My 75 gallon tank is around 12 years old. It have been the home for an Oscar, then angel fish, then parrot fish and now my goldfish.
I worry about this tank. It is on an open top stand so there is not a lot of support under it. I worry that the weight and age it is going to break. It has around 50 pounds of river rock in it and the water too. I am thinking of taking it down and putting a board on the top of the stand. It has not cracks and seems ok but I still worry.
Should I start saving for a new tank? If I did I would proable get a 55 instead or maybe a 60 if I could find one. This tank is to tall for me to clean with ease.
Full Version: Old Tank
As long as a tank has been properly supported for its entire life, there is no reason that it should have a "life span" - it should last for 20 years or more.
The most damaging thing that can happen to a tank is being moved. If your tank has been moved multiple times - or ever moved with ANYTHING in it at all - any weight of ANY nature - then the life span can be dramatically reduced.
Moving a tank can often introduce "sheer" to it - as the tank is twisted and moved, the sealant along the edges can be stressed and eventually start to leak. HAving weight in an empty tank during a move can increase the sheer that can occur. IF the tank is not fully supported on a flat, level stand/support, sheer can also occur during general use.
It is suggested that not only do you carefully level your tank's stands/supports, but I also put a piece of 1/4 inch foam board under each of my tanks. The foam will compress to fit the tank's individual footprint as it is filled with water - supporting in a custom manner.
When/if a tank starts to leak, it is really not hard to reseal it again. A catastrophic failure - as in glass breakage - is not usually a common occurance. General use - and even stressors such as sheer - rarely lead to full on failure and breakage. If the glass has suffered traumatic abuse - strikes on the glass surface, dropping, etc, it may fail catostropically down the road, but in general, this is not something that is common.
It never hurts to save for a new tank. It never hurts to have a spare tank. For that matter, can you ever have too many tanks?
The most damaging thing that can happen to a tank is being moved. If your tank has been moved multiple times - or ever moved with ANYTHING in it at all - any weight of ANY nature - then the life span can be dramatically reduced.
Moving a tank can often introduce "sheer" to it - as the tank is twisted and moved, the sealant along the edges can be stressed and eventually start to leak. HAving weight in an empty tank during a move can increase the sheer that can occur. IF the tank is not fully supported on a flat, level stand/support, sheer can also occur during general use.
It is suggested that not only do you carefully level your tank's stands/supports, but I also put a piece of 1/4 inch foam board under each of my tanks. The foam will compress to fit the tank's individual footprint as it is filled with water - supporting in a custom manner.
When/if a tank starts to leak, it is really not hard to reseal it again. A catastrophic failure - as in glass breakage - is not usually a common occurance. General use - and even stressors such as sheer - rarely lead to full on failure and breakage. If the glass has suffered traumatic abuse - strikes on the glass surface, dropping, etc, it may fail catostropically down the road, but in general, this is not something that is common.
It never hurts to save for a new tank. It never hurts to have a spare tank. For that matter, can you ever have too many tanks?
Thank you so much. Now I can stop worring so much. I hope. lol The tank has been moved a few times but only with nothing in it. It is way to heavy to move with stuff in it. lol No chips or cracks either.
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