Leak

[ashscott1709]

Hi there me and the wife have just invested in buying a second hand 4ft tank which i believe is fairly old have set the tank up andd left it for 3 days and only after the 3 days have my wife noticed there trickiling of water coming out the front bottom seam of the silicone its on like a small pin prick does anyone have any ideas what to do cause im stuck really ? Many thanx for any help

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

[jsoong]

The silicone is probably dried up & so you have a leak. It is fairly easy to reseal a tank. If you can do caulking around a bathtub, you can do a tank reseal.

Instructions here:
http://aquariumadvice.com/forums/f20...nk-s-8320.html

My additional tips:
1. clean out all the old silicone on the inside of the tank, redo all the seams. <If one is old & leaking, the others are going to be going soon, so may as well do all of them at once.> You do not have to take apart the outer seams (ie the part that is holding the tank together) unless there is a structural problem .... like loose pane of glass.
2. A sharp razor blade & skew chisel is what I use to remove the old seal.
3. Clean the area of all traces of old silicone, then wash with vinegar.
4. Use masking tape to lay out the seams so you have nice straight seams.
5. Apply a nice bead of silicone between the masking tapes, smooth with gloved finger (non-textured neoprene is best), remove masking tape while the silicone is still wet.
6. Wait at least 48 hrs - longer if your silicone instructions say so - before test filling.

[ashscott1709]

many thanx alll better now

[Da Squid]

This is probably too good to be true, but is there an easy way to visually tell if a tank should be resealed (before filling with water)? Signs to watch out for while browsing garage sales?

[jsoong]

The only sign I know that will indicate a failed seal is hard & brittle silicone (and missing chunks in the seal). But even if the silicone feels soft, there might still be a leak, so the only way to really tell is to fill it up with water.