zozo
Member
IS it even at the top rim? If so then they cut the glass to short and didn't check that... Then taking it apart and redo it will not solve that issue...
-
You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up
Side glass is floating
- Thread starter kirehajba
- Start date
MichaelJ
Member
That is disheartening... Given the consequences of a catastrophic leak (+600 liter of water on your floor...) this should never have passed QA in the first place. It's a big tank and I am sure it will cost a fortune to send back. I would expect an exchange where they pay for S/H. What was that company again?
Cheers,
Michael
PARAGUAY
Member
@ kirehaba Shame the purchase was made by credit card as l believe you are covered by cross border purchases and you dont even need to contact the retailer . You could even contact your bank to see what they say. A letter to the owner/ cheif executive of the company . They might be persuaded that bad publicity over their workmanship is a small price to pay for a refund. Check the EUs consumer rights legislation
Thanks ZOZO : this is a rimless tank.
That said - what is your conclusion: Safe/ No Safe?
Most of the ppl are against using this tank - the company states that this is within the safe norm... me: I would not risk it for sure
noodlesuk
Member
As others have mentioned, all the forces are acting out on that side. Agreed the gap should be smaller, doesn't look very tidy, but you would surely want the base pane to touch the cabinet surface, before the edge of a side or front plane. So in theory should it always be floating to stop a concentration of loads?
zozo
Member
I did build quite a few tanks myself over the years and the tanks are still in use today... Made my fair share of mistakes and sloppy silicon seams... And the majority of them never resulted in a leak except for one tank that I made with too little glass thickness that got ripped apart by a rampant growing emersed Cyprus plant.
It doesn't make me a professional and even if any professional opinion still doesn't give any guarantee, flooding an aquarium in a living room is always exciting, and how well made it can always end up with a wet floor one day for whatever reason. A heavy truck driving by shaking the house? The main cause why tanks start to leak over the years is stress on the seams due to poorly made warped cabinets or crooked floors they stand on and the weight of the tank will warp the glass. Then one day it could become too much stress ripping the seams open or even cracking the glass.
My opinion on your tank based upon my experiences is. If the tank is assembled correctly and the bottom panel is absolutely flat and standing on an absolutely level surface then that 2mm gap floating side panel will not be an issue. The weight is completely supported on the bottom. The side pressure on the panels ain't that great. Considering 10-meter water column results in 1 Bar = 100 000 newtons / square meter. Regardless of the volume dimensions, the tallness of the tank is what counts regarding side pressure if it's absolutely level. You can easily calculate how much pressure it needs to hold if the tank is 60cm tall. That ain't that much.
I can imagine your worries without any experience and it's quite a deal to trust a professional delivering sloppy work on his blue eyes that it is within the safety range. Never the less it is sloppy work that could be prevented... If it were me as a DIY hobby builder I have only myself to blame and still would use it. But regarding a well-paid professional, I personally also would have an issue with accepting silly excuses. This should have been seen before the build and should have been corrected. If they leave you to live on prayer with this, they deserve a very bad review. The least they can do is admit it's sloppy work and give you a partial refund.
I'm afraid you will have to take it as is... Make a back panel from that and forget about it... And if you can't live with the idea, buy another one and it likely will be licking wounds and still forget about it.
Anyway, I've seen much worse made aquariums running without ussies for decades. And also have seen a few cracked open that looked very well made. Buying a tank commes always with guarantee till the door you walk out with it.
It doesn't make me a professional and even if any professional opinion still doesn't give any guarantee, flooding an aquarium in a living room is always exciting, and how well made it can always end up with a wet floor one day for whatever reason. A heavy truck driving by shaking the house? The main cause why tanks start to leak over the years is stress on the seams due to poorly made warped cabinets or crooked floors they stand on and the weight of the tank will warp the glass. Then one day it could become too much stress ripping the seams open or even cracking the glass.
My opinion on your tank based upon my experiences is. If the tank is assembled correctly and the bottom panel is absolutely flat and standing on an absolutely level surface then that 2mm gap floating side panel will not be an issue. The weight is completely supported on the bottom. The side pressure on the panels ain't that great. Considering 10-meter water column results in 1 Bar = 100 000 newtons / square meter. Regardless of the volume dimensions, the tallness of the tank is what counts regarding side pressure if it's absolutely level. You can easily calculate how much pressure it needs to hold if the tank is 60cm tall. That ain't that much.
I can imagine your worries without any experience and it's quite a deal to trust a professional delivering sloppy work on his blue eyes that it is within the safety range. Never the less it is sloppy work that could be prevented... If it were me as a DIY hobby builder I have only myself to blame and still would use it. But regarding a well-paid professional, I personally also would have an issue with accepting silly excuses. This should have been seen before the build and should have been corrected. If they leave you to live on prayer with this, they deserve a very bad review. The least they can do is admit it's sloppy work and give you a partial refund.
I'm afraid you will have to take it as is... Make a back panel from that and forget about it... And if you can't live with the idea, buy another one and it likely will be licking wounds and still forget about it.
Anyway, I've seen much worse made aquariums running without ussies for decades. And also have seen a few cracked open that looked very well made. Buying a tank commes always with guarantee till the door you walk out with it.
Thanks Marcel!
Very well said.. I guess I am at the mercy of the company who build the tank, and of course on my own judgment.
I live on the 8th floor in Amsterdam, and I can tell you - when it's really windy outside, (and it is, at least a few times a year) the whole building sways, and the aquarium looks like it's loaded on a ship (no joke).
Know this - I want to have the best, no defective built, as anything else will make me wonder what is going on while I am on a vacation..
zozo
Member
That I understand, especially if you paid top money for it and don't get what you pay for... The issue is with the interpretation of "defective built" between practically safe and solid and or aesthetically and emotionally pleasing. I guess the builder tries to hide behind and say it all with the first and the rest is for you to judge. You can't argue about tastes. And then the service you get is you leave with the feeling to be a whiner. 🙁
I'm pretty pacifistic by character and don't like to make calls for violence, but something like this makes me feel to take the time to drive the thing all the way back and discuss the matter personally in situ with the darn thing in front of their nose. If no proper solution is offered and you're discarded as a whiner, walk back out with the tank and throw it back in through their window. 😡😛 With the greetings from Amsterdam.
love your ideas! I am on board! 🙂
To be honest, I just want to be 100% sure that the aquarium is safe and it will not destroy my apartment. For the moment I am not sure at all, as none of us is..
Another thing that is bothering me are these silicone bubbles. it on the "faulty" side and on another of the short sides. what do you think?
Attachments
zozo
Member
The seams in between the glass give the structural strength a few small bubbles will not weaken it. The triangular seams in the corners give extra strength and it seals. If these are all without bubbles there is no issue. It just doesn't look right and the glass wasn't properly cleaned. I made tanks with bubbles and they still are ok after many years.
But for a professional builder, add badly cleaned + panels incorrectly cut + ignorance + unwilling to acknowledge mistakes + unwilling to give any kind of service accordingly = rather very rude and downright leans towards getting scammed. They are no professionals they are as we say Koekenbakkers.
Living on the 8th floor and having such a large aquarium is rather daunting even if it was 100% perfection. It wouldn't be my idea. At least not with first having a very good chat with an insurance expert.
But for a professional builder, add badly cleaned + panels incorrectly cut + ignorance + unwilling to acknowledge mistakes + unwilling to give any kind of service accordingly = rather very rude and downright leans towards getting scammed. They are no professionals they are as we say Koekenbakkers.
Living on the 8th floor and having such a large aquarium is rather daunting even if it was 100% perfection. It wouldn't be my idea. At least not with first having a very good chat with an insurance expert.
It is definitely not easier. It is the most difficult . .specially for big tanks.
@kirehajba not sure if you have all glass panes on the side of the bottom glass (floating bottom). I read somewhere no foam should be kept under this tank type. Should be a hard flat surface.
IMO, the issues with the side panel are minor compared with the imperfections and bubbling in the silicone seams. If this were a "classic" aquarium and not an open "pool" aquarium, the impact would be different. Large aquariums built in the "classical" style make use of a reinforced frame or longitudinal and cross reinforcement bars. This type of reinforced construction not only makes possible using thinner glass panes but also allows for a greater margin of error regarding the application of silicone. Therefore, minor imperfections or bubbling in the silicone seams can be acceptable with this type of construction.
However, (large) pool aquariums are a whole different story since they have no reinforcement structures whatsoever and the seams are often thinner than in other constructions for aesthetic reasons. As a result, issues in the silicone greatly increase the risk of structural failure. This is one of the reasons why pool aquariums are more expensive than classic builds, even when they are built with same type and thickness of glass. Around here, a pool aquarium costs ~50% more than a classic build with the same specs mainly due to the silicone work. I do not know the history behind the company that built @kirehajba 's aquarium. However, I do know of reputed aquarium builders that produce near bomb-proof reinforced tanks but struggled when they started producing pool aquariums because of issues with the silicone work...
In short, if the only issue was a side glass pane cut with the wrong dimensions, I would try at the very least a price reduction given the premium price of this tank, but I would likely accept the tank as it is. However, I would never ever accept a 700 Litre pool tank with issues in the silicone seams, but that is just me 😉
Popularity of rimless/braceless tanks have forced tank builders to cut corners. None wants to pay more for thicker glass and no-one wants braces on top.
zozo
Member
I guess it's a language barrier, that I'm not sure what the term Pool Aquarium stands for. Till now I never came across this term. Do you mean a braceless open-top aquarium, solely constructed from 5 panels of glass and nothing else?
I guess that is what he means. He should confirm though lol. Tank without braces anywhere.
Exactly. Sorry for the confusing terminology. I meant an ADA-style braceless aquarium with no reinforcement whatsoever - most of these tanks also feature a thin silicone seam limited to the contact surface between the glass panes vs. an aquarium with some sort of reinforcement, such as an external frame or braces along and across the top (and bottom, in large aquariums). The quality of the silicone seams is critical in braceless aquariums since it is the only element securing the structural integrity of the system.
vs.
