Gap where silicone should be. How to reseal?

[HBL]

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My dad got this tank cheap on ebay. He planned to remove the wooden borders (which appeared to be for decoration rather than to support the structure) and add some lights to get it looking better. The tank is just over 4ft long, 2ft tall and 3ft front to back, with 10mm glass.

The tank was water tight to begin with. As he was removing one of the two vertical borders that you can see in this picture on the front, he ended up removing some of the silicone that was holding those two pieces of glass together - a strip about half an inch long.

He's planning on just plugging this gap with new silicone (without dismantling the tank) and hoping that that will make it water tight. Bearing in mind the size of the tank and the volume of water it will hold, I have a feeling it's not going to be that simple. Any advice?

 

[wildroseofky]

Do not remove the framing. In a tank that size it is most likely needed. If you removed it and there was a gap than the tank more than likely needs a complete reseal. I have resealed small tanks before. Just take a razor blade/utility knife and cut and scrape off all the old caulking. It is very important to remove it all because the new will not stick to the old. Than take some fingernail polish remover and clean all the seams. You need to get all the grease and stuff off. Let that dry. Reseal the seams with new caulking. You can smooth the seams out by wetting your finger and running it through the caulking to make sure it is completely in the seam. You probably should clean the trim and apply caulking to it and reattach it to the tank. If you want to make sure and not get the caulking spread out to much at the seams, use masking tape. Tape about a half inch from each corner. After the caulking dries some, peel off tape and you will have clean lines. Hope this helps.

 

[tonedogz]

Just an added note make sure you use 100% silicone without any additives. you can use GE 1