Crack in brand new aquarium

[Yarkii]

Hello!

I'm new to this forum, and new to fish keeping. I've just bought a new Aqua One Horizon 65L aquarium & stand. I've just taken the tank out of the box, and noticed three little bits of black sealing stuff (I don't know what it's called - is it silicone?) in places that I wouldn't expect it on the glass surfaces. One fairly long piece seems to have been covering a very thin crack or scratch.

The crack is only on one side of the glass and is very thin, but I realise that once the tank is full of water, the glass will be under a lot of pressure. It's roughly 18cm (7 inches) long.

Is there some way to tell whether these are cracks or just some out-of-place black sticky stuff?

The store I bought it from were really rude and unhelpful, even before I took the tank home, so I'm not looking forward to dealing with them again regarding a faulty aquarium.

It's a cheaper tank than many, but it's still not cheap, and I wouldn't expect a new tank to have cracks in it!

Thanks for any advice you can give!







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[Ch4rlie]

Kind of hard to tell without actually seeing the tank itself to be entirely honest.

Can you take this black silicon off the glass and give it a clean (just use plain water, nothing with chemicals) and see if anything there on the glass at all?

Maybe a few pictures from several angles will help.

I did once get a brand new tank and it had this black stuff on the tank galss which turned out to be silicon sealant and I just simply peeled it off and cleaned the glass, no problems.

 

[Yarkii]

Thanks Charlie!

I tried taking photos, but for the most visible crack, the camera just wouldn't focus. The longest one is so thin that I can barely see it, let alone photograph it. I guess it's more like a long scratch.

I tried using just water & a microfiber cloth on the scratches. There now seems to be just a short scratch mid-way up the side glass, and a slightly deeper scratch in one of the upper corners.

Is it fairly common for tanks to have little scratches in the glass? I've noticed on another post some talk about buying silicon to use on cracks. Is that more for corners & edges than the middle of a pane of glass?

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[Ch4rlie]

On brand new tanks, there should not be any scratches or cracks on the glass.

However, if the tank was bought at a reduced price and its possible staff may have let you know or information was given that it is reduced due to the scratches then yes, that does happen fairly often in some LFS.

Second hand tanks very often has scratches, particularly along the bottom half of the tank glass due to maintenance cleaning and unfortunatly is very easy to catch a few particles of sand or grit from gravel in the process of cleaning the glass and therefore results in scratches, very common.

A lot of the time when you fill the tank with water, the scratches disapear under water.

As for silicon to 'mend' cracks, not somethng I'd recommend as the strength of the glass itself has been compromised and silicon is a poor subsitute but as a very short temporary measure it may be ok but I would not like to gamble that with a large tank full of water.

Silcion is most comonly used for the joints / corners and edges of tanks as a waterproofer and to help to keep the glass joined together (usually glass is jointed together with a strong industrial type glue).

If I ever get a crack that compromises the glass strength on any of my tank's glass (touch wood it never happens), I would simply replace the entire tank for peace of mind.

You CAN get the tank glass replaced if you are good with this type of thing or to a repairer, but not that cheap to do. Sometimes simply cheaper to get a second hand tank in half decent condition and replace the tank.

 

[Yarkii]

Thanks again Charlie.

This is a brand new tank. I just took it out of the box tonight, and immediately noticed the weirdly-placed silicone and the scratches/cracks under them.

I think I'll have to take it back and insist they replace it, and hope that the new one isn't even worse.

It took 3 weeks for them to get it in the first place, after telling me they had them in store when they didn't. Ho hum. Eventually I'll be able to start setting this up.

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[Ch4rlie]

Thats a shame. Hope they will replace that tank for one thats undamaged fairly quickly.

I find if am returning faulty good, its usually good to be polite but fairly firm and reasonable that you are unsatisfied and explain clearly and show them the areas of damage etc then you may find you'll get a lot better service rather than finger pointing and speaking loudly, thats from my experience I find anyway. Good luck with that.

Its not that common to have damages to new tanks simply due to fact they have been unsued but if poorly cleaned prior to sale then it could happen I guess.

Unlucky I reckon.

 

[StandbySetting]

Some Aquaone aquariums are made from acrylic IIRC, it'd be worth checking as acrylic scratches very easily but is up to 10x stronger than glass.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ah, good point, acrylic does indeed scratch much easier than glass, never even thought of that tbh. Oops!

Thought acrylic scratches can be buffed out but no idea how much or where that can be done as only ever had one tank that was acrylic and I did not like it much tbh so was not used for long then got a glass tank to replace that one, for some reason I feel better with 'proper' glass tanks.

 

[Yarkii]

Ah. Hmmm. It seems like glass to me, but I'll double check the packaging & info booklet to be sure.

I'm nervous about going back there. There were so many stuff ups with getting it in in the first place, and one of the managers was so extremely rude about it. It's been so awkward and uncomfortable dealing with them whenever that manager is there.

I'm crossing my fingers that someone else will be there when I go back.

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[Ch4rlie]

Is this a chain store LFS?

If so, you might be able to take it to another store of the same name and exchange the tank there instead of the original place and explain to staff why etc.

Just an idea.

 

[FroFro]

Ah. Hmmm. It seems like glass to me, but I'll double check the packaging & info booklet to be sure.

I'm nervous about going back there. There were so many stuff ups with getting it in in the first place, and one of the managers was so extremely rude about it. It's been so awkward and uncomfortable dealing with them whenever that manager is there.

I'm crossing my fingers that someone else will be there when I go back.

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You seem like a person that doesn't like conflict to me so unless you were doing something to be OUTRAGEOUSLY rude, there was NO REASON UNDER THE SKY for the managers to be rude to you. Unless you were calling people names, trying to steal, or legitimately threatening the comfort and quality of their stores and customers it is a managers job to be polite to you. This is a damaged product, and even if it was on sale, on sale products like aquariums are supposed to functional for sale. A cracked tank is NOT a functional product, for if it breaks and gets gallons of water on the floor it can cause a lot of damage. A company is NOT supposed to sell product that is damaged to the point that is threatens the functionality of a product. I am not saying the company deliberately sold it this way, but it is their responsibility as a store to sell quality undamaged goods to their customers and to refund or replace the product if they fail to meet that standard. If they find damaged product on the shelf they are supposed to remove it from the sales floor, not offer it for a discounted price. That would be equivalent to a manager at my store seeing a gallon of milk sitting in a different aisle and realizing that its warm and could've spoiled while it sat there, but shrugging and putting it back in the milk case.

If you really are that nervous, which I wouldn't be, you are in the right and the store is in the wrong, you should take a friend or family member with you that has a more assertive personality. No offense, but you shouldn't let a manager who is rude intimidate you into not getting the quality service and product that you PAID for. I understand the discomfort but you deserve to get the best service and product possible for the money you pay as a customer.

I've worked in customer service for years and it drives me up a wall when I hear of people in management being so unprofessional. You can take the other member's advice and see if you can exchange it at another location if it was a big chain petstore you bought it from like petco or petsmart etc. But if not I'd get a refund and take your money elsewhere as well as review their store and management for their terrible treatment of you during your original purchase. Despite what people believe, owners of stores/corporate do monitor their customer reviews and will take action. It's very unlikely that anyone will get fired but they will be given a firm talking to because of your review and hopefully change their behavior. If not, they don't deserve to be in a management position. There is no reason an employee let alone a manager treat a respectful customer willing to pay a good amount of money in their store like dirt. Sorry for going on a rant here, but being rude has no place in customer service. Period.

 

[Yarkii]

Thank you again, Charlie. I ended up calling the store today, and having a slightly strained conversation with the same manager again! In the end, we agreed that I'll return the tank & stand for a full refund.

This was a chain pet store. I think I'll go to the local aquarium for everything fish-related from now on.

Thanks for your help. Hopefully soon I'll find a nice aquarium I can start to set up.

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[Yarkii]

Thanks FroFro.

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