Hi all,
I'm looking for insight as to why my tanks' sealant keeps failing. I'm on my 3rd 40 gallon breeder in two years. All tanks were purchased at Petco. Tank #1 was Aqueon brand and started leaking after 1 year. Tank #2 was also Aqueon and started leaking after 6 months. Tank #3 is Tetra brand, was purchased in January, and is already starting to fail.
The thing is, I'm not just getting a small leak limited to one section of these tanks. The sealant keeps failing all over the inside of the tank. After a while, it's like it just stops sticking to the glass. With tank #2, I was able to lift large sections of sealant away from the glass with no effort. Large bubbles formed in sections where the sealant appeared to be otherwise uncompromised... They looked like air bubbles, not water bubbles. Aqueon sent me a refund for tank #2 after I sent pictures - see attached.
I've only had the 3rd tank for a few months and am already having problems, despite the fact that it's a different brand. Last week, my turtle sliced through a strip of sealant with a hard kick. I inspected the seams yesterday during a partial water change - small bubbles have formed in the sealant along all the seams. These bubbles were NOT there when I set the tank up. One section of sealant along the wall wrinkled and lifted up when I ran my finger along it. Luckily, it wasn't too close to the corner, so I was able to cut this section away with a razor - I don't want my turtle to somehow peel it back and make it worse. Another thing - in general, the sealant doesn't feel as firm as it used to. It almost feels more flexible and... stretchy (?) than it did when I set my tank up. Is that normal? I'm afraid to probe it too much and make it worse!
I've been extremely careful with this third tank, so I'm at a total loss as to what I'm doing wrong. I bought a new stand, and made sure it's square and level. I tried to make sure the tank was level both empty and full. I filled it with room temperature tap water, as a Petco employee thought a drastic temperature change might affect the sealant. The water temperature is 78 degrees. The room temperature has varied between 67 degrees (winter) and 72 degrees (spring). The bottom of the tank is bare- no rocks. I do have a small algae problem but it's mainly confined to ramp for the ATBA (Tanks 1 and 2 had no algae).
Any idea what's going on here?? I can't afford to keep buying new tanks every few months!!
Thanks in advance,
April994