DIY Silicone on a 120 Gal Aquarium

[Adam Houston]

Total newb here! I was wondering if it’s possible to apply new silicone to older silicone without causing any issues? I don’t have any leaks it’s just more of a cosmetic thing. This might be a case of me being too picky but the front corners of my aquarium had been resiliconed in black some time ago and there are some areas that are much thinner than others. I was wondering if I could tape these corners off top to bottom and apply new silicone for some wider and straighter lines?

 

[CasperOe]

If you really can't live with it, you could give it a go I suppose!

However, while new, freshly applied silicone can be applied and will likely bond well to the old silicone (with proper cleaning and preparation first, the bond isn't as strong as if it were applied to a clean glass surface.

 

[Adam Houston]

Thanks for the advice man! Glad to hear that, I wasn’t sure if the new silicone would be prone to peeling off or falling off of the old stuff. If it fuses together fine then I’ll definitely give it a go. I’m just a little too OCD haha

 

[RocketEngineer]

It will NOT bond. Even getting it as clean as possible, the silicone has more adhesion to the glass than it will to the other bead.

 

[Yates273]

I concur with Rocket. Silicone does not bond to silicone. It will eventually peel off and of course as Murphy’s law goes, this will happen when your tank is full of water and thriving with fish and coral. Maybe use some black trim tape or pinstriping on the outside to hide what’s bothering you. Just an idea not sure how that would look.
I think your seams look fine

 

[Adam Houston]

Thanks for the additional insight fellas! I just got the black aquarium silicone from Amazon the other day but I guess I will scratch that idea if it won’t stick to the old stuff. This aquarium has been sitting dry for close to 1 year so I was hoping the additional silicone would not only make it look better but also make sure that the seals don’t leak although it held water just fine when I purchased it.

 

[Rjukan]

Since this is a cosmetic fix, and your water holding seal is actually between the panels, not the corner bead.. you can remove the silicone with a razor blade being careful to stay flush with the glass and not into the seam. Remove the corner bead, clean it well, tape a nice line where you like it, then apply a new bead of silicone in the corner. I did this with my 60g cube 6 years ago and it's still in good condition.

 

[Yates273]

That will work. I did that with my 120. Take a razor and scrape off the exposed silicone. Make sure the glass is very clean. Tape off your corners and re-silicone the corners. As soon as your done peel the tape off before the silicone dries. That aquarium silicone is very strong and skins over pretty fast.

 

[JayM]

If you're just going for aesthetics, why not get some black vinyl wrap and cover the corners on the outside?

 

[Adam Houston]

Man if I had half the skills you guys have I would totally scrape it all off and attempt it myself but I’m afraid if I do that it’s just going to look worse than it is haha