Loose Silicone Seals

[tropicalfish]

Two years ago, after my dad finished the pond and moved the koi to the pond, HE BLEACHED THE TANK!!!
Well, I am very eager to get the tank started back up again for some tropical community, and I realized the silicone is very loose.
There are no more traces of bleach, but the silicone and "flappy" at the edges. I can poke it with my finger and it will go up at the edges.
The middle, however, is very firm.
Should I reseal this with aquarium silicone? Or is it good enough? If I reseal it, do I need to get rid of the existing silicone, or do I just put a new glob around all of it?

The tank was manufactured by All-Glass in 09/02/1991 M/d/y

 

[bs6749]

It all depends on the size of the tank and how your finances are. The sealant will be ~$5 (or more) for a tube. If your tank is a 20 gallon or less I would just buy a new one. If it is larger just ask yourself if it would be worth all of the work of resealing it. Plus, if you mess up and somehow the tank breaks with your fish in it, then you are out more money. It depends on how comfortable you feel about doing the project as well.

 

[pentiumburner]

This is a pretty good resource:

http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=107


The biggest thing to worry about is after you are done have the patience to sit the tank outside filled for a few days

 

[tropicalfish]

It is a 30 gallon.
EDIT:
Pentium burner, I will look at that link, thanks!

 

[jsoong]

It is not a big thing resealing the tank, assuming that the silicone holding the glass togather is intact. If you have done any clauking, it is the same process. Complete instructions is found in the DIY section in a sticky.
http://aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=8961

Just cut off all the old seals with a sharp razor blade (I used a a sharp skew chisel, worked even better), clean off every speck of silicone on the glass (new silicone don't stick well to old), wash with alcohol, mask off the seams with masking tape so you get a neat line, and put down & smooth the silicone. Remove the masking tape while the silicone is still wet, wait 2 days to cure, wash & leak test & you are done.

BTW - silicone from lfs is way over priced. For doing a small tank, it won't matter much. For a bigger tank, you should check your hardware store for 100% clear silicone (without additives). In Canada, we can find silicone at HD/Rona labeled for aquarium use at $3 a big tube. Apparently, the same silicones can be found in US, but without the aquarium safe label due to some marketing ploy.

 

[tropicalfish]

Okay I see...

Does it have to be masking tape? I can't find any in the house, but I want a straight line. does Black vinyl electrical tape work?

 

[bs6749]

It probably won't stick to the glass and it is too stretchy.

 

[tropicalfish]

well, it sticks to glass for me,...

 

[fish_4_all]

Good quality electical tape works fine. I have used in the past. The silcone to get here is GE silicone I. it is the stuff where the ONLY ingredient is VOC. Do not get anything else or you risk killing your fish. Resealing is easy and can be done fairly easy. Just make sure you don't make the same mistake I did, get the clear silicone and not the white.