My biggest tank yet. ( 90 gal)

[Fullmoonnight]

I'm sure that to many of you this isn't much but to me this thing is a monster! I got it second hand and so it needs a lot of work ( I totally got ripped off. I shouldn't have bought it My parents keep tsking at me) I'm thinking that next time I move, I'm going to try trading it off for a nice 70g that isn't so scratched. Until then, I'm going to make this thing so nice that no one will pay attention to the scratches.

Firstly, I need to reseal the tank because the silicone was filled with crud between the glass and it's self. It's just dingy in general. It's still a pain to remove it all but I'm almost done. I have 100% silicone to reseal it, do you think it will be okay to use for a tank this size? I haven't taken the stuctural silicone off just the ones in the inside of the tank.

 

[Sambo7475]

It's a monster to me too, my biggest so far is a 55 gallon. Most my wife will allow me to have--it must fit in "this" space
Anyway, to your question, the silicone, as long as it is 100% silicone (no additives whatsoever) should be fine to reseal your tank. To be safe, I never use anything that doesn't say "aquarium safe" on it. GE Silicone I (not II) is good to use in my experience

 

[Fullmoonnight]

It's a monster to me too, my biggest so far is a 55 gallon. Most my wife will allow me to have--it must fit in "this" space
Anyway, to your question, the silicone, as long as it is 100% silicone (no additives whatsoever) should be fine to reseal your tank. To be safe, I never use anything that doesn't say "aquarium safe" on it. GE Silicone I (not II) is good to use in my experience

LOL I had that problem too...so I stacked my tanks vertically XD
I suddenly have this thing for big tanks. I think it's because it allows me more stocking choices and decoration options.
That's good than. My cousin was having a fit and then claimed that this silicone won't hold and that it had to be aquarium silicone. Which I know is almost the exact same thing at a higher price. So I wanted to make sure anyways.

 

[Fullmoonnight]

I'm having trouble getting all the silicone off...Does anyone know of any good ways to get it off aside from a razor? I can barely reach the bottom of the tank but all the silicone that's stuck on is still stuck there

 

[Mlani]

Alcohol (rubbing or isopropyl) worked for me and it evaporates fast so no residue.

 

[Angel_fish]

Any thoughts yet on what you wanna do with this whooper tank?

 

[Fullmoonnight]

Alcohol (rubbing or isopropyl) worked for me and it evaporates fast so no residue.

I tried...didn't work for me I've opted to just climb into the tank with a razor now. For once..being tiny has it's benefits.

Any thoughts yet on what you wanna do with this whooper tank?

It's going to be a goldfish tank. I'm always looking to upgrade for my goldfish because they need such insane space. I'm going to use lots of tall plastic plants and if I have time I might do a 3d background. I'm happy I get to decorate a tank since I've been overstocked for as long as I can remember so I always keep everything bare so I can clean it. It's going to be so nice being able to decorate again.


My Mom keeps screaming bloody murder at me every time I work on this tank. "You'll cut yourself with that razor!"
"All the blood will rush to your head and you'll pop a blood vessel!"
"You'll fall off that ladder! "
"Those fumes will kill you!"
I'm going to climb into it tomorrow I'm sure she'll find some other thing to scream about.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Haha too funny. My parents think my 25 gal is too big. Wait till I get a 40 or 55

 

[Angel_fish]

Yay decor is the best part. Your goldfish will be so happy

 

[Fullmoonnight]

Haha too funny. My parents think my 25 gal is too big. Wait till I get a 40 or 55

Haha at this point a 25 gal seems so small too me XD I remember when my parents were harping on my 20g Now they wish I only had that 20g again! ( I have 3 40g's stacked on top of each other. 2 20gals 2 10 gals and various other small tanks. When you have this much your parents will wish you only had the one 25 )

Yay decor is the best part. Your goldfish will be so happy

I might actually be happier than the fish! XD After this silicone part though...this part is just not fun at all. I like the feeling when the blade actually gets the stuff off but the rest of the time it's just me hanging upside down into a glass coffin with a sharp object fiddling around with left over filthy silicone

 

[Angel_fish]

How are you making it? Lol theres much easier ways. Lol like measuring tank and building it in sections.

 

[severum mama]

Resealing a tank is different than building a tank. OP is going about this the right way. Removing the old silicone is definitely the toughest part IME. Just razor it off and use rubbing alcohol to give the seams a good cleaning when you're done.

Aquarium silicone is the same thing as regular silicone, just overpriced. Just make sure whatever you have purchased doesn't have any mold inhibitors or anything like that (it will tell you on the packaging).

The biggest tank I've resealed is a 75 gallon. I can imagine that the extra height on the 90 would make for a tough job, and I'm 5'8"! Good luck with the reseal and don't forget to leak test after the silicone cures.

 

[Fullmoonnight]

How are you making it? Lol theres much easier ways. Lol like measuring tank and building it in sections.

I'm just resealing. I doubt I could actually lift these panes of glass XD

Resealing a tank is different than building a tank. OP is going about this the right way. Removing the old silicone is definitely the toughest part IME. Just razor it off and use rubbing alcohol to give the seams a good cleaning when you're done.

Aquarium silicone is the same thing as regular silicone, just overpriced. Just make sure whatever you have purchased doesn't have any mold inhibitors or anything like that (it will tell you on the packaging).

The biggest tank I've resealed is a 75 gallon. I can imagine that the extra height on the 90 would make for a tough job, and I'm 5'8"! Good luck with the reseal and don't forget to leak test after the silicone cures.

I truly can't wait till I get this part done. I climbed in there and got off as much as I could but I can't tell if any is actually left because my fingers feel dead. I'll have to vaccum the silicon bits out and feel for anything tomorrow. I hope the rubbing alcohol works a little better this time than last....last time it did nothing.

I'm using ge 1 100% silicone for this. My cousin just doesn't want me to ever fill this tank so he's making up excuses about the silicone. I was pretty surprised when I realized that I actually got the right silicone on the first try XD

It's pretty brutal. I'm only 4'11. I climbed in the tank, lay down and pretended I was a mermaid XD I'm so mature. Thanks. I hope all goes well or I'll cry....and then get yelled at by everyone if it leaks.

 

[Fullmoonnight]

I finally have a guess on what used to live in this tank. Most likely a turtle. It would explain the erratic scratches and the glue marks on the side that are shaped like a ramp. It would also explain what was caught in the silicone... very old looking shell pieces or scales of some sort. The silicone also originally looked kinda clawed away but not entirely ripped off, a turtle could have done that. I feel like I solved a mystery...but it's irrelevant lol XD

My Mom also found something to scream at me about XD
"The tank is so dirty and now your lying in it and your gonna get sick! Who knows what used to live in there!"

 

[severum mama]

Pfft, you're not going to get sick. Whatever was in there is dried out and long gone.

At 4'11", I can imagine this is a tough job to say the least. A shop vac works well for getting the little bits of silicone out. Tip: when you think you're done scraping it, you're probably not. Vac it out and do it again. It sucks, I know, but better than having to do all this a second time if you leak test and it fails.

 

[Bwiz123]

Ya I'm having a huge issue to reselling my 150 gallon that silicone residue sucks to get off , I hear acetone but that's oil base and u def don't want to use that, Alchol didn't work for me and neither did nail polish remover, I'm kinda skunked to ATM and my 10 fish r gona die before I figure this out hope u keep at it and get it situated , if u find a good remover let me know ASAP

 

[Mlani]

It takes time, diligence and patience. I had an 80 gal I resealed and the most time consuming part was cleaning the old silicone off. Trust me you don't want to "short cut" it. Take breaks if you need them but make sure the old stuff is ALL gone. Think of it like a bandaid when you try to put one on when your skin is wet it doesn't stick. If you silicone the seals and you still have old stuff on there you WON'T get a tight seal. There fore you have significantly increased your chance of a leaky tank and will have to do it ALL over again. I know it sucks and the blood rushes to your head and your arms feel like they'll fall off but it'll be worth it in the long run!

 

[severum mama]

Yes, I agree. I wanted to reiterate that the rubbing alcohol isn't for getting silicone off of glass, it is for cleaning up the glass AFTER you have removed all the silicone you can possibly remove.

 

[Bwiz123]

Well I'm almost done scraping residue off, I suggest getting about twenty new razor blades change often , and a led flashlight really brings out the silicone residue, keep at it it's tough I'm on my 2nd hour At this

 

[severum mama]

Just thought of this... one of those camping headlamps would be sweeeeet for a resealing project!