New member have problem with seals in the tank

[nmowatt]

Hi there,

I have a RENA Aqualife panoramic 100 aquarium, My ex-boyfriend bought it about 5 years ago and I've kind of inherited it now. I was a complete novice before but I've been looking after it now for over 2 years and enjoy having the tank, its very beautiful. I keep tropical fish, rainbows, angels, flying foxes, mollies, silver shark etc.

Anyway recently the glass panels which go accross the tank have both come away and I was told that this could lead to the tank exploding with with water. so naturally I panicked. So far I have taken out 50% of the water to relieve the pressure and I've been advised that I can re-glue the two piece of glass in the tank with special aquarium adhesive which is not dangerous to the fish. Will this be enought to prevent it from leaking or do I need to do something else?

I have been given advise from one aquarium place saying that once it goe it will keep going so they advise to get a new tank. and I've had some other advice saying that it is repairable?

Does anyone have any further advise on what I should do, I would very much appreciate other peoples opinions who are more experienced then I.

Oh, one other thing i'm worried about is the movement in the tank has been about 2mm and I was wondering if it would of caused any damaged to the other seals around the tank?

 

[melosu58]

Moving this to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[jsoong]

No need to buy a new tank, you can easily reseal it. I have done it a couple times & once you get the hang of it it is pretty easy.

This is the general instruction:
http://aquariumadvice.com/forums/f20/resealing-tank-s-8320.html

A few tips:

If all that is loose are the cross braces, you can just redo those. make sure you remove all of the old silicone and all joints are clean & dry. I would do that with the tank empty. Water might push out the panes slightly & give you not quite as strong a bond.

If the rest of the seals are looking dry or loose, you might just take the opportunity to redo the entire tank. You don't have to take the panes apart (unless you have a real leak). just scrape off the inner seals (I use a sharp skew chisel) & redo those. To get neat joints on visible seams, I use masking tape. Mask out each of the seams and smooth each seam (with a latex gloved finger) to the tape. Remove the tape while the silicone is still wet, and you will get a neat straight seam.

If you are uncomfortable resealing your tank, you can have a pro do it. Look for custom tank builders. They do charge quite a bit, so it might not be cost effective.