Urgent Help Needed With Juwel Tank

[Essjay]

The germans said:

We can assure you that changes from the silicone joint as well as little loosing from the strap are absolutely normal.
These changes are harmless and within typical tolerances. We are using floatglass. This glass quality stands for high load capacity and scratch-resistance.
A bending will not have any impact on the stability because the aquarium is glued with an safety top and bottom frame.

 
I understood Juwel's reply to mean they made the whole tank from float glass not that they were referring to the tank having a floating base. And from what my father told me, the term float glass just refers to the way all the glass in the tank is made. It the thickness and composition of the glass that makes it stronger rather than the technique used to make it. Juwel's statement about float glass is meaningless without further information.

 

[TallTree01]

Thanks guys, I was about to get a second hand juwel rio 180 at no charge. Now you've introduced doubt into my mind.

Hope everything works out for you.

 

[Ch4rlie]

TT - am sure that Juwel Rio 180 is prefectly fine, just be sure to check the struts brace, chips on glass and silicon. As already mentioned these struts braces can be replaced or repaired pretty easily.
 
So don't let that put you off.
 
BTW, I reckon EVERY tank has weak spots in one form or another after a length of time, be it the thickness of glass, float glass, silicon, joints, braces, floating bases etc etc
 
Just the ones that has faults reported on forums seems to make it worse than it actually is and does not represent EVERY tank of that particular brand are all going to be faulty.
 
Just means, be careful and check very carefully when purchasing or obtaining second hand tanks, common sense

 

[Akasha72]

Thanks guys, I was about to get a second hand juwel rio 180 at no charge. Now you've introduced doubt into my mind.

 

 
I would still get it and rip the support bar out and replace it before you do anything. If the tank is coming for free then you've nothing to lose but trying to rip it out. If you break the tank in the process let us all know and we've all learned a good lesson

 

[andyG44]

The Rio 180 has a plastic brace that is moulded part of the top trim/frame and some of it extends downwards and is glued on the inside of the front and the back glass.

As the other posted noted this glue suddenly stretches for reasons unknown and allows the glass to bulge by a few mm. It is not correct no matter what Juwel say because one day it is fine and the next day you have an extra 10 mm gap.

Juwel say two things. It is still within tolerances. The bar is not structural.
The Rio 300 has a different brace it is not glued on the glass and I presume can be replaced as I have seen it sold on eBay.

 

[TallTree01]

Thanks guys, I was about to get a second hand juwel rio 180 at no charge. Now you've introduced doubt into my mind.

 
I would still get it and rip the support bar out and replace it before you do anything. If the tank is coming for free then you've nothing to lose but trying to rip it out. If you break the tank in the process let us all know and we've all learned a good lesson

No, I'm not gonna rip out the bar unless it looks severely damaged.

TT - am sure that Juwel Rio 180 is prefectly fine, just be sure to check the struts brace, chips on glass and silicon. As already mentioned these struts braces can be replaced or repaired pretty easily.
 
So don't let that put you off.
 
BTW, I reckon EVERY tank has weak spots in one form or another after a length of time, be it the thickness of glass, float glass, silicon, joints, braces, floating bases etc etc
 
Just the ones that has faults reported on forums seems to make it worse than it actually is and does not represent EVERY tank of that particular brand are all going to be faulty.
 
Just means, be careful and check very carefully when purchasing or obtaining second hand tanks, common sense

Yeah I'm almost certainly gonna get it anyway, I'll just make sure to inspect it very ultra carefully.

 

[Akasha72]

I agree with Ch4rlie - every tank - second hand especially - it going to have a weak spot. The older they get the more chance there is that something is going to go wrong. 
My tank is second hand and the glass is badly scratched. It's one of the reasons I'm saving for a new tank but that new tank will still be a Juwel. The support bar problem has not put me off. Common sense says that any brand of tank can go wrong. 
 
Yesterday I cleaned out my little clearseal 30 litre tank after having poorly fish in there with medication. Whilst cleaning it I took the opportunity to check all the seams as one of the corners felt wet underneath. I've refilled the tank after cleaning and the board it was stood on had a wet looking patch in the same corner. I'm now keeping it sat full of water to see if it's my over cautious imagination or if the little tank has sprung a slight leak. I've just come into the room and the water level hasn't moved and so it must have just been me worrying. That just goes to show that even small tanks can leak. Nothing is fool proof I'm afraid

 

[andyG44]

 

 

Thanks guys, I was about to get a second hand juwel rio 180 at no charge. Now you've introduced doubt into my mind.

 
I would still get it and rip the support bar out and replace it before you do anything. If the tank is coming for free then you've nothing to lose but trying to rip it out. If you break the tank in the process let us all know and we've all learned a good lesson

No, I'm not gonna rip out the bar unless it looks severely damaged.

TT - am sure that Juwel Rio 180 is prefectly fine, just be sure to check the struts brace, chips on glass and silicon. As already mentioned these struts braces can be replaced or repaired pretty easily.
 
So don't let that put you off.
 
BTW, I reckon EVERY tank has weak spots in one form or another after a length of time, be it the thickness of glass, float glass, silicon, joints, braces, floating bases etc etc
 
Just the ones that has faults reported on forums seems to make it worse than it actually is and does not represent EVERY tank of that particular brand are all going to be faulty.
 
Just means, be careful and check very carefully when purchasing or obtaining second hand tanks, common sense

Yeah I'm almost certainly gonna get it anyway, I'll just make sure to inspect it very ultra carefully.

 


Just to be 100% certain. The brace bar on the Rio 180 is part of the top frame/trim and you cannot remove it unless you replace the whole top frame. This top frame is glued on to the glass I presume and cannot be replaced. The bottom frame/base on the other hand comes off, there is no glue. In addition the top brace bar is glued onto the glass and in my and another poster's case, the glue has SUDDENLY expanded allowing the front and the back glass to curve outwards, in my case almost 10mm. The glue has not come off and therefore it is not simple to simply add some more glue. Based on that, even if I had inspected the tank full of water at the point of sale, and it looked fine, which is something I advise you to do, as well as evidence of water damage/leaks on the cabinet which could well imply a leaking tank. As I was saying this happened to my Rio 180 two months post purchase and inpsection at the time of purchase may not show any defects on that area.