Last night my fish tank (13g) started leaking. I emptied the water into some buckets and put the fish into a seperate tank. After closer ispection the back pane of glass had bugger all silicone on it im hoping somebody will know what to do. It is also about 15 years old. do I put another layer of silicone around it.
Leaky fish tank
- Thread starter Jobin
- Start date
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toddnbecka
Aquarium Advice Addict
For such a small tank, I'd recommend replacing it with a new one. Resealing it may work, but water damage is probably more costly than a new tank if the reseal doesn't hold.
BillD
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have lots of resealed tanks but I remove all the old silicone inside the tank, and replace with new. It is a bit of a job, but not difficult. As far as age goes, I am still using the first tank I ever built, in the mid sixties, which makes it about 40 tears old. Keep in mind that occasionally, new tanks leak, too.
Zagz
Aquarium Advice Addict
You certainly can reseal it as BillD suggested, but you can also get a new tank. I'd get the new tank and reseal the old one. 
Of course I suffer from MTS severely.
Of course I suffer from MTS severely.BillD
Aquarium Advice Addict
Haha, good point Zagz. My collection has grown from acquiring leakers. I have 4 "new" ones (including a 90) to fix right now, plus an old one I bought in '73.
greenmaji
Aquarium Advice Addict
LOL.. bill and zagz have the they are the autority figure problem when it comes to their MTS
Resealing it really isnt that hard.. and my sucess rate has been very good.
Resealing it really isnt that hard.. and my sucess rate has been very good.
Wizzard~Of~Ozz
Aquarium Advice Addict
What you need:
1 razor blade
1 tube of 100% silicone (no Algicides, so stay away from tub/tile or kitchen&bath) GE makes one, I believe SiliconI.
Press the razor against the glass, then slide it into the corner, repeat all the way down on every surface (including the bottom & front.
You should be able to pull off all the old silicone (don't worry, the tank will still be held together)
Then usign the new silicon apply a bead to each corner (you can wet your finger to smooth it into each corner). once that's done and you have fresh silicone in each corner, take the razor blade and remove any "extra" (Siliconing is an art, there will always be some that isn't in the corner).. allow this to cure for 24 hours.
It may be tempting to just fix the corner that was leaking, but doing that will only lead to another corner failing..
1 razor blade
1 tube of 100% silicone (no Algicides, so stay away from tub/tile or kitchen&bath) GE makes one, I believe SiliconI.
Press the razor against the glass, then slide it into the corner, repeat all the way down on every surface (including the bottom & front.
You should be able to pull off all the old silicone (don't worry, the tank will still be held together)
Then usign the new silicon apply a bead to each corner (you can wet your finger to smooth it into each corner). once that's done and you have fresh silicone in each corner, take the razor blade and remove any "extra" (Siliconing is an art, there will always be some that isn't in the corner).. allow this to cure for 24 hours.
It may be tempting to just fix the corner that was leaking, but doing that will only lead to another corner failing..
greenmaji
Aquarium Advice Addict
GE and DAP make it.. silicone type 1 is GE's.. DAP says 100% silicone (if you read the back lable if it has "*icides" in it they will be listed, and that will tell you to avoid it)
BillD
Aquarium Advice Addict
Add a couple of tips. When your sure you have gotten all the old silicone off, take a new razor blade and carefully go over it again. You will be surprised what is still on there. New silicone doesn't stick well to old, so it is important to get it all off. I also like to go slightly beyond the edges of the old bead to ensure the silicone makes contact with virgin glass. Wash down with alchohol or acetone to get the glass clean and remove any skin oils. If you want a really neat job, you can use masking tape to gve you nice clean lines. The masking tape must be removed as soon as the silicone has been smoothed. Like anything else, the more you do, the better you get at it. I just stripped 3 22gals, and started stripping a 90, last night. I will silicone all of them at the same time. I have found that it is difficult to keep a tube fresh once it has been opened, so for any big project, I start with a fresh tube. Fortuneatly, it is inexpensive. It is a bit tedious, but an otherwise easy job. If you mess up, you can strip it out and do it again.
