DIY Tank Repair? (broken bottom glass)

[ItchyF1ng3rs]

Here a shot of the tank before.

My brother-in-law and I made that canopy. It had an Icecap 660 hanging on the back. It was painted because we just used scrap wood. I planned on making a better one and staining it to match the stand later.

Here is the culprit, he paid for his diggin' with his life

Ok....



I got the trim off fairly easy:

What would be the best way to remove the silicone and the bottom pane?

 

[super-duty]

A razor knive and a razor blade to scrape it and you should be good. Looked good before cant wait to see it up again.

 

[ItchyF1ng3rs]

Ah-ha!

Here's how it went...

1) I cut away the silicone as much as possible with razor knife on both inside and outside of the tank bottom. I laid the tank on its side to do this from the inside.

2) The bottom pieces that were small came off easy, I got most of them off when the trim came off. The two ends that were large did not want to budge.

3) I tried getting the razor knife to cut between the bottom and the sides but it wouldn't go. So I took one of those 1x2 stakes and pried 8-O on the bottom. I could see the silicone start to release by allowing bubbles under the glass. I just kept steady pressure... not too much though. Then I could start to hear the silicone give way. It was a slow process but keeping the steady pressure was the key.

Here is what I have now. This is a small chip in the front side:

And here is one in the back side opposite end:

And overall shot...

Gotta go fire up the pit.. BBQ time!

 

[ItchyF1ng3rs]

Is this the right silicone to use?

GE Silicone 1
MFG Part # : GE012A 12C

 

[super-duty]

Yes

 

[SparKy697]

Yep #1 is safe.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I just looked at GE I silicone at Home Depot and it specifically said not for use in aquariums. Is there more than 1 type of GE I?

Also, DAP makes one labeled aquarium safe, then on the back it says for tank 30g or less and less than 18" of water column. Are they just trying to CYA? All-glass brand says nothing about that, but the DAP is $4.34 for 3 oz and AG is 6-10 for 2.8 at fish stores.

Can't find the DAP in the caulk-gun tube, but plenty of GE I.

 

[Lepomis]

At 125 gallons I would want to remove all silicone from the panes of glass and start over. Are you planning on completely dissassembling the tank or just putting in the new bottom and running a bead of silicone around the bottom? For smaller tanks I have just used a sharp blade and cut the old silicone out the length of the vertical runs and siliconed in the bottom and then new bead up the the vertical corners of the glass panes. But these were always smaller tanks. I would be concerned with not "rebuilding" from the ground up (complete disassembly of all planes). Any place that that does not have fresh silicone to glass adhesion will be of question in my book. For the most part I don't think I have come across too many that will say silicone over old silicone is a good thing.

 

[BillD]

GE ilicone I does say not for aquariums, however, many thousands have used it. Be sure that it is for "windows and doors", not "kitchens and bathrooms". For a tank that size, I would look for GE 1200 series silicone. It is stronger than the I, but is only available through jobbers. You won't find it at HD. Still, lots have used the GEI for tanks of that size, without any problems.

 

[Etunes]

Learned alot from the forum already and wanting to learn more so i am tagging along. I hope it goes well for you.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

GE ilicone I does say not for aquariums, however, many thousands have used it. Be sure that it is for "windows and doors", not "kitchens and bathrooms". For a tank that size, I would look for GE 1200 series silicone. It is stronger than the I, but is only available through jobbers. You won't find it at HD. Still, lots have used the GEI for tanks of that size, without any problems.

Thank you for the explanation!

Interestingly, I went to Ace HW and they had GE I as well as DAP 100% silicone, and it said on the label that "once cured, approved for direct contact with food per FDA regulation blah blah blah" but didn't say Aquarium Safe either. I told him that I was told GE I is safe and asked what the difference is - he told me that it was precisely the same product, and that DAP probably spent the $$ to get it tested for FDA safety and GE didn't. So even though DAP makes a version they label as Aquarium safe, it sounds like whatever brand you buy as long as it doesn't have any anti-microbial additives or gizmos added, it should be safe.

I bought GE I because they were all the same price anyways. $6.99 for a 10 oz tube beats $10 for a 3 oz tube any day.

 

[BillD]

GE and DAP are not the exact same thing. They are both silicone, but the DAP product is manufactured by Dow. Both will work, and both have their fans. Regardless, it is important to get the product for windows and doors. Around here I have several house brands that say "ideal for aquariums" right on the package. That is all i have used for the last 15 or so years.

 

[ItchyF1ng3rs]

Ahhh... So I'm moved in to the new house. And I have the sump finished, here are some pics....


The white wooden box has 3/4 insulating foam in the bottom to support the brand new bottom glass. The glass company drilled 2 holes for my 2" bulkhead fittings.

This is water testing my silicone job of the partitions.

I just got it installed and level. Next to the plumbing...

This is about 1 month later I had almost finished the plumbing. I am also starting to fill the sump with ro/di. It was challenging to get all the designed right.

Close-up of the return/drain lines.

I will get some FTS later. Tank is not to pretty other than a few fish and 1 single GSP. No funds for that stuff yet. The display blew my budget up!

 

[Smitty]

What size is the sump? Can you explain how the sump is set up? It is where the water comes in on the left then into the two filter socks, into a skimmer section then what is the large area? Fuge? Live rock rubble? Then return? It doesn't look like there would be good flow through that large middle area...

I would really love extra photos of that intake section though. I like that design a lot.

 

[ItchyF1ng3rs]

Hey Smitty,

I'll try to answer as best I can


1) What size is the sump?
I modeled it after the Aqueon proflex design I wanted to be able to change the filter socks while the return pump was still flowing. So I didn't want anything above them.

This sump is made from the 125 gallon aquarium that broke on me many moons ago.

2) Can you explain how the sump is set up?

The water enters the left section through 2 - 1.5" drains. This section is about 3" wide and 17" tall. (I should have made this shorter to make the sump
quieter, because of the falling water sound through the socks).

There is a shelf here for the two 7" x 15" filter socks. I put a small 1.5" lip on the right side of this shelf to prevent the water from flowing over
the socks. This also allows for the sock to completely plug and flow over the lip to indicate they need to be cleaned.

As you can see here the close sock needs to be cleaned.

The socks flow directly into the skimmer section. It is 11" tall, that is why my skimmer sits on a 2" riser. AquaC EV-400 needs 9" or less of water, my mistake. You can see the 11" baffle directly under the grey gate valve.

The middle section is about 3 foot long and currently has some rubble rock and chaeto, with some new tank syndrome red slime. The water flow is great in this section.

The last section is about 1 foot long and just has the return pump screen in it. My return pump is a Reeflo Sequence 3600 gph.

 

[barterking85]

man alive what a set up you got that looks like alot of work to maintain?

 

[ItchyF1ng3rs]

yeah! I don't put in the time that I need to, with an 11 month old toddler, when I get home from work I'd rather play with her before she goes to sleep

 

[Smitty]

That does look good! Is that cut glass or plexy?

 

[needmorecowbell]

I really like your sump for some reason. It's nicely setup. I am trying to build this on a much, much smaller levels. Like 10 gallons :/

 

[amdninjaboy]

Thats a cool setup with the filter socks like that. Never would have thought of doing it that way.. Nice job on replacing the glass and the sump..

Shane.