Havok_9 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 So.. thinking I had struck in some luck, I had a month ago came to own an IM nuvo 16. Fell in love with it- the design, the dimensions, everything. Suited my minimalist needs for a pair of clowns. Sure enough the bottom seam on the back panel of the tank had failed. The entire back chamber was nearly drained, leaving my heater almost completely exposed and water covering the floor and back of the stand. I mptied the tank and put my rocks/fish into a bucket as a temporary holding unit. I can't get any help from the company because I am not the original owner, however I know this tank is not old enough to have such issues. The person before me owned it for about a yr. but does not have original receipt. My question is what are my options? The leak is not gushing but a slow trickle where the back panel meets the base. Any opinions on siliconing the perimeter to stop the leaking? I love the tank design, but had I know this was a consistent flaw with the product I would have hesitated in owning one. Luckily I was home and able to catch if before it caused electrical damage. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 My initial thought is that the entire bottom should be removed, all the edges and the bottom panel thoroughly scraped to removed all silicone residue and then re-seal using high quality RTV or similar (and giving plenty of cure time). This would give me the most peace of mind and confidence in durability - however - it would take quite a few hours of work to do this! Actually I would probably do this to all the side panels as well unless you're absolutely sure of the cause of the failure and that it only applies to the back panel. Are you able to tell what's happening? If water is leaking out then to me it seems that either there are a lot of air bubbles in the seam and the inside fillets are pulled away or the silicone is literally letting go of the glass. I would say you need to find out exactly where it's failing to know how to address. If it's obvious where the leak is and it's just in 1 spot where it looks like there was a flaw in application of the silicone I think it may be possible to make a "repair" and re-do the fillet inside the tank along the back where the leak is. If it looks like the joint has weakened or the silicone doesn't seem to be sticking as well (like you can grab at the silicone along the inside of the tank and pull off pieces with minimal effort) then I wouldn't feel comfortable with the tank until I re-did all of the silicone. In one of the feedback threads for picO aquariums I read about an issue where the mfgr. didn't give the appropriate # of days cure time for the silicone and then shipped it in cold weather (per request from the customer to get the tank in-time for Xmas). The seams also failed on that tank so I'm wondering if the seam failure on yours (assuming you don't find any obvious manufacturing defects in the silicone application) is a lack of cure time coupled with cold temperature or even just rough shipping... Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 1. Cut out the silicone away on the inside of the tank, don't bother trying to repair from outside. (cut away a rectangle one inch from each side of the affected area) 2. Rough the edges of the cuts on either side of the removed section with a fine point SHARP knife, this will ensure the bond between old and new sealer is adequate. 3. refill the area with a good quality aquarium silicone. 4. Leave for 24 hours before leak test The water preasure will hold this good for years if not a life time...i have repaired 4 tanks over the years this way, the largest being a 490 gal and it works grand.. Link to comment
kakorb Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Mine did this three weeks ago. Every inquiry I made said would be more expensive than buying another tank. So I bought a advanced acrylics. Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Mine did this three weeks ago. Every inquiry I made said would be more expensive than buying another tank. So I bought a advanced acrylics.Na £5 for a small tube of fish safe silicone and an hour to do the work correctly and your good... Edit tensol 12 is good Link to comment
kakorb Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I have it if u want it to fix. I don't have time or experience to trust my self fixing it. Tank leaked about a gallon a day easy to fix. Right side bottom by the divider Link to comment
evanski Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 The company will not help you...check out my build thread. Throw it away, glass is just not stable. Go with their 20g or go elsewhere. Their curve glass tanks are plagued. Link to comment
Mirya Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I popped a seam on my Nuvo24. It was my own fault though as I had gotten my Gyre cord stuck in my drop in lid and it put pressure on the back corner seam and eventually popped it. This was back in March. I pealed out all the old silicone. Then used a straight edge razor and REALLY got off all the old silicone residue. This took forever. Then I wiped the area down with rubbing alcohol. Finally I resealed with aquarium grade silicone. I let it cure for 48 hours. Then I leak tested it for 5 days. Then restocked the tank. It has been holding well ever since. I was paranoid enough that I got a leak detection module for my Apex though and put sensors near the seam I fixed. Link to comment
hey Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Don't trust their curved tanks as Evan said. Completely defective glass and seam issues with no help from a company that won't stand behind their junk product. I feel for everyone that's had to deal with these. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Oh shiz, this is curved glass? I forgot... That would make taking the tank apart much more difficult, probably not worth it. As for the suggestions to re-seal the inside of the tank, I would caution you to have a very good idea of how and where the tank is leaking before moving forward. I say that because the fillets on the inside aren't structural, but there to help seal in the water. Water pressure obviously won't hold them together but rather cause a leak if there is any imperfections (though there would also need to be imperfections in the silicone between the glass as well, which IMO is worse because the silicone between the glass is structural). Also when using silicone it's important to follow the cure time recommendations on the silicone or find out from the manufacturer if it doesn't specify when the silicone is fully cured. It seems to be the case that filling the aquarium - even for leak testing - before the silicone has fully cured could cause premature failure or kill livestock if they're added too soon (acetic acid cure silicone is still toxic until it's made inert by a full cure). Link to comment
Havok_9 Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Thank you so much for the replies and advice. I might try my hand at resealing the seams on this tank but I dont think I'd ever trust it again.. I think I'm going to get another tank. I love the innovative marine designs and dimensions, but after my experience and reading everyone else's disasters over the Internet and several different forums/sources, I'm left with a terrible taste in my mouth.. However I am considering getting the IM Fusion 20 gallon tank. I really like the design and user friendly aio. Is it general consensus/experience that these are a more reliable tank? I mean... I feel foolish for even considering giving this manufacturer another go. Link to comment
hey Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Thank you so much for the replies and advice. I might try my hand at resealing the seams on this tank but I dont think I'd ever trust it again.. I think I'm going to get another tank. I love the innovative marine designs and dimensions, but after my experience and reading everyone else's disasters over the Internet and several different forums/sources, I'm left with a terrible taste in my mouth.. However I am considering getting the IM Fusion 20 gallon tank. I really like the design and user friendly aio. Is it general consensus/experience that these are a more reliable tank? I mean... I feel foolish for even considering giving this manufacturer another go. I haven't read of a fusion failure yet. I imagine you are safe to go that route and many people have purchased the fusions after Nuvo failures no shame in liking a design. Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Ah curved.. Yep no point in trying to fix.. Link to comment
braaap Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 IM strikes again. And another one bites the dust. Link to comment
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