New Tank Leak

[vtxrobert]

Started setting tank up today put the sand which had a small amount of water inside 5 gallon container. Needless to say once a 1/2" of water was in base of tank it begin to leak at front bottom seam. This is a 1/2" thick glass tank custom tank odd dimensions with a beautiful stand and canopy. I assume I need to remove old silicone and re-seal.

Anybody recommend someone to do or help or do this. Glass cages wants 1000.00 bucks for this size tank Ughhh

Any help is appreciated

Rob

 

[risin]

How big is the tank? Keep in mind the cost of the tank blowing after it is stocked is far more than the repair or even a new tank all together....

Personally, I wouldn't be able to sleep if the integrity of the tank were questionable.

 

[vtxrobert]

Agree it is 100 gallon

 

[snake1]

Isn't glass cages the company that has so many failed tanks?

 

[vtxrobert]

I would rather repair anyone have silicone skills

 

[rfalvey89]

IMO Glasscages is not worth the risk. cut losses and get something else.
I had one of their tanks years ago. NEVER again

 

[Bogue Chitto]

Does this tank have a rim around it for support? It would help if it did. You can cut old silicone away from the seams and reseal with more as long as the glass is still bonded together other than the small leak. I have repaired several through the years like this. Just let it sit a while if you do repair it and make sure the repair holds.

 

[vtxrobert]

Has a rim for support haven't pinpointed the leak but is definitely at the base where front panel meets bottom

 

[Specfishin]

I personally resealed my 75 myself "just because". I got the right silicone and spent 4 hours on/off with some brews. Bought a scraper from home depot for silicone in corners and tons of razors and i think had alcohol laying around. Long story short I felt good after I took my time and over thoroughly cleaned and resealed the tank. I let it sit full for a week "just because". Drained and moved, filled it in house. Have faith in yourself or buy a new one. �� just my opinion though. Good luck and remember to take lots of time.

 

[vtxrobert]

I personally resealed my 75 myself "just because". I got the right silicone and spent 4 hours on/off with some brews. Bought a scraper from home depot for silicone in corners and tons of razors and i think had alcohol laying around. Long story short I felt good after I took my time and over thoroughly cleaned and resealed the tank. I let it sit full for a week "just because". Drained and moved, filled it in house. Have faith in yourself or buy a new one. í*½í¸Š just my opinion though. Good luck and remember to take lots of time.

Did the remove the pane of glass in its entirety or just interior seal? Thanks in advance

 

[Specfishin]

Just interior seal in its entirety. If I found my tank had a leak like yours I would look into repairs similar to yours or at least see where its leaking from. Might be worth re-doing the pane if buying a new tank is to costly. I'd wait for some war stories from others here first before I'd do anything. Best to you!

 

[CuzzA]

It's all about your risk tolerance. When a tank leaks the structural seam has been compromised. Re-sealing the inner silicone does absolutely nothing for the structural integrity of holding back the pressure of X amount of gallons of water dying to escape. There are many anecdotal reports of inner silicone re-seal job working, but for how long no one knows as many of those threads are never updated.

Ultimately the only way to be sure is to break down the panes of glass and properly silicone them back together. The challenge with this is getting ALL of the old silicone off and NOT breaking the rim, which almost always happens and often times can't be replaced by a manufactuerer and so you'll have to look at alternatives.

I always say, "Pour a gallon of water on your floors and see what it looks like. Then imagine X gallons of funky saltwater on your floors." While this is a risk we all take it is maximized by using a tank that you know the structural integrity is compromised.

If it it were me I'd sell it as a reptile tank and look for another tank. If you want a custom tank I highly recommend customaquariums.com as they make a fantastic product and their prices trash every other tank building company out there.

 

[vtxrobert]

Well Mike has offered his services to help much appreciated crazy eyes you rock thanks for stepping up for a fellow reefer in need.

 

[CrazyEyes]

I'm doing my best, I still haven't heard from him. I still say we can atleast get the tank taken apart, clean the glass up. I know it sounds crazy but I have confidence in myself that you and I could rebuild it ourselves. Just don't skip the leak test.

 

[vtxrobert]

I'm doing my best, I still haven't heard from him. I still say we can atleast get the tank taken apart, clean the glass up. I know it sounds crazy but I have confidence in myself that you and I could rebuild it ourselves. Just don't skip the leak test.

Something we can check off our never done list lol thanks man

 

[CrazyEyes]

Worse case scenario, it leaks and we're back at square one.

 

[vtxrobert]

Exactly

 

[CrazyEyes]

I know I said this over text but I wanted to post it here, just incase anyone stumble onto this. Cuzza is 100% right, the interior seams job isn't really to seal the tank, it's simply to protect the seam between panes. Resealing the interior seam will probably stop the leak as it will make the tank water tight but, for how long. Best bet is to do it right while you have nothing in it instead of trying to figure out a game plan at 4am. Just a thought.

 

[vtxrobert]

I know I said this over text but I wanted to post it here, just incase anyone stumble onto this. Cuzza is 100% right, the interior seams job isn't really to seal the tank, it's simply to protect the seam between panes. Resealing the interior seam will probably stop the leak as it will make the tank water tight but, for how long. Best bet is to do it right while you have nothing in it instead of trying to figure out a game plan at 4am. Just a thought.

It will be fun and a challenge