life expectancy of a glass 55 gallon tank

[Dave Cal]

I have a 55 gallon glass tank that has been in constant use since 1990. There are no problems with it but I wonder if at some point it needs replacing to avoid a leak or failure. There are some very nice Discus in the tank and would prefer replacing it to some ugly disaster.

Is there some expected life span of glass tanks?

[Ole_Fishy]

could just reseal the tank man

[Altum Nut]

I think replacing a 55g with a new one is far cheaper to losing nice Discus and cleaning up the unexpected disaster. Your tank may still have many years left and no specific lifespan of a glass pane that I'm aware of.

...Ralph

[Ryan925]

Just buy a bigger tank and get more fish !!

[Dave Cal]

Sound advice!

[magplate]

Petco sale until 11/18, 55 gallon $65, 75 gallon, $90.

[White Worm]

If you don't see any damage/cracks and if the sealant inside is still flexible and not peeling, you should be fine. If sealant is wearing off, time to remove all old sealant and reseal. No reason to buy a new tank. A new tank is just glass panes with new sealant. You could do that.

[Dave Cal]

I don't see any cracks or damage to the glass but the sealant is pealing at the edges and getting some algae growth under it. I'm going with Ryan's suggestion of bigger tank, more fish.
Pretty big project but the end result will be good.

[Dave Cal]

Steve, thanks for the heads up on the Petco sale, I picked up a tank today.

[Jack L]

IMO new petco tanks seems flimsy and thin compared to a tank of the vintage you referenced, might want to hold onto yours.

[ssevasta]

If you don't see any damage/cracks and if the sealant inside is still flexible and not peeling, you should be fine. If sealant is wearing off, time to remove all old sealant and reseal. No reason to buy a new tank. A new tank is just glass panes with new sealant. You could do that.

How bad does the peeling have to be before it’s time to drain and reseal the tank? Not to hijack the thread but the sealant is peeling a little bit in my 9 year old 55 gallon tank and I’d like to prevent a disaster if that’s possible. At the same time though even with a bare bottom tank it’s still a pretty big job to take everything down and transfer all the fish & equipment into a temporary tank. The thought of a catastrophic seal failure is almost as horrifying as a glass pane unexpectedly bursting out.

[DISCUS STU]

Better to have a 55 gal. at the ready and drain everything into buckets and even drain the water into the tub after it's been cleaned. 55's aren't that expensive and repairing them is a complete pia, if it works at all. I've never had any success.

Usually you'll get a slow leaker that will let you know way in advance that it's time to replace it. IME for whatever reason it's the 55's that need replacement more than my 90, 60, 29, 15, 10, etc.