I just siliconed the whole tank, and hopefully it will work. I used close to 2 tubes and laid it on thick which I am hoping will make it last. The tube says it should be good tomorrow however with the thickness I laid on I think I'm going to wait a couple just to be sure. It doesn't look as nice as it did when it was done by the factory however i will be covered by sand so it won't show. the corners look good though and that is what people will see. I will probably fill it up on Sunday and post what happens.
Dropped a 265
- Thread starter Pbass265
- Start date
The silicone seems to be curing and is looking rough, but secure. My whole garage still has a chemical stench. Yesterday I left the garage closed after airing it for 6 hours, and went out to grab a Dew. The neighbor kids were playing catch next door when a rush of curing silicone hit them. I’m sure it smelled awful for them based on the older ones asked if I was cooking meth in the garage. I assured them no and let them see the tank which they were interested in. I was unaware that 12 year olds were aware of meth labs, I sure wasn’t, but I guess those drug classes in school are paying off. I thought it was a funny story to share. Be warned if you do this in your house prepare to not want to be in it. I know I wouldn’t and wife wouldn’t.
I just got done filling and it is full of water with no leaks. If it holds for the next couple days I will feel safe enough to move it into the house this weekend once I can get some friends to help me move it. I was really nervous while watching the fill that I was just going to see a tank explode and send water gushing everywhere but thankfully it didn’t.
Well it looks like this was doomed from the start. It was holding water fine in the garage but when we tried to move it today we did not notice the end slipped off the furniture dolly to move it. The dolly was resting directly on the bottom glass which caused the seal to give out again causing a leak. Luckily it started leaking a little in the kitchen, there was about a gallon or 2 left in it we couldn’t get out. There are a couple places that build aquariums in Cincinnati apparently, I have broken down and decided to hire professional help. If that doesn’t work then I think I may just have to stick to my 125 as my big tank and give up on this new one. This really has me bummed, I had a filter seeded and was planning on getting fish next Tuesday.
I love the smell of silicone.. Guess I am weird lol every time I use it I sit there snorting it like cocaine.
so without a picture its hard but if I understand right the corner was dropped and cracked up? id brace the inside of the tanks base with glass sheets if so and fill the crack with a strong silicone, over here we have a black silicone thats like cement when it dries. you could also add glass on the outside wont look the best.
Thats how I would do it but its hard to understand without a picture.
anyways dont give up worst comes to worst strip the glass sheets apart and keep the ones that are not chipped-cracked take it to the builder and ask him to order the other sheet in and rebuild it for you will save u money. I do it all the time with tanks that are broken and people dont want.
Anyways give it a shot and stop producing the meth!!!
so without a picture its hard but if I understand right the corner was dropped and cracked up? id brace the inside of the tanks base with glass sheets if so and fill the crack with a strong silicone, over here we have a black silicone thats like cement when it dries. you could also add glass on the outside wont look the best.
Thats how I would do it but its hard to understand without a picture.
anyways dont give up worst comes to worst strip the glass sheets apart and keep the ones that are not chipped-cracked take it to the builder and ask him to order the other sheet in and rebuild it for you will save u money. I do it all the time with tanks that are broken and people dont want.
Anyways give it a shot and stop producing the meth!!!
I have spoken to several places and no one is willing to try to repair it for me. I woke up early and couldn’t stop thinking of what I was going to do when I had a plan. I am just going to make my own furniture dolly like device that is the length of the tank. This should keep the pressure off any of the seams and help me get it in the house. Unfortunately I wasn’t thinking clearly yesterday after the leak and still insisted to bring it inside and put it on the stand. Looking back that was a mistake b/c now I am going to need help getting it back outside to the garage so I can re-strip it and apply more silicone. I am also going to apply a lot more silicone this time. Last time I put on 1.5 tubes but I am thinking I will use at least 2 and really beef up this corner more than I did last time. The biggest problem is that when I put a bunch in one area it is harder to spread out. Does anyone know a better way to smooth it besides using my finger?
More silicone will not fix it!!! The only way to repair a bottom seal is to cut off the bottom and reattach. Once the structural seal (the silicone between the panes of glass)has failed it has to be replaced. If it were me I would re-purpose one of the viewing panes and build a plywood tank. BTW I have two giant tanks in storage with failed seals, one from my foundation shifting 380g (tried fixing it once), and my 540g split it's seal during our house fire in '09.
