How offen do rimless tanks fail ?

[Taxus812]

I have been seeing posts pop up lately on various sites about middle of the night tank failures. I mean the seams burst and or the glass breaks spilling the tank contents on the floor. In these cases they are rimless tanks like I have. I look at my tank and realized that all that is holding the glass is silicon.

Do rimless tanks have a higher failure rate than other tanks?
On that note, I'm an old A-10 fighter phase dock inspection guy, so I seem to compulsively do periodic inspections of stuff. Is there anything we should be looking at\for (other then water leaking) on a regular basis?

 

[LeftCoastBling]

I have yet to have a tank fail on me. My last tank was a 60 rimless and the middle of the front panel had a small bow in it and always had me worried about the panel just blowing out.

 

[Dree]

It’s super random. Can happen zero times in 10 years or it could happen once a year. I recent left this hobby because I had 2 failures (leaks) in 2 years, and the third just occurred- rimless curved front corner bursted in middle of night.

 

[shred5]

Well several things.
I have owned hundreds of tanks and the only one that had a bad seam was my rimless. Marineland was known to have bad seams so it was most likely more of a manufacturer problem than a rimless or rimmed..

There probably seems to be more failures because more rimless tanks sold now.
I think too aquariums are not made as well as they used to be either. I know the Petco dollar sale aquariums are a lower grade too, yea they are not rimless though.. I just think overall quality aint what it used to be..

 

[dantimdad]

It depends on the difficulty level of the class and how much time they dedicate to studying.

I would say they are just as intelligent and rimmed tanks but may not apply themselves as well.

 

[stacksoner]

This has a lot to do with being aware of weight shifts caused by changes in the supporting floor underneath the tank, and understanding that and unlevel tank is a predecessor to a catastrophe.

 

[AZMSGT]

I'm starting to lean towards the thoughts that excessive flow in the tanks is stressing them and the sealant.

This has a lot to do with being aware of weight shifts caused by changes in the supporting floor underneath the tank, and understanding that and unlevel tank is a predecessor to a catastrophe.

Not buying into that unless there is diffinative proof of unlevel tanks and weak floors. I know of a recent Red Sea 750 that blew it's back out and it was on a concrete slab. Pretty sure the owner had it level but I have no proof.

I'm an old A-10 fighter phase dock inspection guy, so I seem to compulsively do periodic inspections of stuff.

Just use some Double Bubble and B-Half to fix it.. She'll be Good to Go!

 

[Spar]

My 450g rimless failed, very inconveniently the day I got home from the hospital with my first born child. Long story but ultimately lost everything. Tens of thousands of dollars of coral and fish. Luckily not a significant damage to my hardwood flooring.

The manufacturer accepted it was their fault but refused to compensate me for it. I actually ended up having to pay $750 for pickup and another $750 for delivery. Plus $1500 of repair.

Was an awful experience. I highly recommend adding a steel frame around the outside to help support the weight if you do go the rimless route. It does look great though!