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Leaking tank from rocks weight


BrentE

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Hello, i was just wondering has anyone had any troubles of so much rock in tank that it causes glass to warp and make tank leak. I have probably over 50kgs of rock and my tank started leaking after 2 months, i took some rock out (10kgs) and seems to have stopped/slowed down. I have plastic crates on bottom to distribute weight and sand.

Is there any type of rock that isnt so heavy? Or should i just stick to less rock?

Cheers brent

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I'd be surprised that the rocks would be a problem, so long as the tank is properly supported there should be a problem and I'd be more worried about the rock cracking the glass than pulling the tank apart.

Think about how much water you've got in there, 1kg per litre. And the forces that water exerts on the tank trying to push the tank apart. 50kg of rock is nothing, even a standard 2 foot tank can tank 80L of water (80kg).

Is this an old tank - could the silicon holding it together just have deteriorated and sprung a leak?

Or a particularly cheap tank - could the glass thickness be insufficient and cause bowing (again, I'd be more worried about breaking in this situation)

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Hello, the tank is quite old i got it 2nd hand, i re-siliconed the inside but havn't pulled glass and alloy corner bracing off to re-silicone. The glass thickness is efficeient it's 10-12mm on 4 foot tank (270litres).

Thats a very good point about it breaking, im unsure what i should do now.

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I think these old tanks also had "putty" not silicone holding them together. I have had much more rock in tanks and not had them leak.

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When you took the rocks out the water level would have dropped. Did you add more water to top it up? If not then I would be looking for the leak around the level where the water was before you took the rocks out.

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When you took the rocks out the water level would have dropped. Did you add more water to top it up? If not then I would be looking for the leak around the level where the water was before you took the rocks out.

I'll check this thanks, the panels are attached too each other & via black alloy stripping on sides. It was actually made from sky scraper glass as it has decals on bottom of tank. Theres a pic of it in photography section on this forum.

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