Tank is 330 gallons, I bought it used a couple months ago, it was sitting outside and when I picked it up it had snow and bins filled with crushed coral that froze up and became very heavy. I got the tank home and discovered the bottom had 2 planes of 1/2" glass, I thought that was odd. I got it inside on the stand and had a wobble, I did some research and posted a thread on here and added foam board underneath of it, well I got it full of water and kept a close eye on it and it was fine. I finally got the filter right and started to cycle. The tank at this point has been full for 2 weeks. I get home Saturday night and the tank was empty and my floor was full of water. The seam on the side and front had an almost 1/8" gap. I feel this happened because the bottom panel may be warped and causing the stress on the joint, or the silicone was on its last legs being it was outside in the snow and unsure of age. I am thinking of completely taking the tank apart and rebuilding it with a new bottom, of course once its apart I can tell if its warped. Also was thinking if I have to buy a new bottom I might as well buy wider side panels and make it bigger. Tank is 1/2" glass so not sure if its thick enough. Tank dimensions are 8' long 2' wide and 31" tall. Was looking to make it 36" or 30" wide. Any help is appreciated I have a lot of money and time in this and no tank
I had a seam split, need advice to fix or buy new
- Thread starter Niners4952
- Start date
Ive been watching videos and all 4 corners are touching the foam board, even empty is seams much more stable now. Also saw in a video that being outside in the cold is really bad for the silicone. I think im going to take it apart this weekend. I do auto glass for a living so ive worked with stuff like this before and have a ton of caulking experience. If anyone has put together a glass tank this big please chime in on the process, it would seam easier to me to silicone and square 1 side to the back and let that dry then do the other 2 panels so the silicone doesnt cure on my
If you plan to just tear the whole thing apart and redo all the silicone it is really easy. Break it all down and clean it up really good. If you noticed any scratches this is the time to fix those as it will never be easier than now. Set the bottom pane on the stand or a surface that affords you room to work. Get another set of hands to help you out with the next part. Set up the four vertical panels and get them all square and space them with zip ties or anything that is an eighth of an inch thick in multiple points where the silicone would normally be. Inject small beads of silicone in multiple points around the seams of the panes. Wait for them to cure and then remove whatever material you used as a spacer. Now just go through and inject the silicone between the remaining gaps in the seams . When doing it this way you want the silicone to ooze out of the gap to the outside of the tank. Once you have injected all the seams you can go back and apply silicone to the corners as if you where resealing the tank. Since it is a long tank you may consider buying or renting an electric caulk gun for the project. Keep a drink and paper towels handy so that you can clean up the silicone as you go. You can always go back and clean it up latter but that just adds more time to the rebuild. Good luck!
This is a big tank, so you're going to want some advices from someone with experience
Hopefully
fishguy306
is around
Hopefully
fishguy306
is around
I actually have an electric caulk gun and use it daily for my job so I'm very experienced at that part. Thanks Red_Man for the long write up and that sounds simple, would like a few more chime in before I get too far.
That is odd the bottom had two pieces, though I've heard of it before. If you are willing to spend the money I would replace it with one solid piece. Was there any water in the tank while it was outside? Water freezing in the tank would put stress on the seams, pushing them apart. Also large swings in temp could stress the silicone. It really isn't hard to damage silicone to the point it gives out. Also on the foam, is the tank rimmed or rimless? Rimless the foam was a good idea, if it has a rim around it foam does you more harm than good. If the stand has a wobble you need to shim it under the stand, dont use foam to level it out as that is how you twist your tank causing more stress on the silicone.
After you take the tank apart all of the glass must be cleaned very well, acetone works very well for this. You must use more than just a razor blade and water as that will not be clean enough for the silicone. The glass should be squeaky clean. Honestly getting it clean will be the biggest part of this project. A tank this size is going to take you hours of work if you do it properly.
If you wanted to get new side pieces you certainly could. Once the glass is cleaned up it will be no different than glass you buy at a shop.
As far as assembly goes, the process is tough and must be done very, very quickly. ALL of the silicone must be done at once, you cannot inject silicone after some has cured, that is terrible advice. Once silicone has skinned over, which takes between three and five minutes, it will not stick to itself. You need one continuous bead of silicone for every seam, all connecting in the corners. There can be no gaps or you will have leaks or a blow out. A tank this size I wouldn't bother with spacers, the glass just isn't big enough to worry about squeezing all the silicone out, especially at 1/2".
You are going to want at least one other person helping, maybe two. Depending on if you build the sides on the bottom or around, you will want to do the silicone around the bottom, add the front or back piece, silicone the two sides where it meets, add the side pieces, then silicone the last side and put it into place. At this point you need to clamp the glass, do not use tape to hold the tank together, it will not be stable enough. If the silicone slides at all once it has skinned over you must start over as it will not cure properly. Then you silicone the inner corners. This must still be done in the three to five mins so it cures with the rest. Run a bead up each corner then using a wet finger form it into shape.
It is a boat load of work for such a short time, on a tank this size you have your work cut out for you. Be sure to use a good silicone. No matter what anyone tells you GE I or II is not good silicone, that stuff is garbage for building a tank. I would recommend Momentive RTV 103 or 108 depending on if you want black or clear. You can get either through the Grainger website.
As a side note, 1/2" is a bit thin for a tank that tall in my opinion, so place make sure the top is braced properly. Hopefully this helps a bit. You have a big project on your hands.
After you take the tank apart all of the glass must be cleaned very well, acetone works very well for this. You must use more than just a razor blade and water as that will not be clean enough for the silicone. The glass should be squeaky clean. Honestly getting it clean will be the biggest part of this project. A tank this size is going to take you hours of work if you do it properly.
If you wanted to get new side pieces you certainly could. Once the glass is cleaned up it will be no different than glass you buy at a shop.
As far as assembly goes, the process is tough and must be done very, very quickly. ALL of the silicone must be done at once, you cannot inject silicone after some has cured, that is terrible advice. Once silicone has skinned over, which takes between three and five minutes, it will not stick to itself. You need one continuous bead of silicone for every seam, all connecting in the corners. There can be no gaps or you will have leaks or a blow out. A tank this size I wouldn't bother with spacers, the glass just isn't big enough to worry about squeezing all the silicone out, especially at 1/2".
You are going to want at least one other person helping, maybe two. Depending on if you build the sides on the bottom or around, you will want to do the silicone around the bottom, add the front or back piece, silicone the two sides where it meets, add the side pieces, then silicone the last side and put it into place. At this point you need to clamp the glass, do not use tape to hold the tank together, it will not be stable enough. If the silicone slides at all once it has skinned over you must start over as it will not cure properly. Then you silicone the inner corners. This must still be done in the three to five mins so it cures with the rest. Run a bead up each corner then using a wet finger form it into shape.
It is a boat load of work for such a short time, on a tank this size you have your work cut out for you. Be sure to use a good silicone. No matter what anyone tells you GE I or II is not good silicone, that stuff is garbage for building a tank. I would recommend Momentive RTV 103 or 108 depending on if you want black or clear. You can get either through the Grainger website.
As a side note, 1/2" is a bit thin for a tank that tall in my opinion, so place make sure the top is braced properly. Hopefully this helps a bit. You have a big project on your hands.
The tank was empty outside but it did get rain and snow. The tank is rimless and I do auto glass for a living some I have a lot of experience cleaning glass and scrapping old silicone. What do you recommend for clamping?
Bar clamps are your best bet, I would use two per end. Just be sure to not over tighten and squeeze out all the silicone.
I would be ok with 2 clamps on each end going along the side panels? I wouldn't have to clamp the front or back going into the sides? Or anything top to bottom? Tank has a ton of bracing, I'll post a couple when I bought it. It also has 2" wide pieces along the entire bottom and the top as well
