AP24: If you can fix it, you can have it

[Tanque Verde]

As described in another thread, my AP24 sprang a leak this week. The leak appears to have orginated with the silicone on the bottom panel. The glass is intact (and for the most part, immaculate). A person with a little patience and silicone know-how could transform this tank into an excellent reef, frag tank, quarantine tank, rock curing tank, etc., etc.,

Also, I have a couple of old skeleton hoods for the AP24. I've scavenged many of the parts but there are enough ballasts and sockets left over to set you in the right direction.

Pick up is in central Tucson near Swan and Speedway. If nobody claims it in the next few days, I'll trash it, but I'd hate to see it go to waste.

 

[Garage1217]

I will take it. Could turn it into something. What overall condition is it in besides leaky? what is the age? I know it is a freebie but just want to justify the trip all the way down south!

 

[Tanque Verde]

^The tank was up, running, and gorgeous until two nights ago. The tank has been in constant operation since May 2007. The glass is in very good condition with minimal scratching. The tank will need some cleaning: coraline, residual sand, peanut and vermitid shells, the basic stuff. I have all the original wiers and the original return elbow. I also have some old hood parts, but these are scavenged and irregular. I suspect I'll kick myself with envy after I see what you turn this into.

EDIT: The false wall is a bit loose. I would either rip it out or re-silicone it when you re-silicone the bottom panel.

 

[SWSaltwater]

The evolution of any tank into a Dart frog tank is complete

 

[aquaph8]

little dirt
maybe some plants
robs dart frog
a whole new begining
and recycling is good for the planet
everybody wins ha ha

 

[Garage1217]

Was a pleasure meeting you! The tank is fantastic!

 

[Garage1217]

Phase 1 of an unknown qty of phases complete
- Removed the back wall
- Located the location / reason for the leak
- removed all of the black backing from the tank & starting to remove
the adhesive.

 

[Tanque Verde]

Garage, It was great to meet you. I only wish you could have stuck around longer, but it was enough that you drove all this way. I look forward to following your progress on this tank.

- Located the location / reason for the leak

Please do tell. I don't want to repeat the same tragedy on my next aquapod!

 

[Garage1217]

Well on the bottom left hand side seal were you pointed out were you spotted water, about a 1" section of black silicone was missing on the outside seal, like it had been picked off or pulled off. That and the wall has these plastic legs that are stuck into the internal silicone which weakens the internal seal. It visually looks like water was leaking past the bottom leg and back up through the area were the black silicone was missing.

Also to note, the whole bottom internal silicone job basically stinks on this tank. It is like they did not prep the glass properly and I could just roll the internal seam up by pushing it with my finger!!! I am going to cut that out, clean it, prep it & put a heavy bead of black silicone in it's place. Also re-fill the area on the outside with the external seal missing.

Another note, the back glass is not tempered per research with others drilling the tank. Taking out that back wall & wrap around black backing makes the tank seem many times larger now visually!

 

[Tanque Verde]

Thanks, that's very helpful. I've ordered a replacement AP and I will likely reinforce the silicone, internal and external, along the bottom panel.

 

[Garage1217]

Right on. Will take pics for you and show you what I do. Basically the outside seal is black silicone and the inside clear silicone. So I am going to cut away all of the clear silicone which is just a bead and replace it with a very heavy seam of the black to make sure it does not happen again.

 

[Tanque Verde]

Last question (for now). On a new tank, would adding a layer of silicone on top of the factory layer help ensure against leaks? Or would I need to remove the factory silicone and start from scratch? Thanks/

 

[Garage1217]

It can definitely not hurt anything!

 

[Garage1217]

Ok well an update
- I found that the seam rupture was actually around 6" long. Looks like they set the glass in the plastic base, and then just slaped silicone around the inside and outside of it and that is it! No wonder it leaked.
- Cut both the lid and base away from the tank. One funny thing, the lid and the base are both the same haha! The base has the same mounts for the hood that the lid does. Looks like they did this to save cash.
- since the seams were basically no good, I totally cut away all panels, so I have the base, curved glass section and back wall sitting being cleaned up. Going to try to assemble that in the next day or so.

Then on to the re-design process of the hardware It is going to be quite slick.

 

[BonesCJ]

in that kind of situation it would be tempting to get some glass cut and drilled for a new back and bottom and just put it together like a regular tank.

 

[Garage1217]

That is why I cut it apart The back glass is not tempered, so it will be drilled. The bottom is just fine, but has to be siliconed correctly & from what I can tell, correctly prepped.

 

[Tanque Verde]

I'm thrilled that you can make good use of this. I only hope my new AP holds up better than the last. I was tempted to go in a different direction, but Current-USA sells a cheap replacement tank.

Keep those updates coming.

 

[Garage1217]

Put the tank totally back together last night with black silicone. All I have left is to seal the lid in place. Turned out great! And I am 110% sure she is not going to leak again haha. Will post pics soon, just been swamped with projects.

 

[Akimbo]

Thats awesome! I cant wait to see the work!

 

[Garage1217]

Here are a couple of update pics. Man the AP24 looks a ton larger without the back chamber in place! And no, the chamber is not going back in

This photo is with the tank totally taken apart.

This photo is with the tank's bottom totally sealed back up. Just have to silicone the top back in place but have more cleaning to do.