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Replacing the bottom of a tank


Brownfish

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Hi all,

a while ago a friend of mine decided to get a marine tank (48"x18"x18"), paid top dollar from a local shop. Well the local shop owner was a scumbag and made the whole tank, including the bottom, from 6mm glass. My understanding is that 6mm is way too risky. Anyway, the bottom of the tank cracked, flooded the downstairs flat, and he promptly gave up keeping fish.

Anyway, I've bought his gear off him. The tank has a weir built, which makes me inclined to want to save it. I was wondering whether it would be worth taking off the cracked bottom off the tank and replacing it with 8mm or 10mm glass.

Is this practical? Any tips for approaching the problem? I suppose most importantly, are 6mm sides too thin for a tank of these dimensions? I understand that this might be too close to the theoretical limit for comfort.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate your collective thoughts,

Richard

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When I was looking at a similar situation following a nasty gash in the front of a display tank the actual manufacturer told me that the cost for them to do the work would be more than buying a new tank.

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I was also told the effort and risk involved with replacing the pane were not worth it and they did not do tank repairs like that. This came from one of the respected forum sponsor...

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I think to replace the bottom, you would have to basically take the whole tank apart and rebuild it. Possible but you would have to have time, patience and experience to do it.

6mm is quite thin, when I built my first 4x18x18 I went with 10mm bottoms, just to be on the safe side.

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Thanks for the advice guys. It seems to be as I feared

Possible but you would have to have time, patience and experience to do it.

One out of three, ie. patience, wont be enough smile.gif In that case, I might turn it into coverglass dry.gif

Richard

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