*Hears The Real Scoop On Cracking Nano Cubes.

[dga]

I posted this within another thread and thought it might be helpfull to have its own thread concernig the nano cube. The scoop: nano cubes like any other glass can crack, whether its on a solid surface or not. the sheer volume of these tanks sold compaired to the amount of tanks cracking is no different than a 5 sided tank. one big difference thou, many of the nano cubes are purchased online at a web retailer. it is difficult at best to ship a glass object no matter how well it is packed for obvious reasons. the nano cube like any other tank can receive stress cracks in shipment and these are generally going to happen at the seams where it meets the silicone. this is the point of greatest weakness for cracking. this is also where the top and bottom rim is sealed by the silicone to a plastic rim where it can be hidden to the consumer. these can also be very small and thin and will only appear after water has been added. many posters say cracking happens after there tanks have been set up for some time. any crack that has formed can still develop due to temperature differences between ambient and internal tank temps, especially if the tank is not leveled and or on a sturdy foundation. an example would be the narrow stock nano cube stand sitting on carpet. while there is not a trememdous amount of weight involved, there are still form factors to be considered when situating a tank. that again is stability and levelness. not to mention a child leaning on it, a unintentional bump, etc... if any one or more of the above factors happen, and a stress crack began in transit via from a commercial transport company or via the ride home in a purchasers vehicle, that crack will expand and the tank will fail. the huge popularity of "jbj" nano cubes must be weighed in against the number of tanks cracking when deciding for yourself if there is a problem with this tank.

[Chronicles]

Most NCs crack along the front bends, since the tank is basicly a big bent sheet of glass with a back and bottom, it's very thin glass too.

 

It's like when you review cars, 99% of the people aren't going to post online if they don't have problems, it's the 1% of the people with the problems that you hear from.

[imafishboy]

can you say refund?! this is the first time i've heard this....

[stoney waters]

It's like when you review cars, 99% of the people aren't going to post online if they don't have problems, it's the 1% of the people with the problems that you hear from.

 

Agreed. We should hear from more people who have not had problems with cracked glass.

[Friskaburger]

I for one will say that my nano cube has been up for around about a year now and it hasn't cracked. It's also been moved a few times to different locales around the house as well.

[dawgguyrw]

When I bought my nanocube about 6 weeks ago, the guy at the LFS had to go through about 6 boxes of the 12g cubes because they all had this weird preforation down the sides. It looked like the preforations that shows you where to rip the paper out of a book. He said that these were stress marks and the glass would most likely break. The 7th box was "stress mark" free!