Greetings and a big thank you in advance to anybody who steps out of their way and takes the time to help me out.
Basically I am looking for some opinions on the following matter: My uncle cared for a 150 gallon fish tank for eight years, unfortunately when his fish died, he emptied the tank and put it into storage. After two years he finally decided to give up the hobby altogether and recently passed the tank and its stand on to me and my wife.
Now there is much I know about keeping fish thanks to having tanks as a child, such as habitat, cycling, breeds, temperature, etc. but I have never had a (older, previously owned) tank of this size and that is exactly my concern: the size. I have done a lot of research on glass tanks and to the best of my knowledge everything was done correctly when it was in storage: it was kept upright in a cool dry place, during travel it was handled from the bottom and not around the plastic braces, it was transported safely, and I have performed a leak test - left it filled for about a week before draining. Additionally, there are no cracks or chips and the silicone seals do not appear to be dried out, peeling or have any pinholes Please note that the tank itself is about 10 or 11 years old.
Though everything seems to check out I can't help but to be a little bit cautious about keeping this filled full time. I have heard horror stories about tanks cracking or even having "explosions" and that would be my worst fear, especially at a tank that size (already had to reinforce the floor). Since the silicone still appears to be fresh, would gently cleaning it off and applying an additional, wider coat on the inside as well as a seal on the outside provide any additional protection? Also, from your personal experiences, what are the odds that this thing might leak, crack or explode anyway? Do tanks have an "age" or grow weaker over time? Again I seemed to follow proper procedure with everything and I made sure that the tank itself is level on all sides and that the stand underneath supports it fully and correctly.
I suppose that I'm being a bit overly cautious but I think it's again due to the fact that I would hate to come home one day to find 150 gallons of water filling up the first floor of my house, haha.
Should I just put my mind at ease and buy an acrylic tank, or do I really have nothing to worry about? Thanks so much.
Basically I am looking for some opinions on the following matter: My uncle cared for a 150 gallon fish tank for eight years, unfortunately when his fish died, he emptied the tank and put it into storage. After two years he finally decided to give up the hobby altogether and recently passed the tank and its stand on to me and my wife.
Now there is much I know about keeping fish thanks to having tanks as a child, such as habitat, cycling, breeds, temperature, etc. but I have never had a (older, previously owned) tank of this size and that is exactly my concern: the size. I have done a lot of research on glass tanks and to the best of my knowledge everything was done correctly when it was in storage: it was kept upright in a cool dry place, during travel it was handled from the bottom and not around the plastic braces, it was transported safely, and I have performed a leak test - left it filled for about a week before draining. Additionally, there are no cracks or chips and the silicone seals do not appear to be dried out, peeling or have any pinholes Please note that the tank itself is about 10 or 11 years old.
Though everything seems to check out I can't help but to be a little bit cautious about keeping this filled full time. I have heard horror stories about tanks cracking or even having "explosions" and that would be my worst fear, especially at a tank that size (already had to reinforce the floor). Since the silicone still appears to be fresh, would gently cleaning it off and applying an additional, wider coat on the inside as well as a seal on the outside provide any additional protection? Also, from your personal experiences, what are the odds that this thing might leak, crack or explode anyway? Do tanks have an "age" or grow weaker over time? Again I seemed to follow proper procedure with everything and I made sure that the tank itself is level on all sides and that the stand underneath supports it fully and correctly.
I suppose that I'm being a bit overly cautious but I think it's again due to the fact that I would hate to come home one day to find 150 gallons of water filling up the first floor of my house, haha.
Should I just put my mind at ease and buy an acrylic tank, or do I really have nothing to worry about? Thanks so much.
