Help on replacing back of 225g

Onsted83

New member
Ok so Its been said I shouldnt patch my tank. So next thing is to replace the sheet of glass. I can get a 1/2" tempered 72x30 for under$350. Beats the $2000 to replace the tank. Ive done a small tank. Any tricks to a MUCH bigger tank?
 
I honestly think if you want the tank repaired, have it done by someone who has experience and has the extra set of hands to repair it (lifting the glass into place has to be done quickly). Otherwise find a good used tank off CL.
The biggest thing to consider, if a ten gallon fails because you mess up, you can fix the problem with a shop vac and towels. 225 gallons on your floor can wind up costing you more than a brand new tank
 
If you are going to attempt it yourself, you need to disassemble the entire tank. All panels need to be separated. You can't just stick the back on and call it good, gotta redo all the silicone. Honestly you're saving $2k and risking $20k+. Not worth it
 
+1 for new tank. Just replacing the back panel will not seal correctly. New silicon doesn't stick to already cured silicon. It should seal fine everywhere except at the corners, which is no good.
 
You ever see what one gallon looks like when it spills...looks like u would need a small ark...can you imagine 225? That's like a biblical flood? No way would I risk...get another!
 
10 and 225 are two very different animals. less than a hundred LB's of water vs. close to 2K Lb's of water. i'm all for DIY but some things are best left to the pros.

personally I wouldn't sleep at night knowing I have a water bomb sitting in my house.
 
You can pick up a 240 from Glass Cages for $919. I wouldn't risk the flood for a $600 difference in price.
 
You can actually just add the new glass but you need to remove all the silicone off the panels that join with new glass and trust me I've done it before. It's not my preferred method, to be honest, and I don't recommend it, to be honest.

The problem with doing one panel only is if there is any other movement to the other panels it could damage the silicone on the other panels. So all that work could be for nothing.

If you are going that far it would be silly not to redo the whole tank IMHO. If all you ever have done is a 10-gallon tank then walk away now with a tank this size. Remember you'll have to take the trim off and if you don't know what you're doing you will ruin the trim and need new trim pieces.

Resealing a tank is lots of tedious prep work. Lots of razor blades and lots of scraping and cleaning off silicone over and over. Even the slightest bit of old silicone could cause it to fail in the future.

Since it's been sitting for a while there really is no need to rush. If you have Facebook you could try joining some Aquarium For Sale groups and get a used tank for fairly cheap.
 
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