Which silicon to use

[Mikeltee]

I have a drip coming from the bottom of my tank. It's 13 years old. I'm draining it tomorrow. Assuming the silicone gave out on the bottom, what should I use?

It's all glass. 130gallon 48x24x30 seamless bowfront. How many tubes should I order assuming there's 3 pieces and some bracing (the front and sides are one piece) I also have an overflow in the center of the back so I'll need 2x 30" beads for it as well. Quick math is 4x30"(back vertical & overflow) + 2x 48"(back horizontal)+ 2x 60"(front horizontal).

Should I remove and reseal the bracing at the top? It looks fine and will hold the pieces together when I remove the sides and bottom.

 

[Stealthreefer]

I wouldn't remove the top.
You need "aquarium" silicone and it should say it on the package.
100 pure silicon with nothing else added for mold protection or UV protection.
They sell small tubes at home despot or you can order big ones online. Some times stores have the bigger tubes that can be used in caulk guns but not normally. If you have a good LFS they will carry the right stuff or can get it if you're not sure.

 

[cilyjr]

Momentive RTV 102 white
Momentive RTV 103 black
Momentive RTV 108 clear
And if you want to get crazy, 106 is red

 

[hexcolor reef]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Supreme-Silicone-10-1-oz-Gray-Window-and-Door-Caulk-2777172/317089202

I use this on my tanks. I take them apart and redo all silicone with this stuff.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Vivarium Safe Silicone (10.2 oz) Clear https://a.co/d/hm6oQlO

 

[Mikeltee]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Supreme-Silicone-10-1-oz-Gray-Window-and-Door-Caulk-2777172/317089202

I use this on my tanks. I take them apart and redo all silicone with this stuff.

Would you trust this with 130g 48x22x30(height)? I can buy 50 tubes at home depot and return 45. The other stuff I am stuck with, and if I come up 3" short on a bead, I'm screwed.

AquaVim contacted me today. They said to purchase another tank, but if I decide to reseal, they said to first join the pieces and then run a bead on the inside. Do I let the first application dry first? I wish there was a pro in my city. I called a dozen places today and no one wants the liability. Id consider flying someone in to do it. Regardless, the tank will be moved to my basement that I tiled. I won't trust it upstairs. I'm currently refinishing the basement and I have a sweet spot picked out.

I paid $8k for this tank. I'm pretty sure that it was sold with a lifetime warranty. Unfortunately, I no longer have the paperwork. Their warranty since 2021 is for a year. It has held up since Oct of 2010.

Does glass go bad over time? Why do I find so many people here recommend to just replace the tank if the seals give out? This glass is 1/2" thick. The tank and stand are overbuilt. There isn't even rust on any of the hardware. This isn't your normal Made In China cheap knock off even though it was made in China. This is the only place doing seamless bowfronts in glass which is another reason why I purchased it.

 

[hexcolor reef]

Would you trust this with 130g 48x22x30(height)? I can buy 50 tubes at home depot and return 45. The other stuff I am stuck with, and if I come up 3" short on a bead, I'm screwed.

AquaVim contacted me today. They said to purchase another tank, but if I decide to reseal, they said to first join the pieces and then run a bead on the inside. Do I let the first application dry first? I wish there was a pro in my city. I called a dozen places today and no one wants the liability. Id consider flying someone in to do it. Regardless, the tank will be moved to my basement that I tiled. I won't trust it upstairs. I'm currently refinishing the basement and I have a sweet spot picked out.

I paid $8k for this tank. I'm pretty sure that it was sold with a lifetime warranty. Unfortunately, I no longer have the paperwork. Their warranty since 2021 is for a year. It has held up since Oct of 2010.

Does glass go bad over time? Why do I find so many people here recommend to just replace the tank if the seals give out? This glass is 1/2" thick. The tank and stand are overbuilt. There isn't even rust on any of the hardware. This isn't your normal Made In China cheap knock off even though it was made in China. This is the only place doing seamless bowfronts in glass which is another reason why I purchased it.

To answer the last question glass doesn’t go bad unless you see a crack hairline or larger and or chip in the glass. So inspect each panel carefully.

What I do is silicone my tanks the original way and then silicon the inside. You want to wait until it dries before doing the inside next. The reason why, you don’t want to push the glass out of place while applying pressure with silicon from the inside.
I use 1” thick beads. Then take my finger while wearing gloves and run it up the seams on the inside. It comes out very clean.
While doing the inside which is very important use painters tape so the job is very clean when applying the silicone.
Oh and I use black silicon as it will guarantee you will see water bubbles if the tank is in danger of breaking way before it does.

 

[hexcolor reef]

Would you trust this with 130g 48x22x30(height)? I can buy 50 tubes at home depot and return 45. The other stuff I am stuck with, and if I come up 3" short on a bead, I'm screwed.

reason I went with this silicone is that it doesn’t expand, the label really says it all. Very trust worthy. I came across it from another YouTuber who also redo fish tanks

HomeDepot is great with returns so your not risking the purchase.


Watch this guy if you never put a tank together before

 

[Mikeltee]

To answer the last question glass doesn’t go bad unless you see a crack hairline or larger and or chip in the glass. So inspect each panel carefully.

What I do is silicone my tanks the original way and then silicon the inside. You want to wait until it dries before doing the inside next. The reason why, you don’t want to push the glass out of place while applying pressure with silicon from the inside.
I use 1” thick beads. Then take my finger while wearing gloves and run it up the seams on the inside. It comes out very clean.
While doing the inside which is very important use painters tape so the job is very clean when applying the silicone.
Oh and I use black silicon as it will guarantee you will see water bubbles if the tank is in danger of breaking way before it does.

Where do you live? Would you consider being commissioned? I am pretty handy and have never called a maintance man in my life. I even fix my cars and I'm pretty good with a caulk gun. We are talking 130g of saltwater here though. I just can't imagine how a bead of silicone has the bonding ability to join 2 large pieces of glass with a gap in between. That just blows my mind! It is framed at the top so that gives me a little hope. I should start watching videos and build up a little confidence.

 

[Mikeltee]

reason I went with this silicone is that it doesn’t expand, the label really says it all. Very trust worthy. I came across it from another YouTuber who also redo fish tanks

HomeDepot is great with returns so your not risking the purchase.


Watch this guy if you never put a tank together before

That guy is smooth! That doesn't look too difficult. I thought that there is a gap left between panels. I guess not.

 

[hexcolor reef]

Where do you live? Would you consider being commissioned? I am pretty handy and have never called a maintance man in my life. I even fix my cars and I'm pretty good with a caulk gun

I’m in NYC

. We are talking 130g of saltwater here though. I just can't imagine how a bead of silicone has the bonding ability to join 2 large pieces of glass with a gap in between. That just blows my mind! It is framed at the top so that gives me a little hope.

It’s like screws that can hold 50lb of weight per screw. I think those go up to 100lb. It’s amazing how the small things put in a lot of work for our needs.
If the top is framed you can apply that at the bottom and go with a rimless top. Newer tanks are made like that such as Innovative Marine larger tank or some lowboys

I should start watching videos and build up a little confidence.

YouTube is the best place to get that confidence

 

[Mikeltee]

Now that the tank is empty, and I watched a few videos, this doesn't seem to be that big of job. Most videos that I watch show them just refreshing the inner seem. What are your thoughts on just removing, cleaning, and resealing the inner seam? There is a brace at the top and I do not plan to touch it. The waterline is about 2" from the top. What surprising is that there is only roughly a 1/4" Bead. That's pretty slim for 1/2" glass. 13 years without a problem roughly. I'll probably do closer to 3/4" bead.

I think this was caused from excessive cleaning. I use a pretty strong magnetic blade. From now on, I will just use an algae pad in the corners. I don't see any cracks and the silicone looks fine, but it's obviously not. The overflow did not empty so I know the issue doesn't exist back there. I do plan to just remove the overflow so that I can clean it real good as well as refresh the whole bead of the bottom panel.

This tank is too heavy to move outside and use muratic acid and a pressure washer. It's staying in place. What do you recommend that I clean it with? I tried spraying vinegar on it. Should I do a heavy concentration of acidic acid and spray it on? I will make sure to get the vinegar off properly first.

 

[hexcolor reef]

Vinegar and lemon juice mixture if you don’t want to use bleach and water.

Where exactly is the silicone undone at? Show a pic if you can. If it’s on the bottom I would redo the entire thing. If it’s at the top of tank on either corner you can possible reseal it just make sure you get silicon in the gap as well and use strong tape to hold it together tightly on the outside.
Anywhere from mid tank and down you would want to redo the entire panel

 

[Mikeltee]

Vinegar and lemon juice mixture if you don’t want to use bleach and water.

Where exactly is the silicone undone at? Show a pic if you can. If it’s on the bottom I would redo the entire thing. If it’s at the top of tank on either corner you can possible reseal it just make sure you get silicon in the gap as well and use strong tape to hold it together tightly on the outside.
Anywhere from mid tank and down you would want to redo the entire panel

Although not confirmed, I think that it is this spot. There was 2" of water in there for a day and it did not drip, so I think that bottom is good. I should probably just go ahead and reseal the whole thing though, right? If I just for that vertical bead, it's not going to stick to the bottom horizontal bead. I plan to put a rachet strap around the center to hold it together while I remove the old silicone. The top brace will help as well as I plan to leave it be.

 

[hexcolor reef]

That still looks about mid way up the tank. I would reseal that whole panel. If there’s no leaks anywhere else you don’t have to take the whole thing apart just the one panel. But reseal the entire inside once you put the panel back on.
Just make sure you go over the whole tank. If the silicon look sketchy then replace other panels as well

 

[Mikeltee]

I've probably laid 50 tubes of acrylic in my span on this earth. I absolutely despise silicone! I ended up using 2x 10.1oz tubes. It's ugly. I'll have a sand bottom and let coraline build up in these corners. I'll never scrape up to the corner again. I'm pretty sure that was the cause. I probably should have removed the joint bead, but the glass is 300# and my kids are too young to help. If it still leaks, I'll build a gantry, and do it properly.

I went with Momentive RTV 108. Rs Huges had it at my door in 48hr. They even called to make sure I was satisfied. I probably took a year off my life hovered over my tank breathing it in. Application took about 20min and it didn't skin up on me. It's a thick bead. I'm going to cure it for 7 days before leak testing it.

Now to clean 100# of sand. I have all my liverock bleached and rinsed and ready for a Brute cycle while this cures.

 

[Mikeltee]

She's holding water. The bulkheads are dripping a little. I haven't wrenched down on them yet. I bought replacement gaskets, but their were significantly inferior to the ones that have been used for 14 years so I kept the originals in place. I had to crank on them to get them removed so I assume that I will need to do the same to stop the drips. I plan on a 48 hour leak test before I put it back in place. Total cure time was 10 days. I smelled vinegar until day 8. The seams don't look as bad with water in it so I am relieved.