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Why Leaks Occur, and Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making Repairs
From Stan & Debbie Hauter,
Your Guide to Saltwater Aquariums.
A couple downsides to having a glass aquarium is the potential for springing a leak and glass breakage to occur. You can figure out for yourself how breaks happen. For leaks, most are usually caused by a flaw or failure in the sealant, either generated during construction of the tank, or over time becomes weak and begins peeling away from the glass. This can lead to leaks of a small annoying pin hole size, up to and including a major seam blowout, like ones that result in an empty tank, a soaked carpet, and water leaking through the floor down into the basement.
Most often pin hole sized leaks can be fixed from the outside, without having to totally drain or tear the whole tank apart, but for major leaks or glass breakage, this requires some reconstruction of the tank. The good news? Repairing a leak is actually not a difficult task, whether it be a major or a minor one.
When we began building glass aquariums for our fish collection business in 1989, we were treated to our fair share of leaks. However, learning from our mistakes lead to great success in building, as well as repairing our aquariums over the years. Even today the 55g aquarium in our living room is one of the originals we built, and many of the others we gave away are still in use as well.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
List of Items Needed for Making Repairs
Here is a list of items that you will need for repairing minor or major leaks in glass aquariums, as well as for building a tank from scratch.
With a few inexpensive items and a little time you can easily repair small or minor leaks in a glass aquarium using these simple instructions from your Guides.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 12 to 24 hours
Here's How:
Making repairs on a major leak or replacing a broken pane of aquarium glass is a little more involved than repairing a small, but not really that much more difficult to do. However, before getting started be sure to read about common mistakes to avoid , and obtain a parts list (above).
That's all there is to it. Using these same instructions we even patched and restored a tank where the bottom pane of glass had completely broken in half, resulting in many continued years of use, but in our opinion it is best to replace broken glass altogether whenever possible.
* Some questions have been asked of late about tank building, while I do not claim to be an expert, I have built many tanks.The following is a basic guide on putting a tank together.
First things first!. When cutting , try and cut to the center of the glass, if you try and cut off a 1" strip (for example), the break would not be square, but would lean towards the narrow strip. When assembling the tank, the sides, front and back are placed on TOP of the base. Silicone can be any 100% silicone, I use DAP, and GE brands from the builders supply.
As far as precision, the front and back can be cut close, as the sides fit inside these pieces. The two sides must be cut exactly alike. After cutting, place the two sides together, and place on edge on a piece of glass. If the edges do not aline,(one slants away from the other), then turn one piece only and try to re-match.If this still fails, try turning that same piece end over end. If that fails, try cutting another!! The easiest way to cut in my opinion is with a Square.
After cutting, "sand" the edges to take off the cutting edge. You can get silicone carbide sandpaper from a glass company. If you are doing a few, it is worth ordering a belt for a belt sander. You have to keep the belt moving, but it is a lot faster.
No jigs are used during assembly, clean the glass and stack in "like pieces." Place the base in a position where you have room to work arround it, and place a box about 1" behind it. The back is the first piece to glue, run a bead along the bottom edge, and stand it in place on top of the base. Lean it against the box for support. Next run a bead along two edges of one side. Stand it in place on the base, and raise the back into an upright position against the side. Gently squeeze the two and remove the box. "Wipe" your index finger along the bead to smooth and press into the corners, inside and out. Wipe once only, if you try to wipe again later in the process, the silicone will ripple. Next bead two edges of the other side, and stand in place, and wipe the joints. Bead the base of the front, and the edges of the sides, and stand in place. Wipe again , and then do a final alignment of the pieces. You will be able to slide the pieces for about 5-10 min depending on temp.The entire assembly process will take about 10 min after practice.
Glass thickness depends upon tank dimensions, I use 1/4 " Plate Glass for tanks up to 30 gal. A 40 gal can be built with this glass, but a center brace would be needed. I recomend 30 as the largest size for 1/4" glass. When buying thicker glass, the price goes UP!
It goes without saying, glass is very sharp, and you will cut yourself until you get the feel for it. Then you will cut yourself even worse!!
Be careful and wear safety glasses...Ian
Ian Buckley,
Buckley's Tropical Hatchery,
23,000 gal system,
Angelfish, Guppies, Discus,
bucktrop@groupz.net
Why Leaks Occur, and Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making Repairs
From Stan & Debbie Hauter,
Your Guide to Saltwater Aquariums.
A couple downsides to having a glass aquarium is the potential for springing a leak and glass breakage to occur. You can figure out for yourself how breaks happen. For leaks, most are usually caused by a flaw or failure in the sealant, either generated during construction of the tank, or over time becomes weak and begins peeling away from the glass. This can lead to leaks of a small annoying pin hole size, up to and including a major seam blowout, like ones that result in an empty tank, a soaked carpet, and water leaking through the floor down into the basement.
Most often pin hole sized leaks can be fixed from the outside, without having to totally drain or tear the whole tank apart, but for major leaks or glass breakage, this requires some reconstruction of the tank. The good news? Repairing a leak is actually not a difficult task, whether it be a major or a minor one.
When we began building glass aquariums for our fish collection business in 1989, we were treated to our fair share of leaks. However, learning from our mistakes lead to great success in building, as well as repairing our aquariums over the years. Even today the 55g aquarium in our living room is one of the originals we built, and many of the others we gave away are still in use as well.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Don't use the wrong kind of silicone sealant; use only a non-toxic 100% silicone sealant appropriate for aquarium use.
- Not cleaning and preparing the glass surface properly or adequately enough.
- Not pinpointing the exact location of where a small leak is coming from. Water will always be present at the bottom of the tank (gravity rules), but the source may be somewhere else up higher or sideways along the joint or seam.
- Not repairing a large enough area up, down, or around where the actual leak generates from.
- Not using enough silicone sealant.
- Not allowing the silicone to dry long enough.
- Not aligning or placing the glass pane edges flat and evenly together.
- Don't make major repairs under humid conditions. Duct tape will not stick to glass when it is humid, therefore, the glass may move before the silicone can set up. Humidity slows the silicone curing process as well.
- Not having the aquarium sitting on a flat surface doesn't cause bad repairs, but one time we had an aquarium crack all the way across the bottom pane of glass, which wasn't broken when we started out. How do you think we figured out how to make a complete break repair?
List of Items Needed for Making Repairs
Here is a list of items that you will need for repairing minor or major leaks in glass aquariums, as well as for building a tank from scratch.
- Single edged razor blades.
- Acetone.
- A non-Toxic 100% silicone sealant. We have used NAPA (part #765-1336) with good results for years, or use All-Glass® Brand 100% Silicone Sealant or a similar type aquarium sealant.
- Paper towels.
- A washable felt tip marker.
- For repairing major leaks or building a DIY aquarium, a roll of duct tape.
- For building a DIY aquarium, some emery cloth or silicone carbide sandpaper.
With a few inexpensive items and a little time you can easily repair small or minor leaks in a glass aquarium using these simple instructions from your Guides.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 12 to 24 hours
Here's How:
- Locate the exact source of the leak and mark it with a felt tip marker.
- Reduce the water level in the tank until the leak stops.
- Thoroughly dry and clean the area of and around the leak with a paper towel, or soft cloth.
- With the razor blade, scrape the existing silicone from the leaking area, and an additional one inch area around the source of the leak.
- Clean the scraped area with the acetone applied to a paper towel, being careful not to over staturate it or allow any acetone to run or drip down into the aquarium, and let dry for a few minutes.
- Apply the silicone sealant to the cleaned area, working it into the glass joint area.
- Allow the silicone to cure for at least 12 hours, 24 is better.
- Refill the tank with water to the desired level.
- Check to see if the repair worked and the leak has stopped.
- Not all sealants are suitable for aquarium use. Use only non-toxic 100% silicone sealants, such All-Glass® brand.
- Pinpoint the exact location of the leak. Water will be at the bottom of the tank (gravity rules), but most likely the source of the leak will be somewhere else up higher or sideways along the joint or seam.
- If patching the leak from the outside of the tank does not stop the leak, try patching it from the inside.
- If patching the leak from the inside does not work, follow the "How To Repair Major Leaks or Replace Broken Glass" instructions. (See link below)
- 100% Silicone Sealant
- Acetone
- Single Edged Razor Blades
- Paper Towels
- Felt Tip Marker
- Tank Replacement Water
Making repairs on a major leak or replacing a broken pane of aquarium glass is a little more involved than repairing a small, but not really that much more difficult to do. However, before getting started be sure to read about common mistakes to avoid , and obtain a parts list (above).
- Locate the section that needs repair and mark it, using some type of material that will not easily wipe off with water, i.e. a piece of masking tape, a felt tip marker that can be removed later with windex, etc.
- Remove all inhabitants, drain the tank, and remove the substrate.
- Rinse out and clean the tank with freshwater, then turn it upside down and allow the water to drain out and dry. You can wipe it out with a clean cotton cloth to speed drying if you desire.
- Relocate the section to be repaired and again mark the pane to be removed so you know which side of the glass is inside, outside, right, left, up and down, etc. This way when you reinstall it, it will be going back in the exact same way it came out!
- Take a razor blade and run it between the panes of glass to sever the silicone, and completely remove the pane. Be very careful and don't rush this step, and do not try to pry the glass pieces apart. Allow the razor blade to do the job, just 999working at it until the pieces separate pretty much on their own. Glass breaks very easily when pressure is put on it, and the edges can chip, making your repair job a much larger task if the glass gets damaged.
- After the pieces are separated, thoroughly scrape all the old silicone off with the razor blade, dry the joint areas, clean the surfaces with acetone, and allow all areas to dry for a few minutes.
- Cut 4 strips of duct tape, about 5 inches long, and stick them to anything close by within easy reach that has a clean surface to it, that the tape won't stick to too much, with at least half of the tape hanging down freely.
- Apply a thin but adequate solid line of silicone to the inside edge of the glass areas to be joined together, then, at a slight angle, place the piece onto the bottom base glass pane (in the exact way it was taken out), slowly tilting it upright and pressing it lightly, but firmly, down into the silicone.
- Secure the piece of glass from moving by taping it into place with two pieces of duct tape, each placed about 1/4 of the way from the top and the bottom, wrapping them around each corner from one side to the other. If you have trouble with the tape not sticking to the glass, just clean the area with some acetone on a paper towel and try again.
- Apply another solid line of silicone sealant along each of the inside glass joints, and run your thumb over the silicone from one end to the other of each seam to the smooth the silicone down and force it into the joint areas.
- Allow the silicone to cure for 24 hours.
- Refill the tank with freshwater and allow to sit about 12-24 hours. This gives you a good test period, and you will feel much more confident of success when you finally fill the tank with saltwater, put it all back together and add your inhabitants.
That's all there is to it. Using these same instructions we even patched and restored a tank where the bottom pane of glass had completely broken in half, resulting in many continued years of use, but in our opinion it is best to replace broken glass altogether whenever possible.
* Some questions have been asked of late about tank building, while I do not claim to be an expert, I have built many tanks.The following is a basic guide on putting a tank together.
First things first!. When cutting , try and cut to the center of the glass, if you try and cut off a 1" strip (for example), the break would not be square, but would lean towards the narrow strip. When assembling the tank, the sides, front and back are placed on TOP of the base. Silicone can be any 100% silicone, I use DAP, and GE brands from the builders supply.
As far as precision, the front and back can be cut close, as the sides fit inside these pieces. The two sides must be cut exactly alike. After cutting, place the two sides together, and place on edge on a piece of glass. If the edges do not aline,(one slants away from the other), then turn one piece only and try to re-match.If this still fails, try turning that same piece end over end. If that fails, try cutting another!! The easiest way to cut in my opinion is with a Square.
After cutting, "sand" the edges to take off the cutting edge. You can get silicone carbide sandpaper from a glass company. If you are doing a few, it is worth ordering a belt for a belt sander. You have to keep the belt moving, but it is a lot faster.
No jigs are used during assembly, clean the glass and stack in "like pieces." Place the base in a position where you have room to work arround it, and place a box about 1" behind it. The back is the first piece to glue, run a bead along the bottom edge, and stand it in place on top of the base. Lean it against the box for support. Next run a bead along two edges of one side. Stand it in place on the base, and raise the back into an upright position against the side. Gently squeeze the two and remove the box. "Wipe" your index finger along the bead to smooth and press into the corners, inside and out. Wipe once only, if you try to wipe again later in the process, the silicone will ripple. Next bead two edges of the other side, and stand in place, and wipe the joints. Bead the base of the front, and the edges of the sides, and stand in place. Wipe again , and then do a final alignment of the pieces. You will be able to slide the pieces for about 5-10 min depending on temp.The entire assembly process will take about 10 min after practice.
Glass thickness depends upon tank dimensions, I use 1/4 " Plate Glass for tanks up to 30 gal. A 40 gal can be built with this glass, but a center brace would be needed. I recomend 30 as the largest size for 1/4" glass. When buying thicker glass, the price goes UP!
It goes without saying, glass is very sharp, and you will cut yourself until you get the feel for it. Then you will cut yourself even worse!!
Be careful and wear safety glasses...Ian
Ian Buckley,
Buckley's Tropical Hatchery,
23,000 gal system,
Angelfish, Guppies, Discus,
bucktrop@groupz.net
