replacing a glass panel?

[Elle]

Repair question...is it worth replacing an entire panel of glass in a tank, and how hard is it to do? I ran across a tank with a busted panel (cracked across the bottom). If it's cost effective to replace the whole panel and the rest of the tank is in nice shape, I thought it may be worth repairing.

Other than that, is there anyone on the forum who does glass tank repair, and how much do you charge?

[Gregzz4]

Something you may need to know is...
Manufacturers use tempered glass on bottoms, unless they are drilled.
Before you have the bottom replaced, decide what you want.
Tempered is stronger and much more costly.
And as far as I know from the tanks I've had over 20+ years, the bottom glass is laid in the frame before the front, sides and back go in.
Then they seal it.
So you need to look @ how the glass has been laid into the frame before you commit to anything.
Maybe someone will tell you better than I, but there's my 2c.
Greg

[AWW]

It totally depends on how big the tank is. I would say anything under about 50 gallons is not worth the time. Sometimes it can be a money saver. Someone on the forum had a pane break on a 300+ gallon and gave away the tank. Glass is expensive, and if your comfortable with silicone, go for it.

[Elle]

ya, it's a 240g. Djamm is having fits about me getting another huge tank, though, so this may not happen, dammit. I was hoping to use the 240g for the cichlids and move the fancy goldfish from the 100g to the 180g (and sell the 100g). Yes, my fancy goldfish are spoiled.

Is there anywhere in the Lower Mainland that even sells 240g tanks? I'm looking for about a 6'-7' footprint. I'd been thinking about trying an acrylic build, but I am not the most handy person in the world.

[2wheelsx2]

Is there anywhere in the Lower Mainland that even sells 240g tanks? I'm looking for about a 6'-7' footprint. I'd been thinking about trying an acrylic build, but I am not the most handy person in the world.

Most of the shops sell them, but don't store them in the store but in a warehouse. King Ed is the only one I know where you can go see it. J&L is currently having some sort of blowout sale on 120 (4x2x2) reef ready tanks with stands. Might want to give Jeff a call on the 240.

[tony1928]

Try Rogers Aquatic or King Ed's for the big tanks. They might even have them in stock or readily available. I know what you mean though, you rarely see bigger tanks on display anymore which is what I used to like....I want to see it before I buy. I'm doing a build myself and ended up going Tenecor acrylic and ordering in the states.

Also, I agree with the other posters when it comes to glass replacement. For small tanks under 100g, you are probably better off buying a new tank. A custom cut piece of tempered glass isn't cheap and then you have to basically take all the glass out, clean out all the old silicone and then resilicone the whole deal. Alot more work than its worth relative to the cost of a new tank.

[Elle]

Tony, how difficult was the build, and what size were you doing? I'm still kicking around the idea of trying it after watching Uaru Joey's vids on his build.

I really prefer acrylic over glass...I can move our acrylic 180g around by myself (empty, anyways), where it took 2 of us busting our butts to move the glass 100g. FINDING a 240gallon or 7' acrylic tank that won't break the bank? Not so easy, which is why I was looking at this 240.