Update on resealing my 500 gallon tank...

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kevinster_1

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2010
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west covina
Here's the original Thread...

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=313325&highlight=kevin

Well bad news... It's leaking... right now.... I'm pumping out the water as i'm writing this.
Well this is what i did... i cleaned up the tank, used rubbing alcohol then using a caulking gun i sealed the whole tank. Then waited over 50 hours for it to dry and cure.
It seems to still be leaking from the same spot. Gosh i'm so stressed out right now.

What did i do wrong or is this tank trash? I'm running out of energy and some patience :WHOA: but i'm gonna redo the tank one more time. If it doesn't work then, I'm calling for a new tank.
Any suggestions guys....:(
 
How thick of bead of silicone did you lay down? If it was thick, 50 hours was not long enough for it to dry to maximum strength.
 
Knowdafish;3959803; said:
How thick of bead of silicone did you lay down? If it was thick, 50 hours was not long enough for it to dry to maximum strength.
Click to expand...

it was maybe 1/4" thick and i think you're right. how long should i let it dry?:confused:
 
I've resealed a few tanks in my past. I only had issues when I was taking short cuts. I'm not saying that's what you did but maybe you can learn from my mistakes.

Step one remove all the old glue from inside the tank. Use a razor blade and scrape it out.
Then clean the edges where the glue was with acetone. Let it dry and get ready for gluing
I use the silicon 1 stuff from Home D. Get more than you need. You can always return the unused tubes. The plan is to try to get the silicon down in one step. You don't want areas that have skinned over to mix with new/fresh silicon. Get a roll of paper towels too.
I like to start at the bottom of the tank. Run a bead all the way around the bottom then use a wet finger and run it along the bead of glue to sort of press it into the glass corners where you just applied the glue. Every foot or so your fingers will be full of glue. Wipe if off in the paper towels and keep going. Your trying to keep a continuos bead of silicon spread in the corners.
After the base is done start on one of the four corners, run a bead from bottom to the top then wet your finger and spread that glue in the corner. Work fast but not too fast where your messing up. Only run your finger one time through the glue. Don't repeat the spreading process or the glue is going to skin over and start balling up on you.
After your done wait at least two days (hardest part) before filling.
 
kevinster_1;3959812; said:
it was maybe 1/4" thick and i think you're right. how long should i let it dry?:confused:
Click to expand...

I would go thicker. How thick is the glass? My rule of thumb is that the bead should be as thick/wide as the glass is thick. Complete curing time varies with temperature and air circulation. At 75-80 I would wait at least a week. The longer the better. For really thick beads I would wait 10 days at 75-80 degrees. Better safe than sorry. You don't want to have to reseal it a 3rd time right?
 
Egon, you are right and i've done exactly that. i think "Knowdafish" is right too, the fact the it didn't completely dry. i've just went by what everyone says and waited only 2 days. i should have waited longer. oh, my tank doesn't have any old silicone. weird huh? it comes like that. it's 1" thick sapphire glass so i guess that's how it comes...
 
hey thanks for the info.... you're right i definitely don't want to do it the third time... this is my first time resealing a tank and it's really a pain... to answer your question... my tank is a 8x3.5x2.5 with a 1" thick glass. i don't think i should put one inch of silicone right? lol.. not sure but at this point if you say so i would.... lol and yeah lately it's been raining so temperatures have been quite low. you think it's ok to put a fan inside the tank to circulate the air? gosh... what to do....
 
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