Resealing 6ft Tank

[Oliver]

Hey everyone! 

Turns out my 6ft tank has a very very small leak in it. So time to reseal! I have used a razor blade to remove all the old silicone and have the new stuff (aquarium safe) ready to go. 

This is my first time resealing a tank so does anyone have any suggestions? 

Here are some photos (sorry for the poor quality):

 

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

I don't have any suggestions but if you don't mind sharing, where did you buy the aquarium? Also, what light are you using? I have a 75 that is in need of a better light. Thanks for sharing. Awesome aquarium! What fish are you going to add after resealing?

[Oliver]

1 hour ago, Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics said:

I don't have any suggestions but if you don't mind sharing, where did you buy the aquarium? Also, what light are you using? I have a 75 that is in need of a better light. Thanks for sharing. Awesome aquarium! What fish are you going to add after resealing?

Hey Patrick, 

I got the tank off fb marketplace! The light for the tanks underneath is just a 4ft fluro light and I just have some cheap LED eBay lights for the 6ft. I've got some mbuna in there at the moment with a featherfin and some bristlenose. Very lightly stocked so far... think I need to add some more to curb some of the aggression. 

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

Looks awesome! Thanks.

[tolstoy21]

I resealed a used 125 I got off Craig’s list last summer.  

My advice — watch a lot of you tube videos on the subject. Joey the king of DIY has a few good videos on the topic. There’s a lot out there you can use to get the gist.

Lesson I learned the hard way is this — with a large tank and one person, you have to go quicker than you think. Silicon can set up faster than you think, at least in terms of a being able to smooth it with your finger. Once it gels, there’s no smoothing it without ruining it. Once it starts to gel, it’s also hard to remove the tape, if you used any to get clean lines.

I made this mistake and had to strip the tank down and start anew a second time.  Once I knew the pace I hard to go at, the second try came out perfect. 

Your tank looks huge, so If you can have a buddy smooth and remove tape behind you as you lay down a caulk bead (or vice verse), that might be the best route  

I’d definitely tape the verticals corners, but not worry about taping the bottom. You want clean lines where it’s going to be visible. The bottom will be under substrate, so if the lines aren’t perfect, whose going to see? 

Also, if you’ve never worked with caulk before, maybe practice on something so you get a good idea exactly how much chalk to spread in the joints.  Too little is no good for obvious reasons.  Too much is also bad cause the cleanup of the excess slows you down a lot and makes a huge mess.

Hope this helps.