Aquarium reseal

rynosaurus · Jan 13, 2019

Good morning everyone,
I am currently In the process of resealing my aquarium so that I can finally upgrade! I’ve got all of the old silicon out and I’m cleaning everything. Here’s my question, how this does the bead of sealant need to be? If I use my finger to lay out the bead it’ll be rather thick and easy to see but I have a small tool that can make the bead much smaller and harder to see. I would love to make the seem small but don’t want to compromise anything.
Thanks for any help!

dantimdad · Jan 13, 2019

I use painters tape and lay out the lines for the edges of the seals.

You use your finger to smooth the caulk and immediately remove the tape.

You should have clean unobtrusive seams if you use a good quality aquarium sealant.

rynosaurus · Jan 13, 2019

Ok maybe the better question is how far from the corner do I tape off to stop the sealant

dantimdad · Jan 13, 2019

I prefer about 3/8" to 1/2" Been resealing and building tanks for almost 30 years.

rynosaurus · Jan 13, 2019

Thank you!

dantimdad · Jan 13, 2019

Welcome!

Dramad1 · Jan 13, 2019

Lil tip for larger tanks, layer the tape in the order you plan to pull it off.
For larger tanks, I'd run your bead in 2 ft beads, smooth the bead out, then start peeling tape back 2 ft at a time to get a nice smooth bead.
If you silicone the entire tank first then smooth it out, then remove the tape, depending on temp and working time of the silicone.....it may start to set and cause an ugly seam.
Working from one side of the tank to the other, making short beads and smoothing out then removing tape moving quickly and working your way down works best from my past experiences.

rynosaurus · Jan 13, 2019

I’ve been mentally planning it for a while how I’m going to get it done fast enough that it doesn’t start to set so this idea may work.
One other dumb question. I purchased GE100%silicon to use for this job due to the many articles I’ve read stating that it will not harm the tank. As I read the instructions on the tube it clearly states not for underwater or aquarium use! Should I be worried lol

jsvand5 · Jan 13, 2019

How large is the tank? Did you remove all the panels and replace the structural silicone? The seams that you are talking about can be as thick or thin as you’d like. They aren’t structural. Their purpose is mainly just to give a buffer to protect the seams from algae scrapers. The silicone between the panes of glass is what is really important. GE silicone is safe, but not as strong as what manufactures use to build tanks.