Help Sump very cracked

[blazk]

Well was fixing a leak from the return to the bulk head when i looked into the sump and saw a shimmer that didnt look right. I put my hand in and ran it across the glass. I felt a ridge and felt pain just after that. Took my hand out and realized i was bleeding from the top of my finger. Drained the sump and saw this:

Is this repairable?
I had no clue how this happened and it wasnt leaking anywhere. The foam was the only thing holding it together i think.

 

[dustin_P74]

the pane is replaceable

 

[blazk]

I found a shop about 5 min down the road, an aquarium place that makes sumps etc. Nice guy in there asked for the measurements of the bottom pane, gave them to him. 5 min later he comes out from the back with a freshly cut piece of glass for me. Charge was $10. What im going to do is (recommended to do) is to lay the new glass on top of the old one with silicone over all the cracks and the underside of the new glass. Run a bead of silicone around the edges and fill up with water check for leaks and continue with my sump / ref setup.

 

[ccCapt]

That looks like a stress crack from not being level...or from having a piece of foam underneath it.

 

[blazk]

ccCapt should they be sitting flat on the bottom of the cabinet ?

 

[Sasquatch]

if it has a plastic trim and the whatever it sits on is flat your ok, however the bottom glass is floating above the base, anything dropped could break the glass, I always use a short napped carpet for support.The replacement glass will work fine but please note* the silicon between the two piece will cure slowly and continue to emit gas from curing, as this gas is toxic to marine life I suggest you silicon the the bottom and wait 2 or 3 days after that run a good bead of silicon around the edge as your final seal, if you think about silicon in the tube? why does it not all go hard after it opened? it makes an air tight skin where the air is admitted and stops the cure. good luck with the repair!

 

[ccCapt]

Yeah, I agree with Sasquatch with the silicone. If I wasn't going to totally replace the piece, I think it would be better to clean all the silicone from the inside and drop it in over the broken piece. That way you can seal the bottom seam better.

If the tank has plastic trim, you should not use foam under the entire tank. You can use it around the edges under the trim, but not under the glass. If the stand is uneven, the foam can push up against the bottom glass and crack it. I've seen this exact thing happen a few times and it looks very similar to your break.
Acrylic tank manufacturers mostly recommend stiff foam under the tank to make up for any slight imperfections in the stand. I don't know for sure, but if it's glass with no trim, it's probably OK to use foam too.

 

[blazk]

Its defiantly silicon edging around the whole sump. Great advice Sasquach i never thought of that. I have got aquarium safe silicone in a gun form (not sure what you call it exactly, its like a tube you put into a gun like tool), but i will so do as you suggested just in case.

 

[blazk]

Oh i forgot to mention that i wont be covering the entire bottom pane, the crack only goes 1/2 across so i left about 1-2" on the other end (not the cracked side) for adjustments. So will the air be able to escape out that way?

 

[Sasquatch]

sure! as long as you let the inbetween stuff cure first then seal the perimeter