Time for a reseal? (pic included)

[packer43064]

They say a picture is worth a thousands words in this case actually seeing and feeling how the seal is would be more helpful. Honestly that doesn't look bad at all. New silicone doesn't seal very good to old silicone, but I would put a strip around that section.

If you do reseal it though, don't worry about the "inner seal" between the panes of glass. They are a secondary seal, very rarily will it degrade unless left out in the sun. I mean it shouldn't ever even touch water really unless your outer seals fail. Resealing a tank won't cause instability on the aquarium in anyway. Your just reseaing it...not taking off the trim or putting a new pane of glass in.

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[David R]

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.

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.

My thoughts too, the silicone between the glass that holds it together looks fine to me, I certainly wouldn't pull it down and re-glue it completely. If you're worried about the inner seal then you could tidy up the loose stuff in the corners of the glass and re-seal it, cheap peace of mind I guess.

 

[Johnnylightning]

I will buy a new tank before using a used tank. Nothing like being at work or sleeping and having that in your back of your mind.

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[deeda]

Chris, as long as the inner silicone fillets seem firmly attached to the glass panes I don't think you will have any problems. But if you are going to worry about it possibly leaking, I would consider replacing the ones that are bad.

Personally, if it was my tank, I would have no problems doing all the interior fillet seams. I did it on a used 125G tank I got from craigslist and couldn't be happier with the results. But I also didn't have to worry about where my fish were going to have to live since this would be a new setup. I spent a couple days removing the interior silicone fillets & making sure all surfaces were clean. The actual silicone installation took less than 2 hours. I did a 1 week cure time and a 1 week fill test to make sure all was well.

Just my two cents and my experience.

 

[12 Volt Man]

I would leave it alone.

the outer edges of the secondary (not water holding) seal will get weathered with time, but they don't affect the tanks ability to hold water.

I had tanks that went for almost 20 years with no reseal and they had virtually no secondary seal left by that point.

still didn't leak.

 

[cjdesmit]

Thanks for all the input everyone. If I was to reseal it, I would definitely only be doing the inner fillet seals, not the silicone that's in between the panes of glass. The tank is almost 20 years old if I remember correctly so once I drain it and clean it out, I'll look it over and make my decision...

 

[Kash]

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

Do not do this! Old silicone does not adhere to new silicone very well, so you'll end up with air pockets in between the two seals which kind of defeats the purpose!

 

[cjdesmit]

No worries. I PROPERLY resealed the tank and it's been setup now for about 2 weeks without any problems...

Thanks.