Aquarium Glass vs. Minnesota Winter

February 8, 2021 9:28 PM

My question: Is there any danger of an aquarium breaking or cracking by being brought directly from subzero temps outside into a 70 degree house?

I bought an aquarium the other day and left it in my car overnight. Then the temperature fell drastically, with lows in the negative teens and highs just below zero. It's been that way for a few days and it's going to stay that way for a week plus.

I want to bring it inside but I have this nagging feeling it might not be a good idea right now. I'm not too worried but I'd rather not clean up broken glass.

posted by Archipelago to Pets & Animals (10 answers total)

I have no experience with aquarium glass. But, when moving expensive and delicate things from far below zero to room temperature in the past, sealing them in a big, air-filled duffel bag or a taped-up box when cold and then leaving them to warm up slowly once indoors has always worked. If you want to be extra careful, line the container with bubble wrap or a blanket first.
posted by eotvos at 9:57 PM on February 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

If that were my sub-zero aquarium and my room-temperature house, I'd take a blanket out to the car, spread it out inside the car to get it as cold as the aquarium, then wrap the aquarium in the blanket, bring it inside, and leave it sitting upside-down until it didn't feel cold any more.

Rationale for being upside down is to expose the bottom sheet to similar warming conditions to the side sheets instead of sitting it on something solid that might try to warm it faster. Glass with cold air on one face and a blanket on the other should easily warm evenly enough to avoid cracking.
posted by flabdablet at 10:11 PM on February 8, 2021 [5 favorites]

Can you gradually warm it up a bit in your car? (And how big is the aquarium)
posted by trig at 1:51 AM on February 9, 2021

I would suggest either running the car in the driveway, and allowing the heater to warm everything up as well. Understandable that you may not want to drive around much!
posted by kellyblah at 3:06 AM on February 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Wrap it in a blanket and bring it indoors and it should be fine. Keep it away from radiators etc.

The glass in your windows can cope with the temperature gradient between outdoor and indoor air, so the aquarium will be fine. Glass conducts heat well enough that you're not likely to get thermal shock due to the air being warmer than the core of the glass.
posted by pipeski at 3:20 AM on February 9, 2021

No, there is no worry about that change in temperature.
posted by Patapsco Mike at 7:01 AM on February 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Air is a terrible conductor, so bring it inside and don’t set it on anything hot. I like the idea of setting it upside down. Don’t fill it until it’s back to room temp.
posted by advicepig at 8:05 AM on February 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'm nearly positive that just air will not be enough to crack it. We heat car interiors from 0 to 70 pretty rapidly all the time and it doesn't crack of the windows.
posted by ftm at 10:15 AM on February 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

sometimes the seal between the glass and the sealant goes awry in big temperature shifts

This is the exact reason I recommended letting it come up to temperature upside down. If the base ends up warming at a notably different rate from the sides, it's going to put mechanical stress on the silicone in the bottom corners.
posted by flabdablet at 3:50 PM on February 9, 2021

A large aquarium _will_ have tempered glass, but I agree that the seals could go awry.
posted by LadyOscar at 8:16 PM on February 9, 2021