Bubbles in seam of glass on 125g ?? Should i be worried "pics isnide"

[candymancan]

I purchased a 34 year old 125g tank from a older mids 60's gentleman who had it for 32 years bought it new. He said he had it running for 20-25 years so the tank has been sitting in a climate controlled basement for 10 years. It came with a angle iron stand.

I sanded and painted the stand a flat black rust reformer to remove the rust. And the tank i spent 7-8 hours straight scraping with razor blades to remove what silicone it had left. The sides/corners barely had any silicone at all like a tiny little thin strip was left that kinda shocked me lol. The bottom however was thick !! It was in good shape too but i took it off anyway because silicone doesnt stick to silicone. After getting it all over and going over it 2-3 times i used rubbing alcohol and cleaned every corner and the bottom really good. I then masked the the corners off and went to town with the silicone.. I used 3 10oz tubes of aqueon silicone and smoothed it all out with a a old plastic gift card i cut a corner off. Pealed the tape off and i let it dry for 4 days. Exactly 96 hours until the silicone was hard and not mushy inside. I put alot of silicone on too about 1/2 inch thick, which btw is as thick as the glass on this 125 it has no center brace being an old 1/2 inch thick tank.


Anyway, i looked at the seams with a flash light and i sware they looked great and had no bubbles in them.. maybe a few minor ones here and there but i sware i never saw this.

Its been filled up for 2 days now and as i was on my computer i looked to my left at the tank (which is only like 12 inches away from me) and i noticed the seam had like hundreds of little bubbles in it.. I panicked and checked the other 3 seams (one i cant seem because its in a corner of a wall) and they all have this as well. Here are pictures.

Should I be worried ? Or should I just keep an eye on it. I sware when i was doing the silicone seals i never saw this i looked and looked and they werent there.. but now that its filled they showed up. Is it possible they always were there but with no water pressure they were kinda hidden. and now with the pressure they show up ?

 

[teddyzaper]

A tank that old should be resealed even without bubbles in the seams.

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[candymancan]

EDIT: i just contacted the original owner and asked in his 32 years owning it if he ever saw these.. and he said he almost certain he saw them and wondered what they were, but never got around to looking it up,

So i guess the tank might have had these already ?

 

[candymancan]

A tank that old should be resealed even without bubbles in the seams.

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Tank was re-sealed by me.. i just didnt physically take the glass panes apart and redo the silicone on the seams

 

[teddyzaper]

Tank was re-sealed by me.. i just didnt physically take the glass panes apart and redo the silicone on the seams

Then how did you reseal it? Taking the glass apart and putting new silicone on the seams is what resealing is

 

[candymancan]

Then how did you reseal it? Taking the glass apart and putting new silicone on the seams is what resealing is

No re "SEALING" is the outer secondary seal.. The glass seams arent a seal, but hold the glass together. There is a difference

 

[ericarenee]

I have a 90 gallon tank i bought new that looks just like that... the actually strength in the seal is not between the glass panels its the corners inside the tank.There are a few in my 240 as well. I would not be concerned if it were me...

Others will Freak out i am sure..pure silicon is good for maybe forever its a very NON ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY product

 

[candymancan]

thanks, the previous owner contacted me back(the guy who had it for 32 years) he said hes almost positive he saw those too and wondered what they were..

Btw what do you mean the tanks corners are the strength ?

 

[jrhupp]

I had a manufacture refund the full the cost of a comparably sized tank because of bubbles like this. That is the structural part of the seam and every air bubble represents a part of the seam that is no longer holding the two panels together. If it were me, I would drain and replace before it drains itself.

 

[DeepSeaReefer94]

I have a 55 gallon tank that the trim broke on (still haven't fixed it just wraped some camo duck tape around it to hold the trim on the tank) and one of the bottom corners broke off completely. I just siliconed it back in place and I still use it to this day. Also the seams have bubbles just like your pics. I would say your fine using it just the way it is. If it was a 400 gallon or bigger tank I might worry a little but even then I probably wouldn't take the tank down just for that reason alone.

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[DeepSeaReefer94]

I have a 55 gallon tank that the trim broke on (still haven't fixed it just wraped some camo duck tape around it to hold the trim on the tank) and one of the bottom corners broke off completely. I just siliconed it back in place and I still use it to this day. Also the seams have bubbles just like your pics. I would say your fine using it just the way it is. If it was a 400 gallon or bigger tank I might worry a little but even then I probably wouldn't take the tank down just for that reason alone.

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Also the tank is probably 25 or more years old and has never been resealed.

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[Synden]

Bubbles like those are pretty normal in glass tanks. Silicon is not as fluid as acrylic solvents so it is very difficult to eliminate bubbles, and bubbles dont affect the seal the same way as acrylic tanks.
The silicon that is in between each panel is just for holding the glass panels together and it does not affect the seal. The seal comes from the next layer of silicon that is on the inside of the tank. If the inside silicon layer has been re-done recently then you are good to go and shouldn't be concerned about the bubbles