Newbie here

[serendipity613]

Hey everyone... so happy i found this place! im pretty new to the whole aquarium thing. I've had simple boring 20 gallon tanks till now. You know with fake plants and all that. I just got a 50 gallon rimless tank from someone, hoping to make a real aquarium. My issue is, the silicone on the sides is sooo gross. I would rather not take off all the silicone, since its still nicely sealed... can i remove just the gross stuff, and then add more new stuff on top?

 

[Reefing102]

Welcome to RC!

Are you able to elaborate on what you mean by gross? Like is it just peeling? Is it stained? Just algae covered?

If it’s algae covered, giving it a soak in either a citric acid or vinegar bath with a light scrub after may help. If it’s stained, I wouldn’t worry about it. If it’s peeling? You should be able to trim the peeling stuff as long as it doesn’t affect the seam.

With that said, generally, removal of silicone is discouraged as it may cause issues later on requiring a re-seal

 

[serendipity613]

Welcome to RC!

Are you able to elaborate on what you mean by gross? Like is it just peeling? Is it stained? Just algae covered?

If it’s algae covered, giving it a soak in either a citric acid or vinegar bath with a light scrub after may help. If it’s stained, I wouldn’t worry about it. If it’s peeling? You should be able to trim the peeling stuff as long as it doesn’t affect the seam.

With that said, generally, removal of silicone is discouraged as it may cause issues later on requiring a re-seal

Thank you for the reply... its stained by algae. Tried vinegar and scrubbing, but its stuck under the silicone thats loose. So i was wondering if i could cut away the silicone thats come loose. Like will it cause a problem? Should i add some extra silicone to make sure its ok?

 

[kharmaguru]

Thank you for the reply... its stained by algae. Tried vinegar and scrubbing, but its stuck under the silicone thats loose. So i was wondering if i could cut away the silicone thats come loose. Like will it cause a problem? Should i add some extra silicone to make sure its ok?

If it's loose, it's not doing anything. Are we talking trimming the edges or full removal of parts of the inner seal? Can you post a picture? Silicone will not stick to silicone so adding it won't help unless you completely remove the old stuff right to the glass spotless.

 

[kharmaguru]

@JohnL Did we always have a fresh water forum?

 

[JohnL]

@JohnL Did we always have a fresh water forum?

It was added recently

 

[serendipity613]

If it's loose, it's not doing anything. Are we talking trimming the edges or full removal of parts of the inner seal? Can you post a picture? Silicone will not stick to silicone so adding it won't help unless you completely remove the old stuff right to the glass spotless.

I was talking about trimming the edges... i will try again to clean it, otherwise i guess ill just leave it. Thanx for answering me

 

[kharmaguru]

I was talking about trimming the edges... i will try again to clean it, otherwise i guess ill just leave it. Thanx for answering me

Trimming should be fine if it's already loose.