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Help with Drilled Tank/Reseal Questions

800 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  JoulesBurn 
#1 ·
I just got a tank really cheap from someone on craigslist. It looked really good online, but of course once up close there's a bit of work that needs to get done. I might be overly optimistic, but it still looks like it'll be pretty great. The biggest tank I've ever had is a 30, so I'm pretty excited to get up in the 55 range. (Hopefully the obsession doesn't lead even bigger!)

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All the panes look fine on it, not even many scratches considering it was salt, but it does look like someone else fixed it up once upon a time. It looks like they put a fix in for the broken middle brace and resealed it with the rim still on.

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The people who I got it from hadn't done it, they said the brace had been cracked the whole time they ran it, but I'd rather fix it than run it like this. Also, either due to the brace or just age, the two front silicone seams are really cracking up. The ones going up the back panes are fine and so is the bottom. I'm wondering if I can just reseal the front seals in any way? To redo all of it, I'm going to have to peel off that overflow plate and that just sounds like a major pain. The thing has got some thick silicone on it.

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It's been sitting with salt residue in it dry for about a year. So really my first question is if there's any way I can fix this up without taking that plate out. It looks like it needs a nice long soak first. They said it held water before, but I don't know about those side seals. I'm pretty inexperienced with doing DIY work on an aquarium. Also, wondering if I should just fix the brace fix or just order a new rim. I know they're not hard to replace, just don't know if it's really necessary. I've got a friend helping me fix the lights that were installed in the canopy and the wiring rats nest they used to run it. Lots of the brackets were corroded like crazy, but the ballasts were self sealing, so it might not be necessary especially in a freshwater run.

Also, they didn't have the hoses that go from the overflow plumbing under the tank to the wet dry box. They said they were using a flue hose, but said it had cracked and couldn't tell me what they'd used to attach it. Just wondering if someone could help me out so I don't make myself a leaky problem.

The over flow tube is 1 inch and so is the PVC for the filter. The return tube on the tank is about 3/4 inch and the return pump is a Rio 2500 that they were apparently running without part of the outer casing, so I might find that while I'm at it.

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Sorry for all the questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I want to be thorough and not just do what I think will work.
 
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