[Jeffww]

Since breaking down my 60p a few years ago I've been keeping it dry in my room on carpet in a closet. Is there a better way to preserve the silicone on a fish tank? I actually noticed that when I broke my tank down, there was brown sludge or diatoms growing/seeping half into the silicone. Does this mean the tank is compromised? If that's the case it'll probably just become a vivarium in the future for safety's sake. Kind of upset that the tank only lasted for about 3 years....

 

[PlantedRich]

Can't say what happened in your case but I find that if I get too close to the silicone when scraping down algae, I loosen the edge and then grung creeps under. I have not found any problem on used tanks if I just trim the silicone back enought to get to the sealed part. I feel the inside silicone just works to keep it easy to clean the corners rather than actually having any physical strength. Silicone is too stretchy to really hold much in a solid way???

 

[Jeffww]

The issue with ADA tanks is that the silicone only covers the interface between the glass panes. The algae is actually in between the glass.

 

[mullenium]

you know, not to hijack your thread but my tank is an old 90's all glass from craigslist that has the algae inside the silicone.. it's not like an ADA but it's a standard beaded silicone that has a rounded edge inside the corner..

I've just left the algae in there as i was never sure what to do with it. the edges of the silicone are sorta falling off in some places and flappy in others

should I try to cut the edges out?

 

[PlantedRich]

Only if the look of the grunge bothers you. If the silicone is flapping loose, it will not be sealing anything so carefully cutting it back will not change the sealing if you don't cut or tear more loose. I find it pretty much a distraction to appearance rather than a real issue on sealing.

 

[exv152]

Since breaking down my 60p a few years ago I've been keeping it dry in my room on carpet in a closet. Is there a better way to preserve the silicone on a fish tank? I actually noticed that when I broke my tank down, there was brown sludge or diatoms growing/seeping half into the silicone. Does this mean the tank is compromised? If that's the case it'll probably just become a vivarium in the future for safety's sake. Kind of upset that the tank only lasted for about 3 years....

Have you tried cleaning it off with a light solution of bleach and water? Maybe the brown algae just appears in between the joints but is just on the surface of the silicone.

 

[Jeffww]

ada tanks have no silicone outside the glass.