Should I be afraid?

[riioKen]

Title, I have just filled my new 330l 90g tank

I'm doing a 7 week stress test anyway.

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Is the inside edge flapping a bit? 

@nabokovfan87

[nabokovfan87]

It's a little hard to see what's going on. If it is what I think it is, the silicone looks damaged and is starting to break down, no longer adhering on those spots you can see.

[tolstoy21]

Is that at the edge of the silicon or at the the corner?

For comparison, here is my 125g after 7 years of use (I re-sealed this myself). You can see some edge fraying from my scraper and small amount of air trapped in the corner of the seal. Been rock-solid and leak proof.

Ignore the discolored water. My fish are on the meds!

[tolstoy21]

Looking at your pictures again, I believe where one of those air pockets is is in the seal between the edges where the glass panes meet. The caulk run down the inside corner of the tank appears neat and intact in all the pictures you posted.

The majority of the pictures appear to depict  what looks like air trapped under the corner bead of caulk. This should not post a problem, as this happens. On tanks sealed with clear caulk this is harder to notice; with black caulk this stands out.

However, the last picture looks like improper contact of the caulk where the two edges of the glass meet. This joint acts structurally, I believe, adhering the glass panes to one another. The bead run down the inside corner is what acts as water-seal and is less of a structural element.

If I am interpreting this correctly, then the question still remains . . . is this bad? I dunno. depends on the strength of the rest of the bond. It also depends on if the air pockets in the rest of the pictures is where the inner corner seals meet the glass, or in are actually in between where the glass edges meet.

Unfortunately, I'm not a engineer, so I can't answer where this is a problem or not big deal at all. In my experience, the bond of silicone is pretty strong. (Every try popping the plastic trim off the top of an aquarium. It's not so easy, at least in my experience).

So, should you be afraid? I dunno. Personally I think you'll be fine (Ok, 98% of me thinks you'll be Ok).  However, make sure you have good flood insurance!  🙂  (Just kidding).

Just keep an eye on it over time and see if the pockets expand under pressure/weight of water. If they do, then you might want to take some course of action.

Edited September 11, 2023 by tolstoy21

[riioKen]

On 9/10/2023 at 6:05 PM, tolstoy21 said:

Is that at the edge of the silicon or at the the corner?

For comparison, here is my 125g after 7 years of use (I re-sealed this myself). You can see some edge fraying from my scraper and small amount of air trapped in the corner of the seal. Been rock-solid and leak proof.

Ignore the discolored water. My fish are on the meds!

yeah, to me is like the last photo, seems that the silicone is "streching".

The seal inside the tank doesn't have any sign like this. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/10/2023 at 6:44 AM, riioKen said:

So up and down the tank, you "see" this white mark.  I am trying to understand....

This could be silicone that is simply "oozing" out of the glass panes when it was installed and there is a discoloration between the cured silicone.  It could be silicone removing itself from the bond. 

If it is the second one, then you have to look at the % of the seam that is "failing".  In that photo about, it's nearly the full length of the seam, at least 85-90%.  That's a lot.

 

 

On 9/10/2023 at 6:44 AM, riioKen said:

In this photo we can see detail but it's difficult to really interpret where the glass panels are.  is the open edge to the left of it it facing us? Based on what I can see, it looks like the panel directing the camera extends fully to the left edge of the tank, which means, where those two pieces of glass meet is where the seam is failing. The bond that is used to waterproof the tank (the one on the right side, solid black) looks fine and isn't being pulled apart.  The one that is actually a structural bond of the glass (bonding the two panels together) looks to actually be the one failing.

I could be interpreting things wrong, but that is what my eyes are showing me.

On 9/11/2023 at 12:47 AM, riioKen said:

The seal inside the tank doesn't have any sign like this. 

Yeah, I saw the same thing mentioned above, but which one is actually structural? Meaning, if one fails the glass pops off vs. the other fails and you have a pinhole style leak and water on the floor.

[tolstoy21]

On 9/11/2023 at 5:05 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Yeah, I saw the same thing mentioned above, but which one is actually structural? Meaning, if one fails the glass pops off vs. the other fails and you have a pinhole style leak and water on the floor.

I would guess both are structural and both are leak-proofing, it's just that the inside seam is primarily leak-proofing and no doubt adds something to the strength of the corner bond, whereas the junction of the glass panes is primarily there to hold the tank together, but I'm sure also it adds a second line of leak defense. You just wouldn't want to rely on either by itself.

[riioKen]

Tomorow I'll post a "complete" photo of the tank, of seals outside the tank and of the seals that are inside the tank. The tank is filled with water since Sunday. I'm planning a 1-2 week of testing, (in facts the test will be much more longer because I'm planning to do a dark start that will last 1 month with only filter, substrate and hardscape). Hopefully 1 month will be enough for test it's stability.