Hello from France, rookie here in a sticky situation...

Jakewatt · Mar 20, 2017

Hello fellow reefers! I’m scottish. I live in the south of France. As i’ve been spending more & more time on R2R, i finally decided to open an account. Good forums in France seem to be pretty scarce and you guys in the States seem to be at least 10 years ahead concerning reef aquariums, gear & techniques. That's my opinion.

So i'm 35, folk singer/songwriter, and also lead singer guitarist in a covers band (we tour all over europe playing wedding gigs). After 5 years of freshwater, i’ve decided to take things seriously

For the last 2 months, I've been spending all my time reading and getting info about Reefing. I cant get enough of it! My girlfriend thinks i've gone bonkers

Last week, I got a great deal on a RS Reefer 350 (deltec 1456 / razor 320W / Eheim compact 3000 / 2 Jebao RW8…), the kind of deal you cant refuse! (i drove all the way to Belgium to get it - thats a 20hrs drive return, i did it in 2 days! - the deal was still great with the added expenses!).

To cut a long story short, the tank got damaged during transport (bottom right corner of front panel)…. i almost cried… Cant use it… i dont trust it. My question is : What would you guys do with it ? I phoned a LFS and they say they won’t repair it (they dont want to take the risk). Is it repairable to start with? Is it possible to only change the front glass panel (i could have the glass panel made for 150$) or do you have to take it apart completely and start again ? It seems stupid to flog it for 50 bucks when there’s at least 400$ worth of glass alone….

I've already repaired a bracing on an Osaka 260 but this would be a little more complicated...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated….

Thanx.

Here's what ive been having nightmares about for the last few days....

ebushrow · Mar 20, 2017

Hello, welcome to Reef2Reef! Sorry about the issue you are having with the tank.

Could you just clarify that the broken glass is only in the lowest part of the corner and does not radiate upwards or sideways?

PJS · Mar 20, 2017

Welcome to R2R, the best forum on the planet!
Sorry to hear about your issue, that's a bummer for sure.
Good luck with your new adventure!
Rock on my fellow Reefer!

Jakewatt · Mar 20, 2017

Thank you for your reply. Here's another picture taken from the front. Its bad uh ?

PJS · Mar 20, 2017

Jakewatt said:
Thank you for your reply. Here's another picture taken from the front. Its bad uh ?

Looks like a chip, am I seeing that correctly?

Jakewatt · Mar 20, 2017

I have no idea when or how it happened but seems the corner was knocked on the bottom right side, taking a bit of the glass off, and the impact radiated upwards and inwards towards the silicone.... hard to take pictures and hard to explain.

ebushrow · Mar 20, 2017

It doesn't look too bad to me, however, that will depend on if it is in the front or back of the tank. It is likely structurally sound as long as it is on the surface part of the glass and does not include a portion of the glass attached to the silicone. I personally never advocate for replacing and glass on a tank as there are many variables but many do it successfully, and I'll let them chime in on that

SantaMonicaHelp · Mar 20, 2017

Jakewatt said:
Hello fellow reefers! I’m scottish. I live in the south of France. As i’ve been spending more & more time on R2R, i finally decided to open an account. Good forums in France seem to be pretty scarce and you guys in the States seem to be at least 10 years ahead concerning reef aquariums, gear & techniques. That's my opinion.

So i'm 35, folk singer/songwriter, and also lead singer guitarist in a covers band (we tour all over europe playing wedding gigs). After 5 years of freshwater, i’ve decided to take things seriously For the last 2 months, I've been spending all my time reading and getting info about Reefing. I cant get enough of it! My girlfriend thinks i've gone bonkers

Last week, I got a great deal on a RS Reefer 350 (deltec 1456 / razor 320W / Eheim compact 3000 / 2 Jebao RW8…), the kind of deal you cant refuse! (i drove all the way to Belgium to get it - thats a 20hrs drive return, i did it in 2 days! - the deal was still great with the added expenses!).

To cut a long story short, the tank got damaged during transport (bottom right corner of front panel)…. i almost cried… Cant use it… i dont trust it. My question is : What would you guys do with it ? I phoned a LFS and they say they won’t repair it (they dont want to take the risk). Is it repairable to start with? Is it possible to only change the front glass panel (i could have the glass panel made for 150$) or do you have to take it apart completely and start again ? It seems stupid to flog it for 50 bucks when there’s at least 400$ worth of glass alone….

I've already repaired a bracing on an Osaka 260 but this would be a little more complicated...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated….

Thanx.

Here's what ive been having nightmares about for the last few days....

Hey Jakewatt,
Welcome to the forum and congratulations with reefing!
Sorry to hear such sad news(((

What plans do you have for the future tank?

Zhenya

Jakewatt · Mar 20, 2017

it kind of goes inwards towards the silicone. Arf... tricky one.
I dont have a garden or exterior so cant really fill it with water to test it.... And even then, how long do you test it for ? Could hold for a year and just snap one day.

KJ · Mar 20, 2017

Welcome to R2R

Jakewatt · Mar 20, 2017

SantaMonicaHelp said:
Hey Jakewatt,
Welcome to the forum and congratulations with reefing!
Sorry to hear such sad news(((

What plans do you have for the future tank?

Zhenya

Hi Zhenya,
First of all, I'm gonna bite the bullet and buy a new tank.... i'm too excited to wait and repair this one. But please, if you have any advice on changing the glass, i'm all ears (change just front panel ? complete tear down and start fresh ? method ? etc)

I have 30 kg of live rock - sorry, metric system here

- in a big dustbin downstairs, cycling and waiting to be moved to a tank. I was told to maybe add another 20kg for the reefer 350 (total=50kg). How many live rock would you recommend ?

It's my first reef, so my aim is to take everything very slowly, cycle the live rock without sand for a start - add the sand after. I have tons of questions like :
- how to level the stand ?(theres little plastic feet on the reefer stands...)
- ive got grids to put the live rocks on, do you fit pvc feet on the grid to allow water movement underneath it ? isnt the sand going to get underneath ?
- live sand or not ?
- sand thickness ?

Patience & research....

Thank you all for your answers.

cromag27 · Mar 20, 2017

Welcome!

jsker · Mar 20, 2017

Welcome to R2R. I think your decision was a proper one to go with a new tank just of peace of mind. Good luck with the build.

Brad Bessett · Mar 20, 2017

I don't know what kind of presence Red Sea has overseas but you should still reach out to them. I've seen them replace tanks for free before that were well out of warranty and not a manufacturers defect. Worst they can say is no or you may get a replacement.