Aquarium reseal - advice needed!

[Aquarium Girl]

I recently bought a 36x18x18 tank on EBay as an upgrade for my goldfish and discovered on closer inspection that the seal was compromised. The bead of silicone I removed was about the thickness of a piece of spaghetti and shoddy in parts.

Not wanting 200L of water in my lounge room, I decided to strip and reseal.

Unfortunately on my first attempt I removed the masking tape too late and ruined the whole job.

So after stripping it again (which was so much more time consuming argghhhhh!!!) I decided that this time I would only mask the vertical seams as the bottom would be covered with substrate and didn't need to be pretty.

I started with the bottom and I removed the tape immediately after I finished each vertical seam but the tape still lifted the edge very slightly despite pulling it off at an angle away from the seal and now as it's curing, the lifted edge has curled around.

Can anyone tell me if it would be safe to simply cut the lifted edge off with a razor blade?

It is a very hot Aussie summer hence the silicone forming a skin so quickly and I honestly don't think I could do a better job than I did, but I also don't want to be dealing with leaks down the track.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Anyone with experience in resealing tanks? I'm going to let it cure for a full 7 days and then leak test over 2 days.

I really need to know if very slight curling of the silicone should be razored off or would I just be compromising the seal more so by doing this?

 

[Wyomingite]

It's perfectly fine to trim the curled up edge with a razor blade as long as ya have a good seal (maybe 6-10 mm wide) without any bubbles or loose areas in the silicone.

BTW, that looks purty good. I usually allow 24 hours for the silicone to cure before addin' water and let it sit for 3-4 hours as a leak test.

WYite

 

[Aquarium Girl]

It's perfectly fine to trim the curled up edge with a razor blade as long as ya have a good seal (maybe 6-10 mm wide) without any bubbles or loose areas in the silicone.

BTW, that looks purty good. I usually allow 24 hours for the silicone to cure before addin' water and let it sit for 3-4 hours as a leak test.

WYite

Thanks WYite! I've decided to leave well enough alone. The vertical seams are pretty tidy and the bottom seams will be covered with substrate. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic

I'm armed with razor blades and acetone to clean up a few silicone slops, then give it a good clean with white vinegar and I think I'm going to fill it tonight (will be 72 hours of curing time in hot weather) and watch for leaks overnight.

All going well I will paint the back during the week and hopefully be ready to rock'n'roll!

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Well it's been filled for 14 hours and no leaks! Time to start washing sand and getting this baby ready. Filling it was nerve wracking, I'm so relieved!!!