Reason to Worry, or Worrying for Nothing?

[Hardy Reefs]

So after a few years out of the hobby, I finally got the chance to jump back in!

I purchased an awesome tank from a local member who I cannot say better things about. He went above and beyond to catch me up on changes in the hobby, and even helped me out with some equipment!

With all that being said, my question is this.. The tank is made by Elos, which is as good as they come in tank manufacturing, and is made with thicker glass than one would normally see on a 80 gallon tank. But... the tank is still 7 or so odd years old. The seams appear to be in great shape and I have really no reason to suspect anything is wrong. In the back of my mind I do think about how old the tank is and wonder if I will regret not having it re-sealed or something. What would my options even be?

Thanks!

 

[civics14]

when you say reseal it, are you talking about disassembling the entire tank apart, panel by panel, and regluing everything? Or are you talking about just the corner inside seams?

If you're talking about taking all the glass panels apart and redoing it, I have no opinion, but I hope you know what you're doing. If you're talking about the corner inside seams, not sure if this will help it structurally at all, it might just provide some protection from your glass scraper from hitting the silicone holding the panels together. And if you do a crappy job cutting out the current glue, you could potentially damage the actual glue that is holding the panel together.

Now, if you were talking about Red Sea being 7 years old... I'd run as far and fast as you can from that tank. LOL. Elos, I wouldn't worry so much, never heard of seam failures from them.

One more thing to add, just look at the seams. If there are no bubbles or no issues, why risk damaging the tank doing it incorrectly.

 

[Hardy Reefs]

when you say reseal it, are you talking about disassembling the entire tank apart, panel by panel, and regluing everything? Or are you talking about just the corner inside seams?

If you're talking about taking all the glass panels apart and redoing it, I have no opinion, but I hope you know what you're doing. If you're talking about the corner inside seams, not sure if this will help it structurally at all, it might just provide some protection from your glass scraper from hitting the silicone holding the panels together. And if you do a crappy job cutting out the current glue, you could potentially damage the actual glue that is holding the panel together.

Now, if you were talking about Red Sea being 7 years old... I'd run as far and fast as you can from that tank. LOL. Elos, I wouldn't worry so much, never heard of seam failures from them.

One more thing to add, just look at the seams. If there are no bubbles or no issues, why risk damaging the tank doing it incorrectly.

Thanks for the reply Civics! Yeah I don't see any bubbles or anything in the seams leading me to think the lifespan is even deteriorating. I would never ever ever pull a tank apart for the reseal lol not in my bag of tools haha. Our water heater busted while we were out of the house a few weeks ago and flooded a few rooms, so I am just thinking a little differently right now lol. In reality I don't think there is much to worry about!

 

[civics14]

Thanks for the reply Civics! Yeah I don't see any bubbles or anything in the seams leading me to think the lifespan is even deteriorating. I would never ever ever pull a tank apart for the reseal lol not in my bag of tools haha. Our water heater busted while we were out of the house a few weeks ago and flooded a few rooms, so I am just thinking a little differently right now lol. In reality I don't think there is much to worry about!

Understandably so. That would def make most people concerned about flooding.

If you think about it, rimless tanks have been around over a decade now and you never hear about seam failures outside of Red Sea. Of course, seam failure can occur in any tank, but Red Sea seem to have an over abundance of it happening and they seem to not really care since seemingly sales didn't get affected. People are still buying them up.

But I do recall the owner posting that ELOS you have for sale and he seems like a true hobbyist. I think most hobbyist that are in it for the long haul aren't going to take a scraper into the seams and would take proper care of the tank, especially when setting it up and making sure its level, etc. All these things that can affect the longevity.

 

[Hardy Reefs]

Understandably so. That would def make most people concerned about flooding.

If you think about it, rimless tanks have been around over a decade now and you never hear about seam failures outside of Red Sea. Of course, seam failure can occur in any tank, but Red Sea seem to have an over abundance of it happening and they seem to not really care since seemingly sales didn't get affected. People are still buying them up.

But I do recall the owner posting that ELOS you have for sale and he seems like a true hobbyist. I think most hobbyist that are in it for the long haul aren't going to take a scraper into the seams and would take proper care of the tank, especially when setting it up and making sure its level, etc. All these things that can affect the longevity.

Thank you for the reply! Yeah I think a mixture of my water heating bursting and seeing exploded red sea tanks on here and R2R kinda put a little worry in the back of my mind.

Yes, the individual I bought it from took great care of it and if he never told me the actual age, I don't think I could tell by the condition of the glass and seals.