ADVICE ON SEALING A LEAK

[SemperFish]

So I recently got this 120g glass tank for free! I brought it home and filled her up in the car port and lo and behold shes got a leak along the bottom seam in the back. Once it was completley full the leak seemed to stop or atleast become much slower, Im assuming thats from the pressure of the glass and water on the seam.
My question is, what kind of silicon should I get and do I need to strip the old silicon off to reseal?
Im hoping there is something at home depot I can pick up in a large tube rather than pay just as much for a little tube at the LFS.
Any pointers would be appreciated. Seems to me someone on here had a similar situation a little while back but I couldnt find their thread.

 

[Niisan9178]

Some one with more experience correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that you will have to strip all the old silicone off that seam and lay a fresh bead. I have used GE silicone 1 from home depot with success in the past. Don't use GE 2 though, I believe it's toxic.

 

[mwilson]

I bought a used 220gal for $100 and had to reseal it. it took two times but its holding now. I used the GE clear silicone. For the bottom seam I layed the tank on its side and used a piece of wire to dig out all the old caulk. then clean very well and reseal!

 

[SemperFish]

Dang! Its starting to sound like I need to remove all the old stuff before sealing

 

[mwilson]

if i can help just let me know

 

[SemperFish]

It seems to have stopped leaking now. Could it be that it was leaking at first since it was empty and dry for so long and now its sealed itself back up?

 

[Edwin]

its better off resealing it and apply fresh silicone. i have done several tank before that i havent had any fails. even if it seams to not be leaking, it will eventually get bigger when time passes. i would highly recommend to stripe old silicone and resilicone with GE silicone 1.

 

[carcrazy]

I had to replace a back panel on my 60 gallon sump and also used ge silicone 1. I cleaned the glass first with paint thinner to remove any oil from fingerprints etc. No leaks yet (fingers crossed).

 

[X24]

Do you just need to clear off the visible silicon or would you need to actually seperate the pieces of glass and clean of their edges too? I've always wondered about that since inbetween does a lot of the holding but the new silicon would just stick to the face of the glass and thats the only reason why you'd need to reseal because silicon doesn't stick to itself very good.

 

[BushFishRox]

Do you just need to clear off the visible silicon or would you need to actually seperate the pieces of glass and clean of their edges too? I've always wondered about that since inbetween does a lot of the holding but the new silicon would just stick to the face of the glass and thats the only reason why you'd need to reseal because silicon doesn't stick to itself very good.

you just need to replace all the cocking inside the tank, leave the stuff holding the pieces together...