Tank Seals Failed! HELP!

Well.. I would LOVE to be posting our new setup pictures but apparently we are complete tank idiots!

We bought the 90 gallon marineland tank from Delaware Premium Aquatics in Newark and even discussed in front of 2 sales reps what we would do for a base and such our big plan was...... We went to Lowe's and picked up an unfinished kitchen cabinet base and a laminent counter top and make our own base. Apparently, that voids your warranty. OH and apparently they put the warranty on the back of the sticker than you peel of the tank and it doesnt come completely off without ripping it and so the consumer, being myself, throws it in the trash.

SOoooo.. Tuesday morning after dropping my daughter at the school bus I came inside to a tank that had water coming out EVERYWHERE! So in a panic I call the neighbor, Stan is out of town, and we grab the old 45 gallon tank, rinse it and start moving stuff over before we lost all the water. I would say we saved all but 20-25 gallons of the water but still a HUGE mess. After getting everything out we dicovered 0.. yes thats right 0 cracks and the water was leaking from the front seal. The seal failed but yet because we didnt use the Marineland base we are screwed..

So before we either A) go back to the 45 or B) say to hell with it and be done with the family hobby are there any tips, advice, tricks, you know, practically ANYTHING we can do to save the 90 in a $$$$ efficient way? Do you think we can reseal it ourself? Is there someone that would come reseal it? Can we take it to someone to reseal? I mean.. WHAT DO WE DO? I just want to curl up next to the fishies in the floor and cry but I know we have to get them back in a more beneficial habitat than the chaos that they are currently in as the rocks and fish and corals and EVERYTHING were pretty much thrown into the old tank to save them before the water was gone. *sigh*

Any information or advice would be wonderful. And you know if Marineland would have had some DECENT looking bases we would have gotten one.. But they all look like crap IMO!

Wow, sorry to hear this. How long was the tank up and running? Who told you the warranty was void because you didnt buy the base too? You can re-seal the seems in most cases but i would have to look at it to see what happened. Do you have any pics of the seams? Send me a PM and tell me where you live and maybe i can swing by to take a look

gah!! that is no good

I have resealed tanks before, it is really easy - you can do it!! and, if you can find someone like Chris to help ya thats even better!

I have to disagree about resealing. If a 90 gallon tank has a bad seam you are taking a huge risk by doing it yourself. Call the manufacture directly. They'll have an option for you.

What risk will you be taking (and dont say leaking ) If its done right it will be just as good as having the manufacture do it.

Go buy a marineland stand from another vendor. Wait 2 weeks then tell them the seam failed.

Ooh, I like Varikos suggestion! But if that doesnt work, you can reseal it, maybe get a quote from a local aquarium manufacturer. Are the braces around the top and bottom cracked? Sometimes they go cheap on the silicone and rely on those plastic braces to hold the weight.

What kind of a base does the tank have,is it just a normal base or is it a floating base ? If its just a normal one then I would have a go at fixing it yourself or ask someone on the forum if they can help you out. We have the same rules over here on some of our tanks, you have to buy the cabinet from them to stand the tank on, or your warranty will be void. I can understand this as some people will just stick there tank on anything and then wonder why the tank is leaking or cracked or ends up on the floor

Thanks for all the feed back. We have already contacted Marineland and they told us that it wasnt their base so sorry about your luck.

We went tonight the That Fish Place and spoke to a few supervisors both on the floor and in the fish room and they told us to be persistant with marineland because as long as we are 100% positive that it was the seals and a defect then they will replace it but you cant be nice about it.

They copied the "Warranty" info off of one of their sticker for us and it does say that the warranty would be void IF it was not on one of their bases OR if the base was not stable/level etc. Well we HATED all the bases as they were all particle board crap or cost more than my living room furniture combined so we went to Lowe's and purchased the Oak Sink Base for kitchen cabinets. We installed it just like you would in a kitchen but screwing it into the wall and leveling it with shims etc. The base we put together is by far superior to their crap. i will have to post some pictures tomorrow. Everything is supported so I feel like we arent trying to "screw" anyone and we just want our fish babies to have a nice healthy home that can hold their lifeline aka WATER. lol

Anyway, I will keep everyone updated. *sigh*

Fish tank stands are built to hold a tank in a certain way, Lowes sink base cabinets are not built to support 800lbs in 6 square feet. It really isn't their fault you didn't support your tank properly. I hope your next tank does better

I will kindly disagree with you Tim. When we looked at all the particle board crap for stands we were not comfortable putting 800lbs of pressure on it. You are basially telling me that a kitchen counter can not hold 800 lbs. We didnt sit the fish tank into the sink base.. we screwed on a counter top and anchored the hole base into the wall. It has plenty of support unlike something only supported at each corner and real wood only being used in those corners and then being reinforced to particle board.

Just sayin.

YIKES! .....what a crappy situation this is!
though I do like variko's idea ......and if you put it on your credit card, you have 30 days to "change your mind" too! .....what kind of information have you given marineland already?
is there any way you can get the empty tank to That Fish Place and have one of their experienced staff seal it for you?

Tim have you ever lifted a 1 inch granite counter top? A kitchen cabinet can absolutely hold a tank.

Oh do what Barb said cancel it on your card! You will get all of your money back and can get the tank saeled properly!

Originally Posted by Variko

Oh do what Barb said cancel it on your card! You will get all of your money back and can get the tank saeled properly!

On behalf of the largest credit card company in the world, don't dispute this. You are going to have to commit fraud by signing a fraudulent affidavit. Not worth the risk. If you don't think the banks are out to destroy lives, think again. Profit is more important than your freedom.

Sorry for the experience sucky deal but the question I have is did you fill the warranty card out and send it in? That is a requirement cause I just bought a marineland tank and has to be mailed away short time after purchase. I'll agree with you on the there stand, kinda crapping looking.

Eddie a 1 inch piece of granite the size of a 90 gallon tank is heavy but no where near as heavy as the tank filled with water. As far as the cabnet probably more then capable of holding it as long as it is level.

Canceling it on the credit card is temerary credit unless they are proven to be negligent and if you didnt fill the warranty card out and send it in they can deni your warranty.

Sorry again and hope for the best for ya.

Originally Posted by Variko

Tim have you ever lifted a 1 inch granite counter top? A kitchen cabinet can absolutely hold a tank.

I've helped install many kitchens, my boss' wife does all of Dupont's Corian department including all the trade shows. I went with them to Lakewood NJ to where they water jet cut the slabs that start out the size of a wall, pretty cool.

My point about it isn't what weight it can hold, but weight distribution, I saw a guy with a solid concrete wall with a tank in it that slightly settled and the center of the tank cracked all the way through.

So my first thought was perhaps he didn't have alot of support in the center or something where the tank may have torqued. ... I parked my truck on hill once and couldn't open the tailgate because the chasis was torqued, so I thought this same thing could happen just enough to bust a silicone seal in a tank.. or maybe not.

Particle board may suck, but the support structure is still solid wood and built to distribute the weight on tank stands.

Hope you get it resolved either way

Of course it has to be perfectly flat and level. And there should be foam under the tank. You cant tell me a cabinet will hold less weight than one of those crappy stands.

As for the credit card. Its easy. The store never told you that the warranty was voided when you told them your plans to build your own stand. The case is against the store not Marineland, and that isnt fraud!

No, we did not fill out the warranty form because we didnt relaize it was on the back of the sticker. So as with all things when it has stickers on them we ripped it off and through it out. However, we HAVE talked with marineland and that isnt a problem. We just have to get an letter from the store saying that we did in fact purchase the item from them (yeah, we throw out receipts too but we have proof of a LARGE purchase on our bank statement from the store) and they will give us an RA# to get a new tank.. So tomorrow I guess the kiddo and I will be making a trip to Delaware and then dealing with marineland. YAY!

OH and as for the base issue.. The warranty states ' If the aquarium is placed on a stand that is not commercially maufactored for use with an aquarium of this size and weight OR is inadequate to accomadate the size and weight of the aquarium OR does not provide a flat, level surface capable of fully supporting the aquariums bottom frame.'

So it DOES NOT have to be a marineland stand but needs to be level and capable of holding the weight. I would say a cabinet ANCHORED into the wall is not only level but capable!

Thanks for all the support! An just as an update.. All but one fish has survived and that includes the anemone, shrimp, starfish and corals.