old tank questions

dzeadow

Premium Member
So i recently came across a 90g tank from an LFS that was custom made. it's 48x24x18t with starphire front on it. I'm not sure exactly how old the tank is but I know its probably 4-5yrs if not a touch older. The silicone where glass touches glass (so to speak since it doesn't actually touch) looks fine w/ no bubbles. The silicone that's exposed looks a little iffy and not very "pretty."

Question 1: Can i just scrape the exposed stuff out and put a new bead in the corners w/o having to take the whole thing apart and redo all the silicone?

Question 2: In the back upper right corner there's 3 holes drilled, 2 that are for 2" bulk heads and 1 that's for a 3/4" bulk head (I believe) basically making a mickey mouse head with huge ears lol. I'd like to just cover these with 1/4" glass and drill one 1 1/2" bulk head and maybe a 3/4" or 1/2" for a return of some sort. That 1/4" glass should be fine right? TIA
 
Now where talking, I thought I was the only one with a tank that size. You can scrape the old silicone out of the corners but make sure you do them all sides and bottom, and it has to be done all in one shot. I've done this many times with older tanks with no problems, I have also taken the whole tank apart and re-done it, but its a whole lot of unneeded work.

You can cover over the holes up top with no problems either, and just redrill, Can you not just use the holes that are there?

Paul
 
Thanks a lot Paul, exactly what I needed to know! As for the holes, I wanted to put the tank as close to the wall as possible and having 2" bulkheads then a street elbow really pushes it further away than I wanted. So I was just going to go straight through the stand and make it easier and nicer. The cool thing about this tank is that the 2 front and back euro braces have holes drilled in them for CL returns.. just need to find an adequate pump to run the 3 lines off of.
 
is there an easy way to remove this stuff? lol... I tried soaking it in denatured alcohol a little and using a razor blade, seems like it's going to take forver, especially that last little itty bit of residue that doesn't want to let go... i'm sure the new stuff won't hold to that
 
Get a pile of brand new razors and get as much as you can off, the more you get off the better it will seal, just put a nice bead along the edges, wet your finger and run it along to get that triangle finish, make sure you do it all in one shot, you have to be quick and take your time, if that makes any sence LOL, I wish I lived closer we could have that baby sealed up this afternoon. good luck

Paul
 
with a little help from dad and about 40 razor blades we got it clean and done, making sure that i got all the haze off even. Resealed and now waiting for it to dry! Thanks for the help Paul. Now it'll be a slow build process to get this thing full of water. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with those holes and not waste too much real estate with the overflow box. The bracing is about 3.5" wide so to get any plumbing in there I'd have to make the overflow about 6" wide, and to cover the holes it's going to have to be 12" across. Not sure how to do that one, but i have time to figure it out.
 
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