# Tank repair - an odd problem.



## SKSuser (Mar 20, 2006)

I know that repairing tanks has been discussed frequently on this forum and others, but this is a little bit of a different problem. I thought I'd try to gather opinions on what to do.

I just bought a 55 gallon used aquarium. The guy said it had been used to keep an iguana, so I pretty much figured it'd take some work. I got it home, poped the black trim and looked at it. I noticed that one of the corner seams was slightly funky looking from the top corner all the way down about 3", and I could see throught the glass that the silicone kinda pulled away from the joint when I slightly pulled on the two pieces of glass. I also noticed that the silicone seam was wider than the other seams. I took it outside and filled it up, and sure enough it leaked.

I brought it back inside and started pulling the silicone out of the joint. Here's the part I didn't expect. The silicone I pulled out was wedge shaped. The bevel of the short side glass was not cut correctly. The outside has almost a 1/8" gap while the inside has about the regular amount of space.

I'm now kicking myself for not looking the tank over more closely, and I'm wondering what to do.
So far, I've come up with several options:

1. Squoook silicone into the seam, reseal the inside with an extra thick helping of silicone, and hope for the best. If I do this, do I want to replace the silicone all the way down that side, or just the area that has separated?
2. Square the bevel and reinstall it. My friend's dad does stained glass, so this would be a cheap solution, as I have access to the right equipment. However, I'd probably have to re-silicone half of the aquarium. Wouldn't I need to actually move the long piece of glass a little to fit tight to the side piece. I don't want to just flex it that 1/8" into place do I? This would then leave some problems with the bottom piece of glass sticking out past the side, but it'd be covered up by the trim.
3. Buy a new piece of glass, the right size and with correct bevels, and install it as if I were replacing a broken pane.
4. Do option 1, but instead of replacing the black trim, silicone wide strips along the ends of the tank similar to the bracing found in acrylic tanks. It would brace the side seams. This seems like an ok idea since the tank was pulling apart from top to bottom and the trim really does nothing but keep you from cutting yourself. I wanted to make a hood that extended down to covor the trim anyway, so if it was unsightly it wouldn't show.

While I'm at it, do I want to re-silicone the whole inside of the aquarium? Along that one edge, I've broken the silicone that forms an "L" inside the tank. Wet silicone doesn't seal to cured silicone so well, so if all I replace is the one edge, I'll make a weak spot in that bottom corner, right?
The way I see it, the silicone between the panes of glass holds them together. I'd leave that alone, except on the edge I've already worked on. Then the "L" shaped stuff inside actually does the sealing job, and it all needs to be one piece thats cured at one time. Is this right, or am I full of it?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I would cut my losses, by patching the silicone, cleaning it up to look good, then listing it on Craigslist as a terrarium, which it may actually be. I sure wouldn't spend much money on trying to use it as an aquarium. 55 gallon tanks can be had used, in much better conditiion for around $50. If you get $20 for this one as a terrarium your actual cost for another usable one would be $30, probably less than the repair cost would be.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Getting a new piece of glass would be the best. I have had tanks in the past that had the same problem and after resealing and just filling the gap with silicone they held water fine. it depends on your setup. in a basement fishroom with a floor drain, no problem. In your living room???? 
here is a link to my procedure to repair a tank. but think about what hoppy said 55's are pretty cheap and some were made as terrariums with questionable materials for an aquarium.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/do-it-yourself/27215-has-anyone-replaced-glass-panel-tank.html

Good luck
Brian


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## SKSuser (Mar 20, 2006)

Well, when I first noticed that it leaked, I was actually halfway excited. I have wanted to build a tank, and what better experience than repairing one thats already mostly built. I probably will just replace the piece of glass and do it correctly.

However...
I'm also wondering about another option that is probably a little eccentric. (I don't mind if you tell me I'm flat out stupid for even thinking about trying this)  
I could square the short piece of glass up, making it 1/8" shorter than it was. Coincidently, 1/8" is a common thickness of glass, which I happen to have easier access to than a 3/8" plate to replace the side piece.
What if I then took a 1/8" strip and use it as a shem for the area that would now have a pretty big gap? I could extend the 1/8" piece farther into the tank, to have a larger surface area of silicone, then the side piece would bond to the shem as if it were bonding to the long piece.
Looking down on the corner from the top, it'd now look like this:
||
||
||*|*
||*|*======

|| being the long piece of glass, *|* is the 1/8" shem, = is the now trimmed side piece.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

It may work, but I think you would want to test it outside for a while. It is crazy enough that I'm surprised I havent tried it.  When I was younger and broke I tried many crazy ideas. Give it a shot if you feel daring and can test it outdoors where the water won't hurt anything if it fails. 

I had a friend that worked at a glass shop they had a bunch of scrap 1/4" glass, they gave it to me all I had to do was pick it up. 2' X 2' up to 2' X 3.5'. I built quite a few tanks out of that pile.

Brian


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## SKSuser (Mar 20, 2006)

Cool, I'd love to get more into tank building, but with the price of glass the way it is, and the price of LPS glass aquaria the way they are, you can't buy the glass for the price of the tank.

A friend suggested I try this if I'm going to start adding pieces to the tank:
||
||
||*_*
||\=====

|| being the long piece of glass, \ is the off angle cut which would be left as is, *_*is the 1/8" shem which could also be a 1/2" square rod or a strip of 1/4", = is the side piece.

Maybe a combination of both bracing techniques is in order. If its in the back corner, it'll be covored by the heater and then scads of plants anyway. I don't care if its unsightly.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

That way you don't have to take the end piece out just clean the joint out and add the patch piece.

Test it outside....

Brian


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## Tiapan (Jun 14, 2006)

yeah that sounds like an interesting plant. i just resently resealled a 60 gal flat back hex. it had a major leak all along one joint. it is originally an oceanic tank. not all the pieces fit perfectly together but i cleaned it all the way out of silicone (that took awhile, had some help) and then resealled the whole thing. its up and running now i left it for a couple days outside to see if it leaked. it didnt and still isnt. the cost of repairing it was about 5 bucks worth of materials and a few hours time. even if 55's are cheap money saved and a project successful feels real good. even if you had to reseal the whole tank (then knowing the quality of materials used aka all the sealent is good new silicone, it took less them one tube of silicone one made by GE from home depot to reseal the 60 and they sell here for like 3.50 thats a lot cheaper then 30 bucks. and then when its up and running you can look at it and say i did that. one seal on my tank doesnt not look "perfect" but it holds and thats all that matters to me, since i got the whole think tank, top, and stand designed for the flat hex for 75 bucks. you can see some pictures of the tank running now at www.houstonfishbox.com the forum link is my new 60 gallon tank


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## SKSuser (Mar 20, 2006)

^Your link: HoustonFishBox » Forums » Plants and Planted Fish Tanks » My 60 gallon planted tank

Thats a nice looking set of glass! I havn't seen one like that before.... In fact, its probably a good thing because my wife would love it.  
Any updated pics of the whole tank?


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