Just chipped the glass. Do I need to immediately drain and replace?

[Simba3000]

Landen 100p just chipped near the top center of the left panel. No visible cracks but it's still possible. Should I drain and replace? First photos are after I cleaned off the crushed white glass.

 

[Koan]

This question gets asked a lot.

Remember that the glass panes of your rimless aquarium are constantly subjected to flex stresses. Bending stress from the weight of the water, and thermal expansion stress from the heat differentials between the water temperature and your air temperature changing over time.

Here's an interesting discussion about edge chips in terms of the risk of cracking and shattering :

Glass Breakage and Pre-Existing Damage

Each year hundreds of people are injured or killed by glass breakage, whether by falling through glass, or by having glass fall on them.

chicagowindowexpert.com

"Chips, flaws and scratches act as “stress concentrators”. To best understand this, take a piece of paper and pull two corners away from each other. Let’s say it takes 10 lbs of force to tear the paper. Now, on a fresh paper add a small cut along the edge, then pull again. You will see that the paper tears with less force than the untorn paper. ​

​

The tear acts as a “stress concentrator” wherein the pulling forces tend to focus onto the very tip of the tear, causing it to tear yet more. Glass behaves similarly. This is why the glass industry goes to great lengths to fabricate, handle, ship and glaze glass with the greatest of care to avoid damage to the edges and surfaces."​

​

More engineering geekery on the subject

http://www.glassproperties.com/references/MechPropHandouts.pdf

Crack Patterns Tell the Story of Glass Breakage

www.structuremag.org

 

[Simba3000]

This question gets asked a lot.

Remember that the glass panes of your rimless aquarium are constantly subjected to flex stresses. Bending stress from the weight of the water, and thermal expansion stress from the heat differentials between the water temperature and your air temperature changing over time.

Here's an interesting discussion about edge chips in terms of the risk of cracking and shattering :

Glass Breakage and Pre-Existing Damage

Each year hundreds of people are injured or killed by glass breakage, whether by falling through glass, or by having glass fall on them.

chicagowindowexpert.com

"Chips, flaws and scratches act as “stress concentrators”. To best understand this, take a piece of paper and pull two corners away from each other. Let’s say it takes 10 lbs of force to tear the paper. Now, on a fresh paper add a small cut along the edge, then pull again. You will see that the paper tears with less force than the untorn paper. ​

​

The tear acts as a “stress concentrator” wherein the pulling forces tend to focus onto the very tip of the tear, causing it to tear yet more. Glass behaves similarly. This is why the glass industry goes to great lengths to fabricate, handle, ship and glaze glass with the greatest of care to avoid damage to the edges and surfaces."​

​

More engineering geekery on the subject

http://www.glassproperties.com/references/MechPropHandouts.pdf

Crack Patterns Tell the Story of Glass Breakage

www.structuremag.org

Thank for sending these articles. I went ahead and purchased a replacement.

 

[MrJG]

Ugh gutted for you.

This thought has crossed my mind several times since putting on steel pipes with similar screw clamps (although plastic).
If it flexes just the right way what’s going to break 10mm of rimless tank or the plastic screw? I love the added security vs suction cup attachment.

I think in light of this post I’ll fashion some pads for mine today during maintenance to try to distribute any kind of flex more evenly should I bump or move the hoses.
Thinking a small bit of corrugated plastic sheet cut to size?

 

[Koan]

Should I drain and replace?

To answer your question do you need to immediately drain and replace this, yes you'd want to drain the bulk of the water out to reduce and draw those bending stresses down away from that edge.

If you drained the water level down to maybe 1/4 height, you might be able to safely keep it there to maintain your plants and livestock until you're able to get a replacement tank.