Does removing tower overflow box compromise aquarium seal?

[Spork]

A friend and I recently acquired a "reef-ready"Oceanic 175 gallon (72''x24''x24'') aquarium. The tank came with two pre-installed corner tower overflows (see the first picture). We found these to be a bit of an eyesore and decided we would like to remove them and use external overflows or perhaps drill the glass and install our own internal overflow. However, we did not think about the process of removing the corner overflows very much and essentially just pulled them right out since silicone does not make a strong bond to acrylic.

Our concerns are now:

1) The seal around the bottom of the tank could be compromised (see images below)?

2) If the seal does not leak now, it might in the near future?

Any insights or experiences would be greatly appreciated. We definitely plan to test if the aquarium holds water, but we do not want to get it up and running only to have it fail 6 months from now.

 

[SteveG_inDC]

Seems like if it's a glass tank you can just re-silicone all those problem areas. Might want to cut out some of the existing silicone to add a fresh bead. The biggest risk is that it looks bad (which is true of every seam I've ever sealed with silicone). What will you do with the hole?

 

[Spork]

Seems like if it's a glass tank you can just re-silicone all those problem areas. Might want to cut out some of the existing silicone to add a fresh bead. The biggest risk is that it looks bad (which is true of every seam I've ever sealed with silicone). What will you do with the hole?

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping to just do as you are saying and cut out a bit of silicone and patch it up, but I have seen a lot of other folks saying that the silicone will not stick to itself. Therefore, the entire seal in the whole tank would need to be redone or risk future leaks.

For the left over holes, I was planning on installing bulkheads and then capping them with PVC caps.

 

[SteveG_inDC]

Capped bulkheads are fine, but you'll need to make sure they don't interfere with the stand.

Regarding the possibility of leaks between the new and old silicone, maybe silicone the outside? Looks like the back bottom edge, so won't be visible. I'm not an expert so you'd want another opinion on that from someone who builds or repairs tanks.

 

[Spork]

That is a good point about the stand. Luckily, the stand has pre-cut holes in it in the two back corners that the bulkheads can stick down into.

At this point, I am afraid that I may just need to get a new tank. After talking to a few local aquarium building / repair shops as well as my local aquarium / fish store, the consensus seems to be that it most likely can be patched well and may not leak for 6 months to a year. They all seem to agree that there is a strong possibility the seal is compromised though.

Weighing the risk of thousands of dollars of fish and corals potentially dying if the tank fails and damage to my house, I think it is likely worth the money up-front to get a new tank, unfortunately. If for nothing else, it would provide great peace of mind (at the cost of some cash).

 

[sp1187]

another option if you want to put it back.

 

[Spork]

SP1187, wow, very cool idea for making the most out of a tower overflow. Had not even considered that. My only concern now would be that the damage to the tank seal might already be done. Not sure I can just put the overflow boxes back in.