A Couple Questions About Resiliconing an Aquarium

I would scrape off all the old silicone and do it all over. There should have been some on the sides. New silicone won't stick to old silicone.
I personally would use Marineland or aqueon silicone. I don't trust any other brands.

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New silicone won't stick to old silicone. Scrape it all out completely leaving none behind and reseal. I did this with my 180 using GE1 and it's been a year with no problems no fish deaths and no funny water readings GE 1 is fine don't get GE 2 it has mold inhibitors


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that_fish_Guy said:

New silicone won't stick to old silicone. Scrape it all out completely leaving none behind and reseal. I did this with my 180 using GE1 and it's been a year with no problems no fish deaths and no funny water readings GE 1 is fine don't get GE 2 it has mold inhibitors


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+1

It looks to me like someone resealed that tank, and purposely left the sides out. Factory seals do not look messy like that and I've never seen a tank without the vertical seams not sealed. I agree with everyone that you need to remove all the silicone in there and start all over. GE-1 works well, I resealed two tanks with that and never had problems. On a tank that large you'll have to work quick so make sure you have everything planned out well to lessen any delays.

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Many people here will disagree, but dont use GE I or II. Both are sealants, not adhesives. They are designed to keep water out, not hold two items together. Sure, they may hold a tank together for a while, even months or a year or two but it will eventually give out. I've seen it several times on tanks much smaller than this one.

There are a couple brands that are much more solid, one is made by Dow, I cant remember the number off hand. I would go with RTV 108 however. That stuff is solid and wont let go. It's a bit more expensive, about $8 a tube, but that is much cheaper than 125 gallon on your floor. You can get it through Grainger.

Scrape off as much silicone as you can with a razor then use acetone to clean the glass, it will help to get any remaining residue off of the glass. I imagine you know the next part, line up your glass pieces, put down the silicone and put the glass in place. Something this size I would use clamps to hold it, not tape. Once it is siliconed and clamped you can do the corner beads, do not wait for the silicone between the glass to dry, it cannot have filmed over before adding the corner bead or it will not stick. To get it into the corners wet your finger and run it down it, it should give you the nice triangle shape. Pull the tape you are using to keep it neat pretty early in the process, pulling it after it films over will disrupt your seams.

Once all together you want to give it a couple weeks before it sees water. Once again, many people here rush this and add water a day or two later or even that day. Just because the outside of the silicone seems dry does not mean that the inside is. It will be gassing off for several days.

Again man, I really, really would not use GE. Why spend hundreds on fish and equipment then cheap out in one of the areas it matters the most? Many people on here claim success because it has worked for the short term, but in this hobby I prefer to look at those who have had long term results. When it comes to using GE it never ends well.

So you're planning on tearing the whole thing apart and sealing between the panes, or are you just sealing up the inside?

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