600 Gallon Tank

[thatoldguy]

Hello all.

I bought 600 gallon tank about a year and a half ago. The tank has 1/2 tempered glass (10x2.5 and 4X2.5) and a floating bottom. Along the seams there is a strip of 1/4 plate, making the tank 3/4 at the seam. The bottom of the tank has four 4x3 plates, so there is three seams on the bottom (five if you count the outside seams.) There are two braces along the top (again 1/2 inch glass).

This is how the original owner had it made, I added four pieces of aluminum angle (three inch) to support the corners, and also had a top fram made.

I've used about 25 tubes of caulk (per owner's advice).

Guess what....it leaks! (Good thing it is in the basement). Is there another kind of adhesive I could use? Buying tubes of silicone is getting to be costly (and annoying).

 

[rallysman]

I would strip it and start over. Silicone only seals, and won't seal to old silicone. It wont hold it together. You shouldn't need anywhere close to 25 tubes.

 

[VLDesign]

Line the entire tank with 1/8" plexi sheets and use weldon to seal the seams.

 

[thatoldguy]

I would strip it and start over. Silicone only seals, and won't seal to old silicone. It wont hold it together. You shouldn't need anywhere close to 25 tubes.

Yup, that thought has been sticking in my mind....just don't want to go through that. Then again, I don't need 400 gallons of water on my basement floor either.....oh well. it all takes time and money....

 

[thatoldguy]

Line the entire tank with 1/8" plexi sheets and use weldon to seal the seams.

What is weldon?

 

[thatoldguy]

What is weldon?

I assume you mean this:
http://www.sdplastics.com/weldon.html

The problem with that is that the tank will be coming with me when I move out. If I use an acrylic sealer like that, will it be permanent? If not, how will I be able to take it apart?

 

[fishdance]

If you can pinpoint where the leak is, I would just reseal the area with a little new silicon. If you look carefully you might be able to see some air bubbles which the water is using to get out. If your really unlucky, the whole glue seal is coming away which means the glass wasnt cleaned well before being siliconed.

If its just air bubbles, cut and clean away the old silicon a couple of centimeters around the leak zone. Use some methalated spirits to clean and dry the glass before re-gluing. If you really want to make sure, you could add a small glass strip to help seal.

If its the whole seal, I would remove the 1/4 strips, clean and redo. If your unsure where the leak is coming from, put some dry newspaper underneath and watch carefully as you fill. That should give you a good idea.

 

[VLDesign]

Yep that's weld-on.

And, yes it's more like a perm/temp fix as you will need to break the 1/8 plexi to remove it later.