Ramie Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Just got a 5.5 gallon aqueon.The silicone is a mess! Seeped through to the outside in many places thick beads of silicone on the outsidevat the seams.....smeared on the glass walls on the inside...little tails of it everywhere...spread different distances from the seams on the inside..hard to tell if the seals are good or not....i havent but one other glass tank (not aqueon) and its silicone is near perfect. So i only have that to compare it to. Should i be concerned? Aqueon makes so many tanks and so many people use them...is messy silicone normal for them and its really a solid tank..or is this a red flag?...not sure if i should go ahead and leak test it or just take it back....i live 2 hours from where i bought it so its not an easy return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBOzzie59 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 99.999% of the time you can finish their job by trimming of the excess with a single edge razor blade without issue. Got a picture of the seam where you are concerned? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quikv6 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I would go ahead and do a leak test. I have 2 Aqueon tanks, and the silicone is certainly sloppy at best. But neither leak, and to me, that is what is important. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Sorry to hear you had this experience! I haven't had that with any tank I've owned, from several companies, 1.5 gallon to 36 gallon. If you have any paperwork from your purchase, I'd recommend contacting the store you bought it from. They may be able to send you a replacement. In the meantime, I'd recommend draining it and applying an extra coat of silicone to the seams if you want to keep the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramie Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 1 hour ago, KBOzzie59 said: 99.999% of the time you can finish their job by trimming of the excess with a single edge razor blade without issue. Got a picture of the seam where you are concerned? I will take some in the am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramie Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 1 hour ago, quikv6 said: I would go ahead and do a leak test. I have 2 Aqueon tanks, and the silicone is certainly sloppy at best. But neither leak, and to me, that is what is important. Yes im only concerned with its construction..not its looks...im bleaching my other tank in accordance with my state recommendations..i recently bought a moss ball..this tank was purchased to be where i moved him too during the whole bleaching thing...but maybe ill just use a bucket..i have a box filter i can put in the bucket and a heater...i may leak test this tank for a week and if it passes ill keep it for future spare tank needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramie Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 2 hours ago, Kirsten said: Sorry to hear you had this experience! I haven't had that with any tank I've owned, from several companies, 1.5 gallon to 36 gallon. If you have any paperwork from your purchase, I'd recommend contacting the store you bought it from. They may be able to send you a replacement. In the meantime, I'd recommend draining it and applying an extra coat of silicone to the seams if you want to keep the tank. Its a 15 dollar 5.5 gallon that i need immediately...it has never had water in it..was about to set it up to leak test it for 24 hours...but it is such a mess i was concerned about filling it at all...i should have checked it out before i left the store but i was in a rush to get my things and get home as i had to work the next day and petco is 2 hours away. I bought a moss ball recently so im about to bleach my current tank..this one was just where i wanted to put my fish while i got my current tank taken care of....I may just put the fish in a bucket for the whole situation until i can get my current tank done and dechlorinated...I was debating on getting my money back.. I cant get a refund if i put water in it. Im not sure if want it now or not. A spare tank is good to have...i just hope if i do test it and it leaks they dont replace it with an equally disappointing one...idk if id trust myself to add silicone to it..its a cheap tank so not the end of the world.. But regardless...it makes me nervous and im out of time so a bucket it is. I drove 2 hours so he wouldnt have to be in a bucket...and got a tank id leak test for a week at least before id trust it with my fish...so in a bucket anyway. My own fault..should have checked....i just never even imagined id get at all silicone that looks like this does. Thank you for your advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiclid addict Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 2 of my tanks are aqueon and the seams are sloppy but neither leak 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyO Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 3 hours ago, Ramie said: Just got a 5.5 gallon aqueon.The silicone is a mess! Seeped through to the outside in many places thick beads of silicone on the outsidevat the seams.....smeared on the glass walls on the inside...little tails of it everywhere...spread different distances from the seams on the inside..hard to tell if the seals are good or not....i havent but one other glass tank (not aqueon) and its silicone is near perfect. So i only have that to compare it to. Should i be concerned? Aqueon makes so many tanks and so many people use them...is messy silicone normal for them and its really a solid tank..or is this a red flag?...not sure if i should go ahead and leak test it or just take it back....i live 2 hours from where i bought it so its not an easy return. I literally just bought one of these myself from Petco last week. Yeah the silicone job is something to be desired by far. But I have to say the tank is holding just fine and quarantining some corydoras just fine. Leak test it and if it is not leaking you'll be fine unfortunately this is the kind of attention to detail you get from mass produced aquarium makers. Also Aqueon aren't the kind of tanks I would call display or center piece tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I have never had an Aqueon tank leak. When Cory needed to buy aquariums for his new fishroom recently, he choose Aqueons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickS77 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I have some where the silicone is barely visible because they used so little, still holding water fine. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramie Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 9 hours ago, MartyO said: I literally just bought one of these myself from Petco last week. Yeah the silicone job is something to be desired by far. But I have to say the tank is holding just fine and quarantining some corydoras just fine. Leak test it and if it is not leaking you'll be fine unfortunately this is the kind of attention to detail you get from mass produced aquarium makers. Also Aqueon aren't the kind of tanks I would call display or center piece tanks. I dont need it to look good...i just want to be able to go to sleep and not worry something will happen. And i needed it asap. I wouldnt trust it on a 24 hour leak test...so i may keep it i may not..but not without testing it for a week...for now im going to put him in a bucket. But good to know theres a chance its not a total waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramie Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 1 hour ago, MickS77 said: I have some where the silicone is barely visible because they used so little, still holding water fine. Good to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramie Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Daniel said: I have never had an Aqueon tank leak. When Cory needed to buy aquariums for his new fishroom recently, he choose Aqueons. I hope his dont leak. It seems from most of the people i have talked with aqueon is just sloppy but still solid. However...i purchased this tank as an emergency back up that i needed asap...but now i dont think im going to use this tank as what i purchased it for as even with everyones comments im just not going to be able to sleep and trust this tank with my fish in it without leak testing it for an extended period of time..not just 24 or 48 hours. Its really sloppy...i keep having thoughts of the tank bursting at night. So the fish is just gonna have to go in a bucket for now. Thanks though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 I have a ton of sloppy-work aqueons. None leak. I find these tanks reliable even if the people putting them together didn’t do their best job at making the seams look nice. Anything on the glass itself I just remove with a razor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShelton Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 By no means am I advocating using a tank with questionable seals, but I just took down a 30 gallon long (36x12x16) that is at least 30 years old (All Glass brand, the predecessor of Aqueon) in which the seals have looked “bubbled” for at least the last 10 years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramie Posted March 21, 2021 Author Share Posted March 21, 2021 46 minutes ago, tolstoy21 said: I have a ton of sloppy-work aqueons. None leak. I find these tanks reliable even if the people putting them together didn’t do their best job at making the seams look nice. Anything on the glass itself I just remove with a razor. Very good to know. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramie Posted March 21, 2021 Author Share Posted March 21, 2021 4 minutes ago, DShelton said: By no means am I advocating using a tank with questionable seals, but I just took down a 30 gallon long (36x12x16) that is at least 30 years old (All Glass brand, the predecessor of Aqueon) in which the seals have looked “bubbled” for at least the last 10 years. Yours looks vastly more of a cleaner sealant job than mine...at least in that teeny section. Mine have no bubbles. I actually read about that bubbling happening with aqueons..idk how recent..didnt pay attention to the dates...and in those cases it was not a problem for most people...something to do with sealant that cured funny but not actually affecting the seal. Mine is more just..really not sure if it has enough in some parts and then not sure if it has too much in others (not that in the case of too much the seal would leak..more just hoping it wouldnt affect the weight distribution of the water on uneven sealed glass walls and cause a crack or other physics type issue.) I never took any pics..i set that tank aside to worry about later and im just gonna use a bucket for now..but i do think im gonna give it a chance after i fill it and let it sit a few days. I dont care what it looks like...i care about water leaking or worse like glass, water and a dead fish on my floor. But i do feel better about it after a lot of people have said theirs was sloppy and held. I will pop back and post pics here when i get to it to see people's opinions on looking at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just a Pygmy Corydora Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 (edited) hmmm I bought the same 5.5 gallon tank Aqueon from Petco for my betta fish, and so far, no leaks! They DID kind of no some messy jobs, but no leaks that I know of. 😃 Edited March 29, 2021 by Jane Oh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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