Resealing a 30 gallon - questions

[SpAceGiRl94]

Hello all,

So I recently got a free 30 gallon from a friend, I knew it had a leak when i got it so i went ahead and prepared for resealing (silicone 1, razor, painter's tape, etc). However, I've never resealed a tank before. As I have been removing the silicone, I've noticed that there is a lot of silicone compiled in the upper corners that my razor can't reach and there also seems to be some on the outside of the tank on the seams also. Do I just try to remove the majority of the silicone? I know the old and new won't mix very well (I've been researching). And is the external silicone important to the integrity of the tank? I can take pictures and post them if any clarification is needed.

If it's advised that I shouldn't try to reseal it then that's fine, petsmart actually seems to be having a sale in my area and a 29 gallon tank with a lid, heater, and filter is apparently only $65 (a massive sale from originally $129). So I'm already eyeballing just getting a 29 gallon and using the free 30 gallon as a enclosure for other creatures in the future (unfortunately my apartment complex doesn't allow reptiles otherwise I'd get a small snake or turtle, but they never said anything about amphibians or invertebrates! Muhahaha). Any suggestions for what to do?

Also, side note - if anyone is wondering the goldfish that I owned is now in my parent's goldfish pond and is very happy with his new friends (he's actually almost doubled in size since being transferred).

 

[Brookster123]

You can get a brand new one for $30 at the big box stores during $/gal sale. Unless you're confident in your skills. Basically would have to break the thing down into panels to do it correctly.

 

[goatnad]

Hello all,

So I recently got a free 30 gallon from a friend, I knew it had a leak when i got it so i went ahead and prepared for resealing (silicone 1, razor, painter's tape, etc). However, I've never resealed a tank before. As I have been removing the silicone, I've noticed that there is a lot of silicone compiled in the upper corners that my razor can't reach and there also seems to be some on the outside of the tank on the seams also. Do I just try to remove the majority of the silicone? I know the old and new won't mix very well (I've been researching). And is the external silicone important to the integrity of the tank? I can take pictures and post them if any clarification is needed.

If it's advised that I shouldn't try to reseal it then that's fine, petsmart actually seems to be having a sale in my area and a 29 gallon tank with a lid, heater, and filter is apparently only $65 (a massive sale from originally $129). So I'm already eyeballing just getting a 29 gallon and using the free 30 gallon as a enclosure for other creatures in the future (unfortunately my apartment complex doesn't allow reptiles otherwise I'd get a small snake or turtle, but they never said anything about amphibians or invertebrates! Muhahaha). Any suggestions for what to do?

Also, side note - if anyone is wondering the goldfish that I owned is now in my parent's goldfish pond and is very happy with his new friends (he's actually almost doubled in size since being transferred).

for the amount of work that is going to go into this i would say just go buy a new tank. if you are wanting to go ahead with the fix(as i would since i love diy/repair of anything) then i would say pull the frame off the top also and get every bit of silicon of you can so you get a nice clean and proper repair. this can be a pain though and time consuming. now if its just a little silicon in the corners or very top near the frame then you should be fine just laying in your new silicon over the old. it's so high up on the tank and wont have much water on it anyways so it should be safe and not leak. as for the silicon on the outside, it was probably there just as a secondary seal. none of my tanks have it on the outside. i don't believe its there for any structural support. probably just there for incase they missed a pinhole spot on the inside.

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Okay. Yeah, I'm not too confident in my abilities, at least not doing it quickly or well the first time. The reason why quickly - I discovered that my local Walmart is phasing out their fish section and they have a bunch of gold barbs left, so I'm just going to buy a 30 gallon and go and rescue them. Poor guys looked so sad in their dirty little tank (and I know the store probably won't bother shipping them to another location - they'll probably just let them die). So I'll probably run out tonight and buy the tank and then I'll go tomorrow to Walmart to get the fish. I have a filter and gravel already cycled, so they should be fine going in. Although even if it's not then it'll be better for them than wasting away in a gross tank at Walmart... everyone agree with this assessment?

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Also - it is a massive blob of silicon on each corner. It honestly looks like the tank was resealed before, it doesnt look professional/factory done.

I'm still going to reseal the 30 gallon - my son has expressed an interest in fiddler crabs so I may set it up as a massive crab habitat. Which would work since the water wouldn't reach up to the blobs since the fiddler crabs are not fully aquatic and need some land.

 

[goatnad]

Okay. Yeah, I'm not too confident in my abilities, at least not doing it quickly or well the first time. The reason why quickly - I discovered that my local Walmart is phasing out their fish section and they have a bunch of gold barbs left, so I'm just going to buy a 30 gallon and go and rescue them. Poor guys looked so sad in their dirty little tank (and I know the store probably won't bother shipping them to another location - they'll probably just let them die). So I'll probably run out tonight and buy the tank and then I'll go tomorrow to Walmart to get the fish. I have a filter and gravel already cycled, so they should be fine going in. Although even if it's not then it'll be better for them than wasting away in a gross tank at Walmart... everyone agree with this assessment?

Sounds good to me as long as you aren't going to try and buy an insane amount of them. Somewhere around 20 of them should be fine I would think. I'm surprised there are still walmarts selling fish. All 3 of ours stopped selling them 15 years ago.

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Yeah, I only saw like 5 of them so they should be completely fine in a 29 gallon. I have the tank now and its completely set up, my old filter is going on it. And tomorrow I'll go back and pick them up. Make sure the tank is cycled and then I'll see about making it a barb community, add some cory cats also (including my one that is in my platy tank).

 

[King Fisher]

Sounds good to me as long as you aren't going to try and buy an insane amount of them. Somewhere around 20 of them should be fine I would think. I'm surprised there are still walmarts selling fish. All 3 of ours stopped selling them 15 years ago.

Still selling them in my area too

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Huh. Well it seems like our Walmarts are a bit late to the not stocking fish party LoL. Anyway, I'm headed out to rescue them, I'll post pictures after I get them in the tank.

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Welp, Walmart had 5 gold barbs left and also a tiger barb. No cory catfish. Picture included.

And yes, I'll be adding probably another gold barb and at least 6 more tiger barbs once I ensure this tank is definitely cycled. I went ahead and threw a sponge filter in there for good measure, I had it going in my quarantine tank and since no fish in there I figured that the extra filtration would help these guys adjust.