Chipped corner aquarium HELP!

[Jmorgan]

I purchased this acrylic tank second hand yesterday in what seemed to be a deal too good to be true 50$ for a 150gallon tank 🤯 upon getting the tank home I realized the tank was chipped in the bottom corner 😩 doesn’t appear to have damage to the actual seem but I wondered what I could use to patch this 

I’ve seen posts on monster fish forum saying weld-on 16 or weld-on 40 could could be used to fill the gap but I’ve found it hard to find locally 

my thought for an alternative was Devcon 2 ton epoxy clear which I found locally and it says it works with acrylics and also has a strength of 2500psi 

Also planning to reinforce the tank from the inside with another piece of acrylic and weld on for for added strength 

Any opinions or help would be greatly appreciated 

-J

[Fish Folk]

Hmm… while it’s possible that you would have no problems from this, I’d personally be nervous. Once you experience the mess of cleaning up a much smaller volume aquarium, the prospect of 150 gallons in your floor will totally shut you down.

If you’re still intent on giving it a go, study TAP Acrylic Cement. I think it ships from Canada. I’d actually call them, ask to share photos, and get their feedback. I’m not even sure if you can buy in US.

Now, that Epoxy looks promising. I guess the question is exactly where do you plan to apply it? I’ve repaired glass tanks by siliconing over new glass pieces on the outside, siliconing the cracks inside, as well as silicone applied around outside glass-patch. But in this case… I’m just not sure. I’ve heard that these tanks are literally melted together.

I sure hope you get better feedback! I’m not your best respondent…

[Vanish]

Weld-on #40 is the only good way to fix it. #40 is basically liquid acrylic and will chemically bond. The chip can be "dammed" off with masking tape or pieces of polypropelene (cleaner, wont bond) as a jig and then filled completly in with weld-on #40. It can be sanded/buffed out clean in a process similiar to bondo on a car.

[CalmedByFish]

Just a big-picture thought here. Supposing all the tank panels are made of the same material, that would imply that such a chip is possible anywhere on the tank, which would make me question the durability of the whole thing.

With acrylic, shouldn't such a chip not be possible? 

[TheDukeAnumber1]

I would be tempted to try reinforcing that spot from the interior too.