# What are the chances of a tank leaking or breaking?



## solarz

Has anyone ever experienced this? How likely is it for this to happen on its own, barring an accident? Are there any precautions you can take to minimize the damage of a leaking or broken tank?


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## BillD

To minimize breakage or leaking from torsional forces, make sure the tank is level and on a flat surface. It is still possible to have a leak that s related to the tanks construction, but level and flat goes a long way to eliminating problems.
one thing that can cause a tank to break is a point load on the glass, either from the bottom such as a grain of gravel against a glass bottom on a tank with no bottom trim, or from inside via a point load caused by a heavy object such as rock pressing down on a single grain of gravel. I know a person who oost 2 tanks this way, from a point load caused by a rock. He now places his rocks on styro.


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## solarz

BillD said:


> one thing that can cause a tank to break is a point load on the glass, either from the bottom such as a grain of gravel against a glass bottom on a tank with no bottom trim, or from inside via a point load caused by a heavy object such as rock pressing down on a single grain of gravel. I know a person who oost 2 tanks this way, from a point load caused by a rock. He now places his rocks on styro.


Wow, that's good to know. This sounds like it would be a pretty common occurence...


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## BillD

This is the reason that tanks have a rim to lift the bottom glass up, and most commercial stands have open centres. Not because it is stronger, but to avoid the problem of setting the bottom on something. The inside point loading is not that common, but can happen.


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## zenafish

and older tanks with silicone degrading could have a bigger chance of leaking.

I had a resealed one and I had it tested then running for 6 months before it decide to blow up (literally) on night at 11pm. Saltwater too


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## Zebrapl3co

I agree will BillD. Having a level tank makes a world of difference. Styrofoam on the bottom helps too. Rocks leaning against glass should be scrutinized. For the bottom of the tank, gravels ussually helps fix all the weight issues. But an egg-crate + sand was what I used when I had a big heavy rock and logs in my tank.
Lastly, luck plays a big difference. Good silicon jobs and bad silicon jobs makes the difference between a tank that last more than 10 years and one that last only 3 months.

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## solarz

zenafish said:


> and older tanks with silicone degrading could have a bigger chance of leaking.
> 
> I had a resealed one and I had it tested then running for 6 months before it decide to blow up (literally) on night at 11pm. Saltwater too


wow, that sucks. This is the kind of thing I'm worried about. Do you have any advice on damage control in case something like this happens?


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## gucci17

Starboard (cutting board) can be used as well to prevent rock falls from cracking the bottom panel. But of course, the eggcrate is a cheaper solution.


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## waj8

I had one break. It was a 40 gallon tall. The front pane just cracked like a gunshot in the middle of the night. It was almost a new tank. I had it on styrofoam too. Not the soft white stuff but the dense and rigid stuff. Not really sure what happened. I think the glass just wasn't thick enough. I could see the front bowing out quite a bit when I first filled it with water but wasn't too concerned. Lasted maybe 2 months. So out of maybe 20 tanks, one broke.


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## Bailey John

More than likely the machine you're talking about has a bad O ring (gasket). I have worked with propane fork trucks and have had the same problem,there is a gasket in the tank nozzle and possible one in the machines nozzle. We would take one of them out and it would seal just fine.


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## PACMAN

Bailey John said:


> More than likely the machine you're talking about has a bad O ring (gasket). I have worked with propane fork trucks and have had the same problem,there is a gasket in the tank nozzle and possible one in the machines nozzle. We would take one of them out and it would seal just fine.


*Facepalm*

tank as in fish tank


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## pat3612

Ive had 2 Marineland tanks leak on me after a couple of weeks running 1 when I was on holidays. I stick to Miricle Tanks now. One good thing to have on hand is extra buckets for fish just in case and also a wet and dry shop vac a big one if you have a large tank 30 gals or more.


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