pleaseube of help with resealing...

[Hap3niz]

well, i bought a 45 gallon tank that needed resealing...
it seems like an older tank cuz it has some rust on the bottom brace thing..?

anyways, it had a leak before and the person i bought it from had tried resealing before... but on the outside.. not the inside.

anways, i bought a 3oz tube of silicone...
measurements are 36"L x 24"T x 12"W


i found the leaks coming from the bottom.. all around..
so i plan on resealing down there, not the sides.
am i gonna need a bigger thing of silicone.. like a big tube with a calking gun? also, could i replace the brace thing? oh, and.. if i wanna spray paint the back.. and the brace color thing.. do i sand it down a little??


sorry for all my questions..
please help!!

 

[jmart.cooper]

well dont sand the glass before you paint it, but you may need to sand the brace if it is rusted. I would recommend taking the tank apart and resealing it all together, but putting new silicon on the inside may stop the leak, but it wont help the structural integrity of the tank. You will need a bigger tube of silicon.

 

[Hap3niz]

sorry about my title... idk what i was thinking...
i would take it apart.. but i'd rather try resealing it first... cuz.. i don't wanna mess it up more than what it is! lol

 

[jmart.cooper]

ya, messing things up is never good, I can tell you that from experience. I am not quite an expert at this so I will let others give you more advice, I dont want to tell you the wrong thing.

 

[Hap3niz]

lol, any info is great!!

ok, well i went to the store and bought:
a calking gun
a big tube of 100% silicone
glass scraper
more razors
alcohol
and those tough towels or whatever
tonight, im gonna try to get off the silicone on the bottom.. and leave the sides on.. clean it up with some alcohol for a nice clean contact..

then tomorrows where im put the silicone on!!..
wait 2 days then test it.. i hope it works!!

oh... after i silicone it.. im gonna spray paint it too!!

 

[Hilltopperpete]

If you haven't started, here's a tip...

The structural seal that keeps the tank dry isn't what you see looking down into the tank-- it's actually where the glass buts together. The seal you see is just to take pressure off of the structural seal. With smaller tanks, the structural seal leaks can generally be fixed with a good secondary seal because there isn't as much water pressure. With larger tanks, follow there instructions:

http://www.bestfish.com/tips/082798.html

Basically, you just need to push silicone back into that inner seal.