Another Red sea Catastrophic fail

[Odinoid]

I have seen many posts now about silicone failures and today mine went,chaos ensued for about 5 mins whilst tank emptied itself. Luckily no real damage and managed to save livestock (10 week old tank running but i bought 2nd hand) the full set up was a steal so im not mad about it!
what im looking for is options!! i do not have the money to replace tank,cabinet etc
what are peoples thought on getting in resealed and widening the cabinet base and reinforcing as this design seems like a glaringly obvious design flaw as the front glass over hangs the cabinet,so must be under great pressure
ineed help and advice plz "red sea reefer 350"

 

[Üter]

I have seen many posts now about silicone failures and today mine went,chaos ensued for about 5 mins whilst tank emptied itself. Luckily no real damage and managed to save livestock (10 week old tank running but i bought 2nd hand) the full set up was a steal so im not mad about it!
what im looking for is options!! i do not have the money to replace tank,cabinet etc
what are peoples thought on getting in resealed and widening the cabinet base and reinforcing as this design seems like a glaringly obvious design flaw as the front glass over hangs the cabinet,so must be under great pressure
ineed help and advice plz "red sea reefer 350"

I wouldn't trust it.

 

[Odinoid]

I wouldn't trust it.

well i dont now!but its still 5 pieces of glass that make a tank i need option like i said how to fix please

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Ouch - wish I had some insight on what to do next. Everyone here seems to part the Red Sea at some point. Not a miracle. lol

 

[Üter]

well i dont now!but its still 5 pieces of glass that make a tank i need option like i said how to fix please

some people have professionally re-sealed tanks but I am no help with that. but you'll always be wondering if it's going to leak again. it will be never ending stress. use their equipment and search for a different tank that would fit on the stand. was it a G1 or G2?

 

[Odinoid]

some people have professionally re-sealed tanks but I am no help with that. but you'll always be wondering if it's going to leak again. it will be never ending stress. use their equipment and search for a different tank that would fit on the stand. was it a G1 or G2?

it is a g1 i believe

 

[exnisstech]

It isn't the tank design as many manufacturers have a floating front panel. It also isn't a stand issue as RS would have us believe because small tanks are failing and well as gen2 tank. Many are failing on vertical seams not just the bottom front.
The issue is failure of the silicon used or something in the application.

The only way to correctly reseal it would be to completely disassemble and clean the glass and reassemble. People have done this but it's above my skill set. Trying to seal it by applying silicone on the inside is like putting a bandaid on a nicked artery IMO
The only option I see are a compete reseal or replacement.

EDIT: my reefer 170 failure


They make a heck of a sump though. Survived a 6ft drop out of a front end loader and still holds water

 

[Üter]

it is a g1 i believe

yeah, those had the issues. I think the glass is thinner too on the front so it has more tendency to bow there and not just the stand.

 

[Odinoid]

the glass on the front is 2-3mm thicker than the sides the stand is fine no bowing or warping and has remained level allround

 

[Üter]

the glass on the front is 2-3mm thicker than the sides the stand is fine no bowing or warping and has remained level allround

there are a lot of threads out there. this was the one I was referring about bowing.

Red Sea observations.

So I am picking up a "new to me" used 125g tank a friend turned into a sump. He has a Red Sea tank in his shop we've been discussing for about the last 3 weeks. It was a front seam failure issue, he got the tank for free and is going to reseal and euro brace the tank. One of the first things I...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Odinoid]

there are a lot of threads out there. this was the one I was referring about bowing.

Red Sea observations.

So I am picking up a "new to me" used 125g tank a friend turned into a sump. He has a Red Sea tank in his shop we've been discussing for about the last 3 weeks. It was a front seam failure issue, he got the tank for free and is going to reseal and euro brace the tank. One of the first things I...

www.reef2reef.com

thanks,yes i have the g1 12mm front and rear glass and 10mm both sides. my tank failed from the center front panel so not sure if the side panels would make a difference. im open to suggestions on how to fix or does anyone know of just a tank i can swap out
many thanks

 

[W31Olds]

If money was tight and the glass was good (not scratched up) I would re-seal it, but complete disassembly is a must and all the joints must be squeaky clean before silicone is applied. I would then fill it with FW and let it sit for a week or so while checking for leaks.

 

[Biokabe]

Yes, fundamentally the problem with the Red Sea tanks isn't the design or the stand (with the exception of the problem with the 750XXL tank stands), it's that the silicone is not good for whatever reason.

If the glass itself is still in good condition and you don't mind trading sweat for money, you should be able to salvage it. Expect it to be a giant PITA, as most people don't have the tools or materials needed to build aquariums, especially of that size.

You can look up tutorials on YouTube for how to build tanks, you'd essentially be doing that with the five pieces of glass you have. It's not hard, exactly, but having just redone the silicone in a much less demanding application... it takes a practiced hand to get it right. Most of the people doing the tutorials have a lot of experience doing that and can lay down perfect seams on the first try. They make it look much easier than it really is.

Alternately - if you keep your eyes on local marketplaces, you might be able to find a comparably sized tank for not a lot of money, possibly less than you would spend on silicone + tools to fix your tank. People leaving the hobby often let their tanks go for a steal once the livestock is gone, as it's a bulky item that's otherwise hard to get rid of. In the past I sold a 55g + stand - $300 new - for $75. And plenty of other people let their tanks go for even better deals.

Of course you might not have the luxury to wait for that kind of opportunity to pop up.

 

[Stamboli]

full set up was a steal so im not mad about it!

You seem to be a nice person not to be mad about a company that announces that "only one of a hundred of their tanks empties itself".

As already has been said here the big problem is to remove the silicon from the glass completely. That's really much work. And if you buy a secondhand tank you buy a risk again. If buying a secondhand tank I would only buy a much safer frame tank, never a rimless tank.

 

[FUNGI]

thanks,yes i have the g1 12mm front and rear glass and 10mm both sides. my tank failed from the center front panel so not sure if the side panels would make a difference. im open to suggestions on how to fix or does anyone know of just a tank i can swap out
many thanks

I would check with your LFS......if you fix(re-seal) it, make sure to have "euro" bracing done on the inside bottom also

 

[JonoH]

Cleaning all the glass/removing old silicone and re-siliconing is do-able, but a lot of work.

 

[UncommonSense]

You also need to maintain the correct silicone gap between glass panes when rebuilding the tank completely, as opposed to just “squishing” the panes together… best bet would be a thin lumber jig cut to the exact inside dimensions of an existing tank… this would let you reassemble to a known dimension/silicone gap…

As @FUNGI said, adding thick glass bracing to the seams of the tank’s interior is smart, given that any rimless tanks inherently put far more stress on seams… I would even go so far as adding triangular glass braces to the top interior corners, to help with the often-seen seam peeling from the top down…

 

[FUNGI]

You also need to maintain the correct silicone gap between glass panes when rebuilding the tank completely, as opposed to just “squishing” the panes together… best bet would be a thin lumber jig cut to the exact inside dimensions of an existing tank… this would let you reassemble to a known dimension/silicone gap…

As @FUNGI said, adding thick glass bracing to the seams of the tank’s interior is smart, given that any rimless tanks inherently put far more stress on seams… I would even go so far as adding triangular glass braces to the top interior corners, to help with the often-seen seam peeling from the top down…

I have such braces on the top of my corners albeit acrylic. Glued on with some Weldon glue (i forget which one) that needed a UV light to set.....

 

[UncommonSense]

I have such braces on the top of my corners albeit acrylic. Glued on with some Weldon glue (i forget which one) that needed a UV light to set.....

Would you like me to make you some glass ones? I’m right over in Santa Cruz!

Feel free to send a PM!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

@Fish Fan has resealed tanks i think