How long will a reef tank last ... ?

[jdg]

Is there a general rule of thumb for how long a tank lasts before seals and the like begin to wear our? I have an AGA180 and was wondering what the likely hood was of my coming home one day to a Deuce Bigalo event.

:eek1:

[jammoye2]

tagging along. I was wondering this myself as i have a 7.5 year old tank.

[poolkeeper1]

Quality Silicone has around a 50 year guarantee so it could be possible for the tank to go that long before the seams fail. JMO But this whole premise may not apply.
Bill

[turbosek]

How long was it used before? Funny thing is you could sell it, buy a new tank, and the new one could fail in the first year due to a defect. If the one you have was up for a while with no problems, I'd bet it would be good for a long time. Kinda along the premise that if a tank is going to fail, chances are it will fail soon after it goes into use. If it is good for a few years, chances are it will last a long time. I could be completely wrong though...no one can predict the future. I would say odds favor that my assumptions are true.

[Bretts05jeep]

:confused:Kinda wish I didnt read this, puts very very bad images in my head.

[cloak]

It's a tank to tank event IMO. I had my 60 gallon reef for 9 years, and then one moning I woke up to find a crack running straight down the middle. I have a 50 gallon freshwater tank that's pushing 20 years. Go figure.

[quickwiz00]

I also worry about this. My tank is going to be 11 this winter and so far so good. (keeping my fingers crossed)

[snorvich]

Paul B has a tank approaching 40 years old.

[iamwrasseman]

i have been around tanks for quite some time and i have seen failures but most of them were from bad practices IMO . every one that i have seen with a seam failure was excessively abbraided from cleaning or from razor blade cutting . i have seen some where people actually cut off the silicone inside completely and they were fine . the cutting of the silicone was done on purpose and did not effect the seal but i would never recommend this practice in any way . i personally had a 75gal tank they began seeping on one of the seems and had to replace it but it was good because i replaced it with a 90gal as an upgrade . it was only 5 years old and i really dont know why it started leaking but now i have a 90 there instead ,no problem !

Steve ,just be proud of the ......? many years of experience that you have .

[travis32]

Iamwrasseman aka Dave, what'd you do with your "leaky 75g"???

My 55g tank has salt build up over all the bottom seems. I assume something is leaking somewhere in the bottom. My plan was to resilicone it and sell it or use it as a QT tank for larger fish for my 125g, then sell it.

Once they start leaking they should just be thrown? It may have been operating for a long time with a slightly seeping leak..

The 125g I got has had 2 owners before me, and has been in operation with no leaks for 8 years. My 55g was in operation less than 9 months, and I don't know how long the previous owner had it.

[iamwrasseman]

its on the front porch right now but i will be using it soon to put all my fish in when i change over to my monster tank .
on a few other tanks for other people i have razor bladed all of the inside silicone and then cleaned with rubbing alcohol and resiliconed them with very good results . the last one i did was three years ago and its still up and running . i think the oldest one that i resealed is about ten years old but i haven't heard about that specific tank for about four or five years .you can reseal them in about an hour and its pretty easy if your a do it yourself-er !

[Fish4Me2]

I ran my freshwater tank for 11 years with no issues. I suspect things like cleaning practices and the quality and levelness of the stand are most critical. I'm setting up a tank I hope to have for many years, and my biggest concern is that over the next 10 years, the house may settle enough to make my initially level stand become uneven. I think that will cause problems on a 205g tank. I have no idea how to address that issue.

[iamwrasseman]

just thought of this ,my dad has a 10gal tank with a stainless steel frame that we had up and running when i was 14yrs old and that was back in 1977 so that one is 34 yrs old and stull up and running .

[blazin]

what about rock? Is there ever a time where the LR needs to be replaced strictly due to age? (not including phosphate issues, etc)

[iamwrasseman]

i wouldn't say due to age but if it gets completely clogged and becomes useless as a bacteria haven i would assume that it should need to be replaced IMO.
i honestly think that old tank syndrome is mainly due to the live rock becoming clogged and useless . i always choose my live rock by weight per size ,the lighter rock per size has better porosity and is harder to clog so it will be more useful as a bacteria harboring house which is what we want for sure . this is why i don't like the "Marco rock" as it is mined in texas and has large holes that you can fit your finger through but is extremely dense and weighs alot per size . this to me is unwanted to work in an aquarium correctly but it does look really nice .

[Aquarist007]

what about rock? Is there ever a time where the LR needs to be replaced strictly due to age? (not including phosphate issues, etc)

if you maintain your live rock by periodically using a power head to blow the detrius off it you should never have to change it.

[billdogg]

well - lets see...my new tank is a 60g cube that i set up in 1992. It has the same piece of rock in it as the day it was first filled. (It's siliconed to the bottom) Next is my 150 - set up around 1990. Still going strong as well. Then there is my 120 - currently being used as the refugium for the 150 - I got it used about 1988 from the LFS I worked at - it had been the feeder goldfish tank for an unknown amount of time before I got it. As long as the stand is flat and level, it is my humble opinion that any given tank will last until you get tired of the hobby and sell it off.

Is far as live rock goes - i agree completely with the capn ^^^ I sometimes move a piece from one tank to another, and will add to the collection as I buy more corals, but have never seen a problem I could link to "old" rock.

HTH

[Sk8r]

I ran an acrylic from about 1985 to 2000, and its attached sump began to bow really scarily. I've since discovered a cure for bowing, in aluminum channel strips notched for partitions, btw. But the seams were holding nicely, and no cracks in the top supports.

[jdg]

How long was it used before? Funny thing is you could sell it, buy a new tank, and the new one could fail in the first year due to a defect. If the one you have was up for a while with no problems, I'd bet it would be good for a long time. Kinda along the premise that if a tank is going to fail, chances are it will fail soon after it goes into use. If it is good for a few years, chances are it will last a long time. I could be completely wrong though...no one can predict the future. I would say odds favor that my assumptions are true.

it was brand new, but some of the corners ended up scraped up over time (coraline cleanup, etc.).

i guess the consensus seems to be that if it's going to bigalo, it's going to bigalo -- whether it happens in 3 days or 3 decades.

Thank you everyone for your contributions. :)

[sminker]

I have a 180 gallon All Glass Aquarium that was assembled in 1997. I am the third owner. :)

[es1887]

i have a 75 gal that my dad had seahorses in before i was even born. it sat in an open storage for 10 years in texas. my brother used it for ten years as a freshwater tank, and now i have is as a frag tank. its kinda crazy how long this tank has been in the family. the silicone on it has never been replaced, and its so old it doesnt even have a center brace. the tank has been in the fam for around 30 years