Primary seal question

[mudbuttjones]

Its a gamble.

There are factors to consider like -
how much you paid for it, how long you plan to keep it, is the tank in a finished or unfinished portion of the house.

You can go either way. Its a risk vs reward scenario. I've patched smaller tanks with ge1. (40b's -75g) On a large tank like this I wouldn't be taking any unnecessary risks.

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[fishguy306]

Your right joe, for one part of your comment, the primary seal is compromised, which is the seal between the glass. The rest isn't right. If the tank is leaking the primary seal is damaged. Damaged primary seal means there is the risk of a seam failing.

Just because you say it is bad information does not make it the case. There is a boat load of bad information on the internet about tank building and I'm tired of seeing it spread. So far the only bad information in this thread is yours. So please do your research on tank physics and how silicone works then come back once you have an understanding of it.

 

[viejafish]

A friend of mine has similar situation. He has an Oceanic 175 gal, supposed to be the best made tank. He has it at the same location for 15 years, never moved. One day the central glass brace fell off into the water because he placed too much weight above it. So he glued it back with silicone. A month later, the tank started to leak on one side, apparently due to movement of the glass plain after breaking of the central brace.. He drained the tank, cleared all secondary silicone, and resealed the entire tank. It held water for 2 weeks, and started to leak at another location. Is it an indication that the primary seal has shot and must be replaced. Or he didn't wait long enough to refill the tank, only 3 days after resealing. The instruction says that silicone will be cured in 72 hours.

 

[joe jaskot]

Okay, thanks. I guess I have just been lucky resealing a bunch of leaking tanks for people over the years without taking the glass apart.

 

[fishguy306]

You've put band aids over wounds that require stitches. It may hold for a long time but its far from the best solution, especially in a situation like this. As OP said, the previous owner already attempted to reseal the tank once by tanking it apart and from the sound of it butchered it. While it could just be a leak it could also be a panel about to fall off. Not a chance I'd trust it

 

[dent20]

Thanks for the info. Not sure what I'm going to do. Taking apart a tank that size sounds a little intimidating.

 

[fishguy306]

As it should be, it is a big project and shouldn't be underestimated. But it is very doable, especially with some practice on smaller tanks first. You'll need some tape, bar clamps, acetone, tons of razors, and at least one extra set of hands in addition to the silicone.

I'd consider picking up some smaller tanks, pull them apart and rebuild those a couple times to see how it goes. As I'm sure you've noticed, that glass is heavy, you don't have a lot of time to position it. Knowing the procedure on a smaller scale will help

 

[joe jaskot]

This guy makes it look easy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p11SvH233n8

 

[fishguy306]

That guy was good, I'm impressed. He had a couple things working for him though. One is lots of practice and two is a pneumatic caulk gun, that alone makes life much easier, it makes a constant silicone bead much easier.

The only thing that really concerns me is him using scotch tape to hold it together at the end. You want to make sure the glass cannot move in the slightest, tape does not do that well. Clamps keep everything nice and snug, just dont over tighten.

 

[joe jaskot]

Here is a video of resealing an aquarium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3nNJ0PRhB0