I had hoped to be starting a new tank journal, but before I can do that I have to solve a problem!
The TMC Signature 60 x 30 x45 that I ordered a couple of weeks ago finally arrived, but straight out of the box I saw a serious chip and crack in the bottom left corner of the back panel.
The supplier is refunding me but they don't want to pick up the tank as this would just cost them money.
There seem to be no more of these tanks in the UK at the moment, judging from the difficulty I had in getting this one, which they found in a corner of the TMC warehouse. The supplier tells me it was thoroughly checked, just supplied in a tatty box, but I'm not convinced.
I had also looked at the Aquascaper 600, but it's almost twice the price and now I've built a modified stand that I don't think would support the extra size and weight safely.
So I'm thinking now that I have this TMC tank, to try and fix it. But it seems a pretty dodgy bit of damage, albeit in a place that could easily be hidden..
I have two ideas. One is to take some glass (possibly cut from a scratched optiwhite 30cm cube that I have, since I was planning to cut it flat and recycle it anyway) and seal a 5cm wide (and probably 30cm long, to save me doing too many cuts) patch over the crack and against the sides on the inside. Since the silicone on this tank is so clean I'm thinking it might be possible to get rather a good seal along the edges right into the corner, as well as the surface of the patch. Then I was thinking to put a matching patch on the outside, just to make double sure.
The other thought I had was to have a whole panel cut to fit inside the existing one, and try too silicone it in tidily (could be pretty tricky -possibly too tricky to feel worth the effort).
Does anybody have any thoughts as to whether either of my solutions could work? I guess the only real thing to do is try, and then put it out in the garden for a while to check for leaks.
The TMC Signature 60 x 30 x45 that I ordered a couple of weeks ago finally arrived, but straight out of the box I saw a serious chip and crack in the bottom left corner of the back panel.
The supplier is refunding me but they don't want to pick up the tank as this would just cost them money.
There seem to be no more of these tanks in the UK at the moment, judging from the difficulty I had in getting this one, which they found in a corner of the TMC warehouse. The supplier tells me it was thoroughly checked, just supplied in a tatty box, but I'm not convinced.
I had also looked at the Aquascaper 600, but it's almost twice the price and now I've built a modified stand that I don't think would support the extra size and weight safely.
So I'm thinking now that I have this TMC tank, to try and fix it. But it seems a pretty dodgy bit of damage, albeit in a place that could easily be hidden..
I have two ideas. One is to take some glass (possibly cut from a scratched optiwhite 30cm cube that I have, since I was planning to cut it flat and recycle it anyway) and seal a 5cm wide (and probably 30cm long, to save me doing too many cuts) patch over the crack and against the sides on the inside. Since the silicone on this tank is so clean I'm thinking it might be possible to get rather a good seal along the edges right into the corner, as well as the surface of the patch. Then I was thinking to put a matching patch on the outside, just to make double sure.
The other thought I had was to have a whole panel cut to fit inside the existing one, and try too silicone it in tidily (could be pretty tricky -possibly too tricky to feel worth the effort).
Does anybody have any thoughts as to whether either of my solutions could work? I guess the only real thing to do is try, and then put it out in the garden for a while to check for leaks.