Aquarium Issues

[Piper316]

I bought an aquarium off of craigslist and it has a slow leak. I filled it with water last night and left it in the garage and it dropped about 5 or 6 inches over night. Is it fairly straight forward re-sealing those things? How do I go about doing this?

Any help/suggestions would be great!

It is a 28 gallon hexagon aquarium.

[Da Plant Man]

Return it?

If it was a standard rectangle tank, I would say reseal it, but I think it might be too hard with a hexagon.

[Craigthor]

Hexagons aren't too bad to reseal, just take your time and strip all the old silicone out. Use many new blades and go slow. Tape off the joints where you want them and use new silicone. Let cure for 3-4 days then test fill and watch for leaks.

[Da Plant Man]

Originally Posted by Craigthor

Hexagons aren't too bad to reseal

I stand corrected.

[Higher Thinking]

I wouldn't deal with it.... you can make a better steal off craigslist in the future. Did you buy it knowing it had a leak? I would just wait until another tank came along and buy that for cheap.

[Piper316]

One of my questions to them was if it held water. I was assured it did.

No returns accepted....only paid $40 for it.

Is there any type of special silicone I need to use for this if I decide to give it a try?

[Mk4Gti]

If you dont want to reseal it i would take it, smash it into little pieces and throw all the glass on his doorstep.

[shortsboy]

The big retailers have aquarium silicone in stock (or at least Petco does). There are fancy new silicones that are better for rimless tanks, but the stuff at your LFS or big store should work fine if the rim's ok.

That being said, I'd not bother with that, and would just get a new/ new to you one. Sucks that the seller lied though. I like the thought of 'returning' it that Mk4Gti had.

[tentacles]

If you want an easy way to get that old silicone off, go to your local auto parts store and buy a can or two of "Gasket Remover". This stuff turns silicone into jelly and causes it to release from the surface it was attached to, in about three minutes.

I would assume it's incompatible with whatever the rim is made out of, so remove the rims first! When done, I'd wipe down everything with a strong organic solvent (acetone, MEK, ether) and then again with 95%+ alcohol.

[mistergreen]

I wouldn't mess with chemical solvents. The residue is pretty toxic. Wear gloves and use a razor to shave the silicon off. Use rubbing alcohol to rub off any lingering silicon bits.

[Hoppy]

Only you know how adept you will be at assembling a glass aquarium. If you are good at it, it could be worthwhile to reseal (actually, disassemble and reglue) that tank. And, that is if you can afford or want to afford the time required. Otherwise, you can end up when you get through with tank that still leaks, with cut fingers, with broken glass, with silicone smeared on the glass, and with to little confidence to trust the tank in your house.

Used tanks usually sell pretty cheaply, so I agree with those who suggest just buying another one. Hexagon tanks aren't worth the effort, in my opinion, so if you aren't real enthusiastic about the shape, you could wait for a Petco sale and buy a brand new tank for $1 per gallon.

[mistergreen]

Oh, you can always use the hexagon tank for a terrarium.

[Diana]

Or strip off all the silicone and rebuild it... as a square, shallow tank. (using 4 of the 6 sides, and buying a new bottom glass). It is so shallow you can make it rimless.

Good practice, anyway.

I have not had any luck re-siliconing tanks. I think I am not getting the old material off, though it feels like I am. They hold for about a month, then start leaking. (24 gallon hex and 2' tall tanks). The smaller tank (15 gallon) has held for many years.

Gasket remover... hmmm...

[James (Western Canada)]

Re-sealing a tank is not rocket science, it just a tedious, messy job
...and if you bought silicone @ your LFS, you paid too much!
It is much less expensive @ Big Box stores, or Industrial Suppliers like McMaster or Graingers. (I use Dow-Corning 732, it's available in clear, black, etc)

here is a link to a good DIY article on tank relining

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=11713


Cheers!
James

[somewhatshocked]

+1 on breaking it down into a shallow tank!

That'll make all of us shrimp nerds happy.