Modifying a tank with a chip HELP

[Sarah88]

I have a 135g i got used and was going to reseal all the silicone just to be safe. After scraping off all the blue paint on the outside and about half of the silicone inside I've realized there's a pretty sizeable chip in the inside, side glass towards the bottom. Not sure if it was sold to me like this or if the kids have dropped something in it while its been sitting in the living room (slowly working on it) it held at least a foot of water when i bought it but the chip is under where the silicone was so may have just not been leaking yet idk. Either way I'm not comfortable using it as a regular tank now and was wondering if I could put like a 12in high piece of glass like a foot from the end to create a 5ftx18inx12in tank area and do a planted land portion in the section with chip (once everything is re-sealed) would that divider section be strong enough to hold that much water without the added support of the frame?

 

[Disturbed.)]

If you are getting ready to reseal it anyway that gives you an excuse to put in internal braces. That seashell looks to be less than a half inch across. You could also fill it with windshield epoxy unless it's super deep.

 

[Sarah88]

If you are getting ready to reseal it anyway that gives you an excuse to put in internal braces. That seashell looks to be less than a half inch across. You could also fill it with windshield epoxy unless it's super deep.

I haven't seen internal braces, I'll have to look those up, that will probably help me not feel like i have to constantly be on the watch for a tank blow out lol. the shell is probably closer to an inch and has a single crack that is stretching off to the right as well and on the inside where the shell is some of the crushed glass has peeled off with the silicone when I was removing the old stuff, it probably goes half the depth of the glass :/ I planned to clean it out and fill with new silicone when re-sealing so it's at least water tight for the planted section. Is there an epoxy I could fill it with that would make it safe to use as a full aquarium?

 

[Fishman Dave]

Think I’d just be looking at the brace idea of siliconing a piece of glass over the shell. If it’s a display tank then a tidy small piece. If not, then a larger less tidy fix. But I’d still be using it.
But your plan sounds a good one too for the land plant section.

 

[Disturbed.)]

To brace it internally like the pros do would require THICK and pricey glass if that seashell is an inch tall. I can't see the Crack that worries me if it runs up into the pane but if it runs down towards the bottom a safe fix can be done relatively cheap. Have glass the same thickness as the tank cut an 1/8 shorter than the inside dimension of that pane and at least 1/2 taller than from the bottom pane up past that seashell. You can save a ton if you don't have any machine work done to the glass, it's going to get siliconed anyway. Just use sandpaper to take the edge off their raw cut that will be on top.

 

[Sarah88]

This will be a display tank but where the crack is would be at the back at the bottom and would be mostly covered with sand. So I could take a rectangle of glass the same thickness of the tank that's slightly larger that the crack, like enough to cover that back corner and just silicone it over that area? the crack does not go up into the pane, it goes horizontal towards the closer edge/bottom. But would that be a strong enough fix to use it as a full tank?

 

[FJB]

Hard to tell but I did something similar to what you described and have never had any problems. Should work. Good thing it is the back.

 

[Disturbed.)]

Yes that will fix it up. Going the whole length actually strengthens the tank two fold. It doubles the bonding surface of the pane and increases rigidity. But just a piece larger than the chip will fix that area to at least as good as it was before the chip.

 

[Backfromthedead]

This will be a display tank but where the crack is would be at the back at the bottom and would be mostly covered with sand. So I could take a rectangle of glass the same thickness of the tank that's slightly larger that the crack, like enough to cover that back corner and just silicone it over that area? the crack does not go up into the pane, it goes horizontal towards the closer edge/bottom. But would that be a strong enough fix to use it as a full tank?

Sounds good but make sure to do this in conjunction with a complete reseal of the tank if you want a lasting fix. After youve stripped and cleaned the old seams, lay in the patch glass with silicone and then seal around each edge of the patch while youre laying in the new seams. This ensures you have a single one piece silicone gasket around the entire tank, instead of a weak point in the seam where the old seam met the new patch silicone. Ive fixed a couple small edge chips/cracks like this with good results.

 

[Disturbed.)]

I should mention there is a trick to making sure you don't end up with a ton of trapped air bubbles in your laminate. You want to lay your silicone on the tank not the patch. Since it's easier to rock the patch into position from the bottom up, lay a bead or beads in the tank joint/joints if going all the way to the corner. Then vertical beads spaced out just far enough away so that they will join together when you press the piece in. Start by setting the patch bottom and slowly rock the patch against the side panel rather than just trying to stick it in place flat. An X pattern also works just don't draw a square with silicone or you'll to trap air.