[SupaJSK]

I was drilling a hole in my tank with a diamond tipped hole saw. Right as I was nearing the end, the drill caught edge and chipped off a piece of the glass. Its a 60 gallon cube. The glass is about half an inch think. The chip is about 20% of the thikness on the outside of the tank. I can get a nice seal with my bulkhead, and on the other side ill put some silicone. Here are the pics. What do you think? Am I gonna have to get a new tank or could it should be alright? Thanks.

[SupaJSK]

Here is a pic of the piece.

[reddhaus]

I am no expert on it but I personally would feel uncomfortable using that tank with a big chunk missing like that.

It's not so much the bulkhead sealing but more about how much weaker the bottom has become. You are going to have the weight of your sand and live rock putting pressure on it.

Like i said, i am no expert but i would be very afraid of 60 gal of water on the floor.

[hcp28]

could you patch the break with some silicoln and add some support around the hole with some plexi glass adhered to the glass? I'm no expert but I think this would help a lot. as long as your support piece is level with your base then it should keep the glass from breaking more. As long as you seal it with a good glass sealer and make sure there are no micro fractures that could spread further I think you would be okay.

Either way it sucks that it did that. good luck.

Maybe you could fill it with water outside after you are done with repaies and leave it for a night or two to see if it leaks some more. I'm sure someoen here has experience with this kind of stuff.

Henry

[saltwaterdave]

I had a chip in my tank and I was told to try and make the chip"run",what you do is take the palm of your hand and give the area several good thumps.I hit mine pretty damn hard it made my hand hurt.That will make the glass 'run" so to speak,it will show the weak spots,if it does'nt run you should be good to go.Mine did not run and I have the tank full of water right now running.It worked for me so far,but it is better to try it now than to full it with water then the pressure make it run. Here is a link to that thread:
Need Help Fast,chipped Tank!
Hth
David

[zhenya]

The only thing I can recomend in this case is to maybe trying to silicone a piece of marine grade plywood,0.5 or 0.75" on the outside. You can alway seal bulkhead from the inside with silicon.
Like Henry suggested,try filling it outside after all the repairs and see how it is holding.It's a bummer to say the least

[saltwaterdave]

I used a windshield repair kit for mine...just a thought.
David

[SupaJSK]

Thanks guys. I tried to make the tank run and hit it pretty hard. No runs.

Im gonna put some plywood and support the area right underneath it, just in case too.

How does the windshield repair kit work?

[hcp28]

If you use plywood your going to have to be sure to seal it with some maringrade sealant. You don't want your wood expanding and rotting.