the age of the silicone so to prevent any major catastrophes I capped the top and the bottom(soon)it’s better to spring a small leak or odd stream in a small spot from silicone failure, then just completely lose the entire load, instantly causing loss and damage. At least with the glass being held in place ull have time to react to any problems. I added a few pics for example.

Funny enough, my brother had the same idea! I've currently got clamps on the affected areas and I should be figuring out a replacement this weekend, but I honestly may still do this to add some extra bracing.