Cracked Tank

[E_Nealeigh]

So I cracked my tank when drilling the hole. I'm pretty sure it happened when the diamond hole saw grabbed as I was lifting the drill. What do you think? Is it salvageable or do you think its just a matter of time before disaster happens? It's a 60 cube by the way.

[rwb500]

you could silicone glass panels to either side and hope for the best. i think it would probably be fine but I (like most people) have no experience with this sort of thing.

btw the rule of thumb is that the distance from hole to edge should be 1.5x the hole diameter. yours looks to be less than 0.5.

[SoloGarth]

I wouldn't trust it. You have severely weakened the glass. Water pressure might eventually end up creating a larger crack or breaking the whole pane. Then again it might be fine. But i wouldn't want to risk it personally. Call a local glass place and have them cut you a new sheet the same size.

[ebow3d]

It would most likely be fine, from a structural point. However, personally, that crack would bother me way too much.

[Saltwaterwill]

Sorry bud but I wouldn't take any chances, not worth it.

[sleepydoc]

Ouch! That stinks! Sorry to say that you need to replace either the panel or the tank. :(

It's too late now, but you appear to have drilled the hole too close to the edge. You should have at least one hole diameter between glass edges (either the edge of the tank or the next hole.) It looks like you have about half of that, which may be why it cracked.

[monkey4life]

Sandwich the glass between 2 layers, with enough of a overlap to cover the bulkhead flange and redrill exactly over the old hole. not pretty but it will save the tank.

[ca1ore]

That the crack runs upwards from the hole, means that it will not get any worse. It's aesthetically unappealing, but assuming a bulkhead fitting is going into the hole, I'd be shocked if there were any structural issues. I cracked a rimless tank just like this, siliconed in the bulkhead, sealed the crack with a bead of silicone, and ran it for 18 months with no problems at all.

[Dro127]

I would look into replacing the panel. I love my tank but its not more important than my house