120 gallon used, first time reefer

[GregDaniels813]

Hello all! Been lurking around these forums for a while and finally pulled the trigger a few weeks ago on a used aquarium, and learning lots of life lessons already!

The tank I bought used is a 120gallon Aqueon reef ready with 2 overflows. The tank seemed to be holding water when I went to see it, but it had not been well maintained recently. At the price point, it felt like a good deal, but much of the equipment was half dead, so I'm already feeling a bit burned on the deal. While in the process of cleaning the tank, I was looking at some of the silicon and casing and wanted to get some expert opinions.

Here are some pictures of the state of the silicon:

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The bubble at the bottom (if that is what is is) in the following photo is slightly concerning for me, along with the cracked frame (which I'm actually fairly confident occurred while lifting and transporting...)

Now, I consider myself relatively handy. I am not in a large hurry with this, as I was planning to build a stand for this and prep for a while before setting the tank up. However, I want to clean the tank and get it ready for a leak test. My questions are:

1. How does the silicon look? There are a few parts that look a little bubbly, but the silicon between the panes of glass looks solid for the most part to my eye.
2. If the silicon looks bad, I have watched some videos on resealing and feel confident in doing so. However, my main concern would then be removing and reattaching the top bracket without breaking it, as I know that is structural. I researched about the crack on the bottom of the trim, as well as calling the manufacturer, and was assured that is there to balance the load rather than hold the glass panes together.

Basically trying to figure out if I should try to do some repair/renovation on the tank before I do a leak test, or if I should just jump straight into the leak test and see how it does.

If it matters, the tank will be going into a newly finished basement with a concrete slab. Let me know if you need additional context. Excited to be here!

 

[KrisReef]

That circle that you are concerned about is so round that I suspect that it was a spacer used during construction to allow silicone to get between the panels before they were smashed together. That part of the silicone seal is where the holding strength is between the two sides. The circle should have been removed but I am guessing that it was overlooked and left where we see it.

The seams look ok, and the circle hasn’t caused a problem thus far so I think that you should be good for holding water.

The plastic frames are present to protect the edges of the glass from being bumped and chipped. The edges of glass tanks are the easiest places to bump and crack (and ruin) aquariums. The other function is to provide a stable surface for the tank to rest on, while the top plastic helps reduce distortion of the tank when it is filled with water as well as edge protection.

I would not try and reseal the silicone. I would fill the tank outside, resting on the stand or on a flat surface to see if there are other issues like pinhole leaks that are not obvious or if the tank is excessively bowing under pressure.

Common leaks are generally seeps from silicone gaps at the top of the tank between the plastic frame and the glass and are easily patched if needed. Seeps from the bottom are the sign that the tank is failing and then removing all silicone completely and resealing is required.

Resealing a tank successfully requires disassembly (except for top rim silicone gaps that are not under pressure really), cleaning the old silicone off, preparing the glass to remove any grease or grime between the seal surface and reapplying the correct type of silicone and letting it dry for at least 48 hours before retesting the new seal, filling the tank up outside incase it wasn’t properly cleaned and the pressure pops the new seal.

Resealing is a lot of work and I would not do it myself again because I’m lazy and don’t have the time or gumption to do a good job of it.

That’s what I know about silicone and resealing an aquarium. If you have the ability and time it’s not rocket science but it has to be done properly. Putting more silicon on top of the old seal is ok for sealing top rim leaks but useless for other applications as the strength of the seal is between the panels, not the excess seal that is inside or outside of the tank.

 

[GregDaniels813]

That's what I'm after, someone who knows more than me to help me figure out if it's worth my time or effort in trying to reseal it or if it looks like it'll be okay and hold. I'm much more inclined to just move forward with it rather than go through all the extra work, but wanted to get some expert opinions on the state of the silicone.

 

[KrisReef]

That's what I'm after, someone who knows more than me to help me figure out if it's worth my time or effort in trying to reseal it or if it looks like it'll be okay and hold. I'm much more inclined to just move forward with it rather than go through all the extra work, but wanted to get some expert opinions on the state of the silicone.

I also think Aqueon has a good reputation for tank construction.