Free Tank - Re silicone / Bracing

[Damo.Lo]

Hey All

I scored a free tank, 30G High it’s approx 8 years old and hasn’t had water in it for over 12 months.

It has some blue in some parts of the silicone. Is this medication related? I forgot to take photos of it, I can do later if it will help. I want to re silicone the tank so I don’t see this as to much of an issue. 
 

I have a few Questions.

- Do I need to fully rebuild the tank due to its age as in take apart then re silicone?

- Can I just remove old internal silicone that has blue in and then re apply new silicone? Will this increase structural integrity? Or just waterproof it? 

- the construction of it is that the 4 panels making the walls are not sitting on the base piece but is in the outside is this an issue? 

- is it worth making it a euro bracing style tank as I want to remove the old lid and there no top brace

 

sorry for all the questions, thanks in advance.

[lefty o]

silicone in a tank is pretty much all or nothing. replace it all, or dont mess with it. likely the blue tint is from ich medication.

[TOtrees]

What an interesting tank! The canopy is great too.

Not sure if this was advertised or not but it’s very possible it was home-built. At least it looks that way to me.

On the plus side, the thickness of glass looks appropriate. 

I would have concerns about the longevity/integrity of the silicone, but unless you know there are leaks, my first step would be to test and monitor, and only intervene/repair/rebuild if necessary. Fill the bare tank full full full, and monitor for leaks. A piece of corrugated cardboard under the tank when you’re testing for leaks will help to pinpoint if there are any, and where they are.

Since this is a frameless tank, you will need to place it on a very flat and very level surface. A 1/4” or so soft pad to absorb any imperfections is essential. Tiny pressure points on the bottom glass can have disastrous consequences. A black yoga mat will work, and is cheap. 

[redfish]

On 9/27/2022 at 7:36 PM, lefty o said:

silicone in a tank is pretty much all or nothing. replace it all, or dont mess with it. likely the blue tint is from ich medication.

I agree. It's probably just medication. I have that on some quarantine tanks.  I also removed all the silicon on another tank and resealed it.  All or nothing is the approach I took.

[Damo.Lo]

On 9/28/2022 at 10:36 AM, lefty o said:

silicone in a tank is pretty much all or nothing. replace it all, or dont mess with it. likely the blue tint is from ich medication.

@lefty o I think I might go all in and do it right not worth the wet socks hahaha

[Damo.Lo]

@TOtrees thanks for the great reply, 

that canopy is kind of common in Australia, personally not a fan 😂

I think I’m just going to do the full rebuild the extra work out weighs the risk at this point and then it’ll give me piece of mind! 
 

then it will just be me worrying if I did it right hahaha

[redfish]

For reference, usually only the interior silicone need to be removed and replaced.  The parts that you can use a razor blade to scrape away and clean on the interior.  You don’t normally have to separate all the glass and reseal the structural joints.  You are sealing the interior to make it waterproof and not leak.

[Damo.Lo]

On 9/29/2022 at 11:19 AM, redfish said:

For reference, usually only the interior silicone need to be removed and replaced.  The parts that you can use a razor blade to scrape away and clean on the interior.  You don’t normally have to separate all the glass and reseal the structural joints.  You are sealing the interior to make it waterproof and not leak.

@redfisho really, i assumed you would have to deconstruct it, what’s the reasoning behind not taking it apart and just sealing the internal? Would the structural silicone not loose it’s integrity at the same rate? 
 

im glad I read this because I was about 15 min away from taking it apart haha

[redfish]

If it’s structurally sound you should not have to break the tank down completely.  The silicone holding the glass together at the joints is intended to be structural.  The silicone inside the tank waterproofs/leakproofs the tank.   You can remove the inside silicone first and then see how well the silicone in the joints is holding the glass together.  You want to apply silicone to glass,  not other silicone.  
 

It wouldn’t be wrong to strip the whole tank down but is more work if you don’t need to.

Edited September 29, 2022 by redfish

[Damo.Lo]

@redfish sorry for the late reply, I have gone down the route of re building it and stripped it down to the panes but I broke a corner and now going down the crash course of becoming a glazier... might be a nano tank in no time 😂

[redfish]

Well, good luck repairing the pane.  I have a tank with cracked glass that I’m still debating what I’m to do with it.