Time for a reseal? (pic included)

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cjdesmit

cjdesmit

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 16, 2010
522
218
61
USA, Indiana
Hey everyone,

I'm in the process of moving and will soon have to break down my 135gal tank. I bought it used and have had it setup for about 2 years now. The silicone wasn't in the greatest of shape to begin with but after hearing all the horror stories on here lately, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go ahead and reseal it since I have to break everything down to move anyway. Here is a pic of what the silicone looks like. You can see where the original bead was and how it has deteriorated. What do you all think? Looks pretty sketchy huh?

0725121227.jpg

0725121227.jpg
 
Hello; Moving can stress the seal of a tank and it should be set up in the new place with care. It could be setup without a reseal if the spot in the new place is a fairly leak safe area, say a basement or room with a floor that is not likely to be damaged like tile or cement. I have moved tanks around several times without doing a reseal and most of the time have not had any problems.
A big tank such as your's may be a bit more prone to leak after a move, but I have not resealed a tank that was not leaking.
I could not tell much from the picture myself.
If it is possible to safely test fill it in the new place, that may be the way I would go. There is not a guarantee that a reseal will not itself leak. I have had to redo a reseal on occasion.
 
Thanks for your input. The tank will be on hardwood floors so not necessarily in a "leak safe area". Even if it was though, I'd still rather not have to deal with cleaning up a 135gal of water! I was hoping the pic could illustrate the condition of the silicone. It looks like it has deteriorated quite a bit over the years and is definitely a milky white color... All bad signs I thought.
 
Hello; I wish that I had a better answer for you because I would use the knowledge myself to anticipate and prevent my next big leak. In 50+ years of keeping tanks water has at some point found a way out. Most of the time the amount has been fairly small but even so enough to cause problems. I have had two major tank failures and numerious serious leaks from filters and such.
I now take some preventitive measures and hope that they will mitigate the next incident. I will no longer place a tank on carpet or unprotected wood floors. In my current home I removed a section of wall to wall carpet from the area of my tanks. I placed vinyl tiles in the tank area and made a barrier between the remaining carpet and the tanks with plastic quarter round and sealed it with silicone. I also made a hole thru the floor into the basement to give the water a place to go. Most of my spills and leaks have been slow or of fairly small amounts. Two have been major. A big sudden spill will breach the barrier and get to the remaining carpet but this is my short term fix. The long term plan is to at some point replace all the carpet with some sort of water tolerant flooring.
Even with a new tank there is always the risk of a big leak or spill. I discussed this issue with another member some time back when I noticed that their pictures of a new setup showed the tank sitting on carpet. Their response was that they do not plan to have a leak. I never planned to have leaks myself but have had many.
Reseal the tank if it will ease your mind. Good luck.

Hello; Here is a link to a video that may be helpful in sealing a leak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKactsdPpO8&feature=channel_video_title
 
Thanks again. I had actually watched that video previously and it was helpful.

I guess what I am really wondering is... If I reseal the tank (and do it correctly), does simply resealing it decrease it's original integrity? Will it be "as good as new"?
 
A glass aquarium is assembled with silicone to hold it together and hold water and this would be the primary seal. The inner fillet seals are really secondary and just additional leak proofing security.

redoing the inner seals of the tank should have no bearing on the original tank integrity unless you damage the silicone between the glass panes when you remove the inner silicone fillets with a razor blade or other utensil.

I didn't see a problem with your pic of the original inner silicone fillet. But if you have any loose silicone that is not adhered properly, just do a reseal.
 
Thanks for your input deeda. Here's the same pic but with a red line representing where the original fillet seal was. You should then be able to see how much the actual silicone has deteriorated. This was my main reason for being concerned. However, if it's not a big deal I'd rather not do any unnecessary work.

silicone.png

Thanks again.

silicone.png
 
I just resealed my 125 that popped a seam and started leaking. Wa sa few months ago- but I final found a reason to do the reseal- 2 growing channel cats and 2 Huge shubunkins.
I spread the work over 4 days- used the 5th and 6th to let it all dry. I used 3 tubes of GE1 clear and used some metal roof flashing to replace the bottom frame that was cheap and cracking. Metal and large enough to cover the quick but thorough reseal.

The bottom is just that the bottom...That can be messy but the 2 front seals on mine are fantasitic!

I think a few days of prep will add to your security...But even after the reseal, I spilled a gallon of water on the floor because the new overhead filter I created splashed on the floor....The reason all my big tanks are in the garage. I like the idea of a 'oops' drain to the basement. :)
 
I would not strip the current silicone, as it is obviously strong enough to hold your tank.

The question is if you stripped it all and reseal it yourself, Will it hold thousand pounds of pressure?

I would just trust in the original seal, but put a silicone seal over it...take your time and make sure to do a good job (meaning dont halfass)

Good Luck
 
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