KentFishFanUK Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 So I have been collecting second hand tanks for cheap or free from marketplace. I currently have three 15 gallon, four 7.5 gallon and two 5 gallon tanks all empty and waiting for me to buy a new shed to become my fish room. As I'm not sure when I'm going to be getting it I was wondering if there's any particular way of storing dry tanks that protects the seals etc? Like can the silicone dry out? Is it better to store them with water inside? Should I wrap them in something? Does anyone have any experience with storing empty tanks? Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Yes. I use shrink wrap from the hardware store. I dry thoroughly then use the aquarium silicone lubricant and go over every seal. I wrap the entire sides repeatedly to ensure no scratches and any bumps won’t break it. Then I turn it up and do the same ring around the rosy to bottom and top to prevent stuff sprayed etc from coating the inside. Then I put air holes in the top so it does not mold. This works great for me for long term storage when I worked I often went through periods of years that I had them dismantled 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Ps. The silicone shrink wrap method works great with no air holes on things such as o rings on filters 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 29, 2021 Author Share Posted July 29, 2021 @Guppysnail thanks! What on earth is aquarium silicone lubricant? I'm not too worried about small scratches etc as they won't be display tanks really more breeding projects etc and I think I have a roll of bubble wrap somewhere anyway so mostly worried about the seals, will look into aquarium silicone lubricant! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griznatch Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Ive had 10 gallon tanks empty for years in a hot dry shipping container with no ill effects.. guess it depends on what kind of shape they are in before storage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 On 7/29/2021 at 1:43 PM, KentFishFanUK said: What on earth is aquarium silicone lubricant? This is what I have now different manufacturers make it I mainly use it now for rings especially on my canisters 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 I have 23 sitting in my shop that gets hot. Is this a concern at all? I’ve never heard of tanks sitting dry being an issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 heat is in my opinion whats going to kill the silicone on an idle tank. how hot, and how long, i dont know. ive stored my 37 for several years, and pulled it back out of the shed last summer, and it still held water. gets hot in that shed in the summer, and danged cold in the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankofFish Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 On 7/29/2021 at 11:44 PM, Jimmy said: I have 23 sitting in my shop that gets hot. Is this a concern at all? I’ve never heard of tanks sitting dry being an issue think of it this way what happens when stuff gets hot(exspands) when stuff gets cold(shrinks) after so long of that it may effect the life of th tank or may not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 On 7/29/2021 at 10:17 PM, TankofFish said: think of it this way what happens when stuff gets hot(exspands) when stuff gets cold(shrinks) after so long of that it may effect the life of th tank or may not. Well I never thought of it that way. I put all the brand new tanks up in the rafters of my shop it gets really hot every day. Now I’m concerned. They are sloppy over siliconed aqueon tanks. Worst case scenario they would just need to be resealed correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 On 7/29/2021 at 9:11 PM, lefty o said: heat is in my opinion whats going to kill the silicone on an idle tank. how hot, and how long, i dont know. ive stored my 37 for several years, and pulled it back out of the shed last summer, and it still held water. gets hot in that shed in the summer, and danged cold in the winter. I stored all the new ones I got this last half off sale at petco it’s been up to 90~ in there am I screwed? As mentioned in the last post I responded the aqueon tanks are over siliconed.I won’t be able to get them wet for probably 2 months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 90's, i dont think you have a problem. i would be concerned with a lot of time over 100. when i pulled mine out of the shed, i did make sure it held water for a few hours before it came in the house. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 On 7/29/2021 at 10:17 PM, TankofFish said: think of it this way what happens when stuff gets hot(exspands) when stuff gets cold(shrinks) after so long of that it may effect the life of th tank or may not. I lost sleep over this LOL. I went out and checked all the silicone in my tanks is just fine. I think a few years of standing up endo and being subjected to a hot garage dry might cause problems. They aren’t in direct sunlight. It’s 17 10 gallons and 6 20 longs. Worst case scenario that’s a day of resealing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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