Dropped glass lid into empty tank -- is tank ruined?

[Bill]

We bought an 80-gallon (US) tank this evening. We got it home, brought
it inside, and put it on the stand without incident. As we were
assembling the glass lids, I put one on top and began to line it up on
that half of the tank. Just as the thought crossed my mind that I need
to be careful to put it in place correctly so that I didn't drop it into
the tank... I think you can guess what happened. A corner chipped off
the glass lid -- not even noticeable. However, after running my fingers
all over that part of the bottom, I found where it hit.

It's about 1/16" to 1/8" long and about as deep as a deep scratch -- I
can detect it with my finger and can feel it when I run my fingernail
over it, but it's not deep enough to catch a nail on. The tank is has a
tempered bottom and is 48" L x 18" W x 22.5" H. Are we courting 80
gallons worth of wet floor if we fill it?

Thanks for any advice.

--
"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive,
difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind -
boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." -- Gene Spafford, 1992

[NetMax]

"Bill" > wrote in message
news:C3eme.5566$fp.529@fed1read05...
> We bought an 80-gallon (US) tank this evening. We got it home, brought
> it inside, and put it on the stand without incident. As we were
> assembling the glass lids, I put one on top and began to line it up on
> that half of the tank. Just as the thought crossed my mind that I need
> to be careful to put it in place correctly so that I didn't drop it
> into
> the tank... I think you can guess what happened. A corner chipped off
> the glass lid -- not even noticeable. However, after running my
> fingers
> all over that part of the bottom, I found where it hit.
>
> It's about 1/16" to 1/8" long and about as deep as a deep scratch -- I
> can detect it with my finger and can feel it when I run my fingernail
> over it, but it's not deep enough to catch a nail on. The tank is has
> a
> tempered bottom and is 48" L x 18" W x 22.5" H. Are we courting 80
> gallons worth of wet floor if we fill it?
>
> Thanks for any advice.


Doesn't sound significant to me. I'd fill and forget about it.
--
www.NetMax.tk

> --
> "Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea --
> massive,
> difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of
> mind -
> boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." -- Gene
> Spafford, 1992

[Scott]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
...
> "Bill" > wrote in message
> news:C3eme.5566$fp.529@fed1read05...
>> We bought an 80-gallon (US) tank this evening. We got it home, brought
>> it inside, and put it on the stand without incident. As we were
>> assembling the glass lids, I put one on top and began to line it up on
>> that half of the tank. Just as the thought crossed my mind that I need
>> to be careful to put it in place correctly so that I didn't drop it into
>> the tank... I think you can guess what happened. A corner chipped off
>> the glass lid -- not even noticeable. However, after running my fingers
>> all over that part of the bottom, I found where it hit.
>>
>> It's about 1/16" to 1/8" long and about as deep as a deep scratch -- I
>> can detect it with my finger and can feel it when I run my fingernail
>> over it, but it's not deep enough to catch a nail on. The tank is has a
>> tempered bottom and is 48" L x 18" W x 22.5" H. Are we courting 80
>> gallons worth of wet floor if we fill it?
>>
>> Thanks for any advice.
>
>
> Doesn't sound significant to me. I'd fill and forget about it.
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>
>> --
>> "Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive,
>> difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of
>> mind -
>> boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." -- Gene
>> Spafford, 1992
>
>

Probably insignificant, but tempered glass is a funny thing. I work in
restaurants, and have seen coffee pots explode when heated - and it is
mostly because of minute scratches in the glass, which is why they recommend
they be thrown out if scratched. Of course, we are dealing with a lot of
heat there too, so it may or may not relate. I think you would be hard
pressed to get the store to take the tank back because of a small ding in
the bottom in any case. (Especially a ding that small) I would just make
sure that it is on a good solid stand, with some styrofoam underneath to
support things and not worry about it.

---scott

[Ecnerwal]

In article <C3eme.5566$fp.529@fed1read05>,
Bill > wrote:

> It's about 1/16" to 1/8" long and about as deep as a deep scratch -- I
> can detect it with my finger and can feel it when I run my fingernail
> over it, but it's not deep enough to catch a nail on. The tank is has a
> tempered bottom and is 48" L x 18" W x 22.5" H. Are we courting 80
> gallons worth of wet floor if we fill it?

If it wasn't tempered, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about it. Might
not be a bad idea to set it up somewhere with a floor drain and fill
with water (not fish) for a while. Tempered glass is more than normally
affected by surface defects, and I have been present when the back of a
tempered 55 "just let go" - as best we could tell, due to some old
scratches which had finally grown to the point that the tempered glass
shattering effect (where the whole sheet turns to crumbs) took off.
There was no noticeable to the eye growth to the scratches, but that was
the only explanation that made any sense, and there had been some
scratches from careless stone handing in the past (there were no stones
up on the back at the time it went). Nothing and no-one was doing
anything to the tank at the time, or was even near the tank. The
scratches were probably several years old.

A well-supported (think styrofoam and a solid platform) bottom should be
under less stress, but a degree of caution is advisable, IME.

[Bill]

Thanks for the advice. We're going to fill it outside first (the Fluval
404 we ordered from that petplace.com won't be here until the end of the
week anyway), as well as call the store to see what they suggest.

--
"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive,
difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind -
boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it." -- Gene Spafford, 1992

[Dick]

On Sun, 29 May 2005 07:21:06 GMT, Bill >
wrote:

>We bought an 80-gallon (US) tank this evening. We got it home, brought
>it inside, and put it on the stand without incident. As we were
>assembling the glass lids, I put one on top and began to line it up on
>that half of the tank. Just as the thought crossed my mind that I need
>to be careful to put it in place correctly so that I didn't drop it into
>the tank... I think you can guess what happened. A corner chipped off
>the glass lid -- not even noticeable. However, after running my fingers
>all over that part of the bottom, I found where it hit.
>
>It's about 1/16" to 1/8" long and about as deep as a deep scratch -- I
>can detect it with my finger and can feel it when I run my fingernail
>over it, but it's not deep enough to catch a nail on. The tank is has a
>tempered bottom and is 48" L x 18" W x 22.5" H. Are we courting 80
>gallons worth of wet floor if we fill it?
>
>Thanks for any advice.

My 75 gallon tank has a scratch on the outside about 2/3 from the
bottom. I worried that it my spread. Been up for 30 months with no
change.

I don't understand suggestions to set tank on styrofoam. I think of
the stuff used to make drink containers. It is soft and dints. I
understand a hard surface to provide support so the glass doesn't
flex.

What a choice! Hard to throw away an otherwise good tank. I have a
garage and a storage room filled with "maybe I will need this" or
"maybe it isn't really bad" items. Parting with maybes is so hard.

dick

[Rocco Moretti]

Dick wrote:

> I don't understand suggestions to set tank on styrofoam. I think of
> the stuff used to make drink containers. It is soft and dints. I
> understand a hard surface to provide support so the glass doesn't
> flex.

Assuming you mean "soft and dents", I was under the impression that was
the point. The thought is that you can't get any surface perfectly flat
- there are going to be some highs and lows. When you put the hard
surface on the hard glass, the highs and lows don't match up. The force
that is pushing down on the bottom is concentrated where the highs
touch, and there is no support (contact) over the lows. This puts stress
on the glass.

If you use styrofoam, that pressure will crush the foam, which lowers
the level of the highs on the foam, and allows the tank to sink
slightly, which allows the lows on the tank to come in contact with the
foam. This spreads the force out over more surface area, reducing the
stress on the glass.

[Daniel Morrow]

"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 29 May 2005 07:21:06 GMT, Bill >
> wrote:
>
> >We bought an 80-gallon (US) tank this evening. We got it home, brought
> >it inside, and put it on the stand without incident. As we were
> >assembling the glass lids, I put one on top and began to line it up on
> >that half of the tank. Just as the thought crossed my mind that I need
> >to be careful to put it in place correctly so that I didn't drop it into
> >the tank... I think you can guess what happened. A corner chipped off
> >the glass lid -- not even noticeable. However, after running my fingers
> >all over that part of the bottom, I found where it hit.
> >
> >It's about 1/16" to 1/8" long and about as deep as a deep scratch -- I
> >can detect it with my finger and can feel it when I run my fingernail
> >over it, but it's not deep enough to catch a nail on. The tank is has a
> >tempered bottom and is 48" L x 18" W x 22.5" H. Are we courting 80
> >gallons worth of wet floor if we fill it?
> >
> >Thanks for any advice.
>
> My 75 gallon tank has a scratch on the outside about 2/3 from the
> bottom. I worried that it my spread. Been up for 30 months with no
> change.
>
> I don't understand suggestions to set tank on styrofoam. I think of
> the stuff used to make drink containers. It is soft and dints. I
> understand a hard surface to provide support so the glass doesn't
> flex.
>
> What a choice! Hard to throw away an otherwise good tank. I have a
> garage and a storage room filled with "maybe I will need this" or
> "maybe it isn't really bad" items. Parting with maybes is so hard.
>

No kidding! I recently helped a friend move and man - the choices were mind
boggling! I am coming to a point like that with my bedroom and to a smaller
extent - the garage! I am thinking of giving away my old 8 bit computer
equipment to the local goodwill or somewhere that I can find a good new home
for it and other stuff. I never use those things anymore anyways because
people can just use an emulator on a modern pc to do all that stuff anyways
and today's hardware and software is better anyways. Later!


> dick

[Daniel Morrow]

"Angrie.Woman" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "Daniel Morrow" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > No kidding! I recently helped a friend move and man - the choices were
> > mind
> > boggling! I am coming to a point like that with my bedroom and to a
> > smaller
> > extent - the garage! I am thinking of giving away my old 8 bit computer
> > equipment to the local goodwill or somewhere that I can find a good new
> > home
> > for it and other stuff. I never use those things anymore anyways because
> > people can just use an emulator on a modern pc to do all that stuff
> > anyways
> > and today's hardware and software is better anyways. Later!
> >
>
> CHeck out your local Freecycle group if you have one. You won't even have
to
> load it into your car.
>
> A
>
>

Cool! Thanks!

[Angrie.Woman]

"Daniel Morrow" > wrote in message
...
>
> No kidding! I recently helped a friend move and man - the choices were
> mind
> boggling! I am coming to a point like that with my bedroom and to a
> smaller
> extent - the garage! I am thinking of giving away my old 8 bit computer
> equipment to the local goodwill or somewhere that I can find a good new
> home
> for it and other stuff. I never use those things anymore anyways because
> people can just use an emulator on a modern pc to do all that stuff
> anyways
> and today's hardware and software is better anyways. Later!
>

CHeck out your local Freecycle group if you have one. You won't even have to
load it into your car.

A