Fixing acrylic tank

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NormanLove

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 27, 2010
81
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Renton,Wa
So I bought a 300 gallon tank, built a stand and got it all set up to find out it leaks on one of the bottom seams.

My question is there a way to seal acrylic? Its one inch thick and water just oozes out of the bottom front seam. I have been searching the web with no good results. Any advice would be much appreciate
 
After further inspection i'm not sure if its the seam or the patches on the drilled holes.

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Can you point out the leak location in the picture? You should be able to tell the leak location based on the exit point.
 
So it is hard to tell but it looks like you have two separate issues.

First it looks as if the patches were sealed in with silicone if this is the case you need to remove them and reseal the patches. Do this by getting Cell Cast Acrylic (not the Lowes stuff) because you need to have similar plastics to bond properly. Make sure both surfaces are clean and flat. Us Weld on 3 or 4 to seal the patches. You tube has a good video on welding plastic here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT6Ow_cBTps

It is hard to see but it looks to me like the front pane sits on top of the bottom and it is not sitting flush. There are a few different ways to fix that is it leaks from there but I would re seal the bulkhead holes first and go from there. A better pic of the seam would be nice as well.
 
Thanks for the replys and the video link. That will help big time when I get that far.

I did find out that its the amazing patch job on the holes that are leaking. Got most the silicone off with just my finger and I really wonder why I didnt inspect it better before i bought it.

After I get this cleaned up should I get bigger pieces of acrylic to cover the holes? It seams to barely cover the hole and don't leave much room for error. I thought about doing it the right way with some bulkheads but I really don't want to take the tank off the stand. Not that easy to get 4 buddy's over to move a 800 pound tank lol
 
I would personally do bulkheads, just in case you ever want to use them. If you get the patches off, and if nothing of the stand is in the way just drill the wood from the tank side. If you patch, you just need to large enough to put a good leak barrier (an inch is probably good).
 
Having recently experienced a cracked 210G tank, I can tell you that the tank is a very special piece of equipment. Along with the stand, it is the only thing that you cannot replace without massive effort. To replace a tank or stand you need to tear down the entire tank occupants, hold all the stock and as much of the water as you can manage and put it all back together again. Most likely, if you try to do it all in one day and have a sizable tank, you'll stir up enough gunk and disturb the bacteria enough to cause a minor or major die-off in the process. Not much fun.

Thanks,

acrylic beads
 
Ok I went the bulkhead route I got the bottom nut against the plywood, should that be ok?

Also should I do the seams with some glue before I fill it up with water? Is it anything like doing silicone on glass? I have done that may times.Want to be sure before I set everything up.

Thanks again for all the advice!
 
As long as the bulkhead does not prevent the bottom panel from touching the stand and it plugged well there shouldn't be a problem.

As another mentioned, silicone does not adhere well to acrylic, so you have to use acrylic specific glue (such as Weld-on). Unless there is a clear leak, or the seams look like they need some TLC I would do a partial fill and leak test what you tried to fix already.
 
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