plywood for broken glass panels

[AllisterCrowley]

the member I got this tank from asked me repeatedly to do a thread on the repair of its cracked floor, so this is what I did Danny...

this is the second tank I repaired like this, the first was another friends(Bryan) tank that got smashed as he was leaving the house he bought it from- that tank was a 4'x2'x2' 120g and had one of the big panels shattered but still in tact-
this tank from Danny is 80"x25"x25" and had the bottom cracked by setting the tank down on its protruding bulkheads-
what I did to fix it, was cut a piece of plywood the size of the broken bottom and soak the side that will be against the tank with GE silicone 1, I left the entire broken piece in place. but I did add a bunch of weight inside while it dried, so each of the pieces would be firmly pressed against the board. After 2 days I took out the weight and drilled the four holes that had the bulkheads in them. I guess I didnt have to, and it would certainly be stronger without the holes... but, I like sumps and quick water changes so it has holes again- the two on the outside will be plumbed for the water changes and the inside two for the sump.
before I rebuilt the overflow box, I ran a flat bead of silicone over all the cracks on the inside of the tank, there was something I didnt understand though, and that was why the overflow box had a divider in it? When I siliconed the overflow back together I put the divider back anyway- I figured it would be easier to remove it with the tank running than install it with it running-
as for bulkheads I took PVC adapters and cut them in half and siliconed them so they were flush on the bottom, so no more accidents, also I had a spare 54g tupperware wet dry sump I had used on a 220g, and what I was able to do with my new style bulkheads was push the standpipe all the way through to the top of the sump, I put silicone around the PVC where it would be in the bulkhead.
so next I put a stand together for it and was ready to test- Ive already tested it for a few while now and it was good to go, the only other thing Im considering is siliconing tile to the bottom, but I dont know yet- I do have 2 or 3 pictures but Im still not able to post them but theyre in my gallery if anyone is interested

 

[dawnmarie]

Here you go friend.

 

[Knowdafish]

Water tested yet?

 

[hbluehunter]

I never would have even thought of repairing a tank like that.. Good idea though.. Like Knowdafish said, is it water tested yet ?? I'll have to keep this method in mind if i see anymore broken tanks on craislist..lol

 

[AllisterCrowley]

Here you go friend.

Thanks alot dawnmarie!

Water tested yet?

for days, I wanted to leave it for the full week, but I needed my driveway back

I never would have even thought of repairing a tank like that.. Good idea though.. Like Knowdafish said, is it water tested yet ?? I'll have to keep this method in mind if i see anymore broken tanks on craislist..lol

it works so good, that the 120g I mentioned early on has been 1/2 full for over a month- and that was the front/back pane- and the only reason its only half full is because it was needed as a sump! it basically has a built in background with the color of your choice

 

[AllisterCrowley]

the 120g was the 1st tank I did like this, and the big difference with that one was I took a painted piece of plywood and cut it to snuggly fit on the inside of the tank, I think its important to make it snug but not so tight that you push the side walls out-
I had already cut the board that would be on the outside of the tank, so I smoothed the GE1 silicone onto the sides of the boards that would be against the glass-
to make sure the entire wall had full silicone adhesion, I laid the tank on its bad side, and put as much weight as I could, evenly in the tank- I let that cure for a few days-
after that had cured, I took out the weight and sat it upright- next was to waterproof the wood, that was done with more silicone- I loaded it in there, then took a putty knife and smoothed it evenly over the wood with particular care in the corners, the corners got the extra, which I smoothed all the way around with my gloved finger- the tank again sat for half the week to cure
since I hadnt done this or seen it done before, I put a tie-down strap around it, around 1/4 of the way down, since it was going to be a sump anyway, but I didnt want to get too greedy and just assume it was all good, but its been in use now for almost 2 months, so Im pretty pleased- Ill talk to bryan about pics

 

[Danny Monster]

gangstaa=)