Should I be taking this tank back?

[bert236]

Bought an aqueon 65 gal yesterday. Wasn’t able to unload it until late last night but I noticed the silicone visually looks like dog food. The silicone looks like a mess at 3/8 of the corners and both panes that could be the front have super wide silicone down them that looks brutal. Should I be taking this back or am I going to be stuck with this as I’m sure with the amount of silicone on there it won’t leak.

 

[Goaway]

Yikes, quality control out the door!
Hmm, it's probably an ascetic issue more than anything. If it isn't a hassle on your end, refund or exchange!
That's not what you paid for.

 

[bert236]

Yikes, quality control out the door!
Hmm, it's probably an ascetic issue more than anything. If it isn't a hassle on your end, refund or exchange!
That's not what you paid for.

Ya structurally I’m sure the tank is fine with that amount of silicone. Plus no bubbling other than a bit on one section but it’s on the flat pane overspill so not worried about that. Have to wait for the lfs to open then I’ll head over and see what they say. Just wanted to see if this is the normal for aqueon.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I had this same struggle with a Marineland 75g tank. I returned the first but settled for the second. Both silicone's were shoddy. But I had to drive 4hrs one way to buy the tank, then plan a second day trip to return and get a second. The second tank was just as bad, but after calling thier customer service line I decided to settle for the ugly silicone.

 

[Goaway]

I haven't bought from aqueon before. Still looks like a job an unsupervised intern would do.

I had this same struggle with a Marineland 75g tank. I returned the first but settled for the second. Both silicone's were shoddy. But I had to drive 4hrs one way to buy the tank, then plan a second day trip to return and get a second. The second tank was just as bad, but after calling thier customer service line I decided to settle for the ugly silicone.

I guess bigger tanks are neglected when put together

 

[bert236]

I had this same struggle with a Marineland 75g tank. I returned the first but settled for the second. Both silicone's were shoddy. But I had to drive 4hrs one way to buy the tank, then plan a second day trip to return and get a second. The second tank was just as bad, but after calling thier customer service line I decided to settle for the ugly silicone.

My lfs is down the road so if they are able to help out instead of me going through aqueon that wouldn’t be to bad. Sorry to hear about your luck that sucks.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I haven't bought from aqueon before. Still looks like a job an unsupervised intern would do.

I guess bigger tanks are neglected when put together

In my case, both build dates were completely different with different initials from the worker that day. So to me, 2 totally different tanks, 2 different employees turning out crappy work. Definitely a fail on quality control.

 

[Gtinnel]

The vertical silicone that you can see through the glass looks pretty common on these cheaper tanks. The silicone at the top is kinda ridiculous, but if not visible from the front I personally wouldn't worry about it.

I haven't bought from aqueon before. Still looks like a job an unsupervised intern would do.

I guess bigger tanks are neglected when put together

I think it has more to do with mass produced tanks more than the size of the tank.

 

[Goaway]

Geez... Are that many tanks being sold now? They can't a few hours to polish up the work they do? Or add some tape to assist?

The vertical silicone that you can see through the glass looks pretty common on these cheaper tanks. The silicone at the top is kinda ridiculous, but if not visible from the front I personally wouldn't worry about it.


I think it has more to do with mass produced tanks more than the size of the tank.

 

[bert236]

Geez... Are that many tanks being sold now? They can't a few hours to polish up the work they do? Or add some tape to assist?

i used to do construction and I could have done a better job myself in maybe 30 mins total. It’s not hard but I guess when you have to make more tanks than you should in a day it’s probably easy to just start doing this and crank out twice as many tanks.

 

[Goaway]

i used to do construction and I could have done a better job myself in maybe 30 mins total. It’s not hard but I guess when you have to make more tanks than you should in a day it’s probably easy to just start doing this and crank out twice as many tanks.

My father in law is a construction worker. Quality is going down the drain to save some cash. The stories he tells us. I don't want to get into it. But you know how it goes.

 

[olonmv]

Super shoddy work but nothin a sharp blade and a steady hand can’t fix if you don’t want to go through the hassle. I suspect this may be the norm. I got a lil 10 gallon from the same company with the same lack of workmanship.

 

[JumboShrimp]

My take on it, as far as a mass-produced tank goes: Will it hold water? Yes. Is it a work of art? No.

 

[Reefing102]

In my experience, working at an LFS years ago, this is common work from marine land and Aqueon. They almost always have the giant glob at the top

 

[James_O]

It is still good to use I think. My 29g I got from PetCo is also a Aqueon. They make cheap tanks, but you also get cheap quality control. My corners also look like that, and it's held water for over 2 years.

 

[Gtinnel]

Geez... Are that many tanks being sold now? They can't a few hours to polish up the work they do? Or add some tape to assist?

When I say mass produced I guess I'm more referring to the large tank manufacturers that build cheap rimmed tanks and aren't doing high end custom tanks. As long as they can apply enough silicone that it doesn't leak is all they care about. It is sad that there isn't more effort put into these tanks, but I guess that is partially what makes them so affordable.
Wouldn't it be great if you could get any custom made tank for around $1 per gallon. My dream tank from glass cages would only be around $300 LOL.

If the OP wanted to take the effort and time to have the store change it out I suspect they would have a similar experience as @Mhamilton0911 did where it would be about the same.

 

[bert236]

In my experience, working at an LFS years ago, this is common work from marine land and Aqueon. They almost always have the giant glob at the top

I’m not to worried about the globs at the top because I won’t really see them once it’s setup unless I’m looking for them. I can just trim a few of the random strands with scissors up there and that will be clean enough. My worry is it’s going to look bad once the tank is full because of how wide the silicone is.

 

[James_O]

I’m not to worried about the globs at the top because I won’t really see them once it’s setup unless I’m looking for them. I can just trim a few of the random strands with scissors up there and that will be clean enough. My worry is it’s going to look bad once the tank is full because of how wide the silicone is.

I'll upload a pic of my aqueon tank later, to show you how it looks full.

 

[Mhart032]

I’m not to worried about the globs at the top because I won’t really see them once it’s setup unless I’m looking for them. I can just trim a few of the random strands with scissors up there and that will be clean enough. My worry is it’s going to look bad once the tank is full because of how wide the silicone is.

My worry would not be so much about ascetics my worry would be once you have to clean the glass with a mag float or tunze mag and lifting the silicone from the glass and ruining the integrity of the seam, and ending up 8 or 9 months down the road with a leaky tank.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Let me throw this out there, humorously... If you invite your neighbor over to see your sparkling water, sand, rock, fish, and corals— and he’s looking at your vertical silicone seams— you’ve done something wrong! Lol!!