found a small crack

[chocochipper]

I happened to look at the side of the tank today while I was doing some cleaning and found a small crack on the outside of the glass. It's not deep and about 1/2-3/4" long. I don't remember hitting it and the wife and kid say they didn't do it either. Should I be as worried as I am about it or will I be okay? I don't think they will cover it on warranty since I never got the card sent in and I highly doubt I could find the receipt if I tried. I really don't want to come home to find all my fish flopping on the carpet. Is there anything I can do for it? Help please!

 

[caymanlovers]

You don't need to submit cards to validate a warranty. You should also have proof of your purchase through your check or charge slip. If you bought from LFS they should help you with a substitute receipt. Actually, they should handle the problem for you.
I don't know how you get a shallow crack without it going all the way through. I also think there would be signs of some sort of trauma to the tank if something hit it.

 

[javajoe]

You might also want to check your home owners insurance, just in case it DOES break before you get this taken care of- make sure you are covered in case you end up needing to rapair the floor, ceiling in the room below... etc...

 

[chocochipper]

Looking at it a lot more closely tonight it looks like a scratch on the outside more than a crack. Unlike the crack in my windshield which is smooth this is more rough like I just scratched it with something. I don't know what I'd have that could do that though. And it's just on the surface too doesn't really even go into the glass. I don't know. I've seen many big ships out of tanks before that have lasted forever so I guess I'll wait it out and see if it gets the slightest bit bigger. I'm trying to save for another bigger tank right now anyway.

 

[pufferlover]

Having gone thru this once I can only say if it does not start to spread (as in a car window) then it is probably just a surface scratch as you say. If it does begin to spread then you have no choice but to do something. In my case the crack began just below the top moulding so when it started to spread I just lowered the water below that area till the replacement tank arrived (this was a new tank and was replaced under warrenty but the work at switching it over really annoyed the heck out of me).