RIP - Silicone Failure on RedSea 300XL my first "fancy" tank :(

[Bruttall]

Oceanic Aquariums. Hands down the best tanks ever made IMO. Too bad they are no longer made. But you can sometimes find them used on Craigslist or Ebay. I have a 300g that's at least 30 years old, maybe more I only paid $600 for it about 10 years ago.

 

[Santiimari]

did you have any signs or advanced notice of that seem failing or did it all happen at once? I’m a little paranoid about mine doing the same thing.

Nah, I was at work on a call and suddenly heard water squirting....Thinking it had been slow leaking for a little bit that day as my floor around that wall had a solid amount of water, but the pressure must have kicked it up a notch quickly. Trying to inspect photos I had of it before and see if there was bubbling but honestly with lighting and glare its hard to tell if it's actually separation of the silicone or just how the light looks...Not like I focused photos on the seams :/

Good lesson to inspect your seams!!!

 

[Santiimari]

Oceanic Aquariums. Hands down the best tanks ever made IMO. Too bad they are no longer made. But you can sometimes find them used on Craigslist or Ebay. I have a 300g that's at least 30 years old, maybe more I only paid $600 for it about 10 years ago.

Oh my goodness WOW!! That is amazing longevity (seems shocking to me now, at least with my 2 year old LOL).

 

[Santiimari]

In the middle of a 625 failure as well... I feel your pains. I ordered a new tank from Glass Cages.

You are under 3 years red sea should replace it, good luck.

Oh nooooooo I am SO Sorry!!!! What a nightmare this is!!!

Hoping at least all your fish/coral are salvageable sending good vibes man, this blows.

 

[kenchilada]

Oceanic Aquariums. Hands down the best tanks ever made IMO. Too bad they are no longer made. But you can sometimes find them used on Craigslist or Ebay. I have a 300g that's at least 30 years old, maybe more I only paid $600 for it about 10 years ago.

Yup. I still have my 30G Oceanic that is 35 years old. Supposedly the same builders are now Planet. My 220G is a Planet.

 

[Bruttall]

Oh my goodness WOW!! That is amazing longevity (seems shocking to me now, at least with my 2 year old LOL).

I have owned several Oceanic's over the years, a 125g 6foot tank, 90g bowfront (Wish I had kept that one) 180g 6 foot and my monster glass 8 foot 300g. The 6 and 8 foot tanks have Center Bracing, sometimes massive center, like the 22inch wide center brace on my 300g made of 1/2inch thick glass. They also over built these tanks with thicker glass. 3/4 inch bottom 5/8 inch sides on my 300g, empty it weighs nearly 900lbs.
Can see the center brace in this pic, this was just before I converted it to salt a few months ago. Also has 1/2inch corner gussets in the tank, Very Solidly Built glass cages, wish they was still in business.



Also of major importance is the Stand. Over Build, add more supports than are needed. Rear of tank pic


Front of Tank pic.

 

[Bruttall]

Yup. I still have my 30G Oceanic that is 35 years old. Supposedly the same builders are now Planet. My 220G is a Planet.

I didn't know Planet was Oceanic! This is why I love this forum, I learn stuff by accident every day!!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Dang, hate that had to happen to you. Hopefully you can save everything and get a new tank going soon!

 

[d2mini]

This sucks. Sorry you have to go through this.

 

[c_ronius]

Oh nooooooo I am SO Sorry!!!! What a nightmare this is!!!

Hoping at least all your fish/coral are salvageable sending good vibes man, this blows.

So Far so good, animals have been in temporary housing for a couple of weeks now. Thanks for the vibes! You too! Cut back on the feeding for the next couple of weeks, alot of your biological filter is in those rocks. Temp tanks can go south quick, keep a close eye on em.

 

[Santiimari]

Go acrylic like I did after seam bust.

I sleep good at night now

And oh , the clarity difference is no joke.

I did start doing research into acrylic last night, all the stuff I saw listed clarity as a CON for acrylic due to yellowing over time?? Do you have pics of yours posted anywhere under white light and how long have you had it?

 

[Santiimari]

So Far so good, animals have been in temporary housing for a couple of weeks now. Thanks for the vibes! You too! Cut back on the feeding for the next couple of weeks, alot of your biological filter is in those rocks. Temp tanks can go south quick, keep a close eye on em.

You know, it's so funny though, this is how I started, with a crappy little 20 gallon Petco tank next to my bed...brings back some memories of me and just my two clowns haha!!

Oh yeah absolutely, I check on them about 50 times a day, and busted out the old testing kits too.

Thank you!!

 

[Northern Flicker]

What will you do with the floors? Going through insurance?

I am shocked there is some kind of class action lawsuit against Red Sea for these Gen 1 tanks. I even see them up for sale on facebook these days. Just wild.

Best of luck OP! You're doing your best for your animals at the moment, that's all we can do in situations like this.

 

[Troylee]

I did start doing research into acrylic last night, all the stuff I saw listed clarity as a CON for acrylic due to yellowing over time?? Do you have pics of yours posted anywhere under white light and how long have you had it?

That’s false! It will not yellow over time unless it’s outside and in the sun.. in your home it will always have optical clarity over glass for years to come! I got 30 years experience building with acrylic.

 

[skyrne_isk]

Glass Cages or Planet Aquarium would be my recommendation

Agreed. Have bought several of both and never any issue of any kind. Glasscages quality is much better in recent years. Planet is a little better in terms of quality, IMO, but their Tideline overflows are not the best.

 

[c_ronius]

FWIW... My opinion on acrylic tanks...

I HAVE owned many acrylic tanks, which is why I only like glass. They do scratch very easily, and it is a pain to remove coralline without doing some sort of damage.

I feel the clarity point is non existent, and ultra clear glass is available if you can see the difference. Most of the yellowing in acrylic tanks is from cheap materials, not necessarily a problem with a quality brand.

 

[kenchilada]

I even see them up for sale on facebook these days. Just wild.

They make beautiful reptile tanks

 

[BZOFIQ]

Says only people that have never owned acrylic.

I owned 5 freshwater acrylic tanks, would not ever buy one for saltwater.

 

[Reefer1978]

I didn't know Planet was Oceanic! This is why I love this forum, I learn stuff by accident every day!!

Back in the day, oceanic was the brand to have. They were THE tank to get via a catalog. They got into big tank business, had a few large systems suffer from seam leaks, and from what I heard were taken out by law suits, thus the brand disappeared.

I didn't know they formed Planet Aquariums, but interestingly enough in one of the Facebook reef clubs someone posted pics of 1.5 year-old Planet tank leaking.

 

[jose hernandez]

What version Red Sea was it v2?