Aquarium DIY Or Repair Folks-I HAVE AN EMERGENCY!!! NEED HELP ASAP!!!

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FISHY FINGAZ

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 22, 2009
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CAP CITY, Cali
so i came home last night to a 1/2 empty 180 gal glass aquarium (yea, no lie!)
carpets thrashed the whole works! every large tank owners nightmare came true!

anyways good thing i work in carpet care i was able to save the carpet.

but now i need to save my tank, i need to reseal the tank where the leak is.
the problem is i have never done this before, so what do i need to know before tackling something like this, im in the middle of getting the river rock out right now but:

what silicone should i use to seal it??

how long to dry? (im on a time crisis as im holding my fish in a tank with unstable water parameters!)

do i need to cut out the old silicone where the leak is before adding new?

and also can i get away with just pushing the rock to one side? (im limited on 5 gal buckets)

any special techniques to make sure i got a good seal?

anything else i need to know before getting started, id like to get the silicone in today and have it dry ASAP.

thanks everybody in advance!
 
what silicone should i use to seal it??

GE 100% Silicone Type 1 - available in all hardware stores

how long to dry? (im on a time crisis as im holding my fish in a tank with unstable water parameters!)

Instructions are on there but I think it was 48 hours.

do i need to cut out the old silicone where the leak is before adding new?

Yes, cut out that whole seam

and also can i get away with just pushing the rock to one side? (im limited on 5 gal buckets)

I would drain it all the way and redo the seam top to bottom. Lay the rocks on a towel.

any special techniques to make sure i got a good seal?

I use caulking knives but you can just wet your finger after you have caulked it and smooth the caulk with your wet finger.
 
How has it leaked? bad silicone join? crack in the glass? any idea on the cause of it suddenly going? A picture of the area in question will help with describing how to patch if you can get one and allow us to see the extent of the problem. If it's minor then an entire caulking tube of silicone maybe more than you need, you might be able to get away with one of those small silicone leak repair tubes you can get from most lfs (over here anyway) last one i used said dry in 24 hours.
 
Generally the best thing to do is to reseal the entire tank. Also silicone reaches max strength after 7 days.
 
Put the rocks in the tank with the fish (probably too late by now) because they have bacteria on them and will act as a filter. If they are still wet, then they are still good. Build a rudimentary UGF first, and you'll be skippy.

Can you move the filter to the tank that the fish are in?
 
When my tank leaked I pulled the whole panel off (pain in the ass to get the other side off where the seal was still good). Then razor bladed off all of the silicone from the inside of the entire tank and the edges of the structural seals of the panel that was now separated. Old silicone will not bond to new silicone do you have to pretty much gut it. Except the structural seals between the panels that are still good can stay but the internal seals must go. Then I cleaned the whole thing with 100% acetone. You can use rubbing alcohol too but I like the acetone because it evaporates pretty well. I used 100% acetone because it doesn't have anything goofy in it like the nail polish remover does. Next I took the silicone and applied it to the edges of the aquarium where the glass panel would be, set it on and then used tape to secure it in place while it cures. Be sure to work quickly as the silicone begins to skin over. 24 hours I let it cure and then i took a razor blade and acetone to the inside again to get ride of any silicone that squeezed out. Next I applied the inner silicone to the tank. I used masking tape to make guide lines. If you do use the tape make sure to remove it before the silicone starts to skin over. Then I let if cure for a few days and then test filled out in the back yard for a week. DONE!
 
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