Need advice- buy a 10 year old 300 gallon tank?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
As long as the panels aren't separating I'd go for it depending on the price. If it's clear silicone it'll be easy to see if they're separating or not. I'm not sure how you could tell if they're separating if the black sealant is used. I'd definitely cut the silicone out of the inside and reseal it regardless of whether or not it's leaking.

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I can always tell if the panel has movement regardless of silicone color.

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I can always tell if the panel has movement regardless of silicone color.

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I'm not sure we're on the same page. I'm not talking about the glass panels literally falling apart. That would be obvious. Often times the seams will start to let go little by little. With clear silicone the color will be more whitish than clear and if you can press on the seam hard enough the whitish areas will to back clear as the glass presses back against the silicone. The silicone itself will act as a cushion between the glass so it will have minimal movement.

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I'm not sure we're on the same page. I'm not talking about the glass panels literally falling apart. That would be obvious. Often times the seams will start to let go little by little. With clear silicone the color will be more whitish than clear and if you can press on the seam hard enough the whitish areas will to back clear as the glass presses back against the silicone. The silicone itself will act as a cushion between the glass so it will have minimal movement.

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No no same page lol. I mean when a pane of glass is silicone properly there is no movement. If the seam is starting to let go you can move it front any back.

I usually look for some water getting pushed out of the seam when I push down on the panel.

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The elements are not kind to silicone. It was dry, exposed to temperature extremes, UV light, and it's 10 years old. This thing has the odds stacked against it

I'd only take it if the price was right and I was going to rebuild it....or put it in an unfinished basement or the garage.

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If the glass looks good and you can re-seal it, then I would leap for it at a discounted price. The seals certainly are suspect being outdoors in Ontario for a couple years, to the extent that filling it ahead of a re-seal is probably pointless. Being 10 years old adds to that uncertainty.

As long as the glass is the correct thickness for it's dimensions, sure, I'd grab a nicely price project.
 
Stored outside and empty id value it as a source of glass to build a tank from.

Glass doesn't really go bad, so if there aren't obvious cracks in it you are fine there. Silicone and plastic is a whole different story.


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Yeah I'd also go ahead and source some replacement trim.

I've worked on older tanks and the trim cracked and snapped very easily when trying to take it off

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