Oceanic 140 gallon repair

Shaun Sweeney · Dec 4, 2016

I have an Oceanic 140 gallon tank that has developed a very small leak in the upper right hand corner. I have narrowed the leak down to the top 10" of the tank. The back of the tank is glass and the bow front is not. The seams are all done with a black silicone like substance. Can anyone tell me if tank silicone is the right material to use for the repair? I think a thin bead over the existing bead will probably fix the leak.

Many thanks folks .... Shaun

kashman100 · Dec 4, 2016

Silicone won't stick to silicone. It's best to remove the old caulk first. 140 gallons is a lot of pressure. You should really think about redoing all of the caulk.

Shaun Sweeney · Dec 4, 2016

Thanks for the advice. If I redo the caulk, my first question becomes what product to use considering that I'm dealing with two different materials.

ReefNerd76 · Dec 4, 2016

I would as they said redo the entire tank, but find out what it is that was used previously, scrape off all of the old and reseal the entire tank. Only way to fix it I'm afraid.

cromag27 · Dec 4, 2016

What two materials?

Shaun Sweeney said:
Thanks for the advice. If I redo the caulk, my first question becomes what product to use considering that I'm dealing with two different materials.

kashman100 · Dec 4, 2016

For glass to glass I would Momentive RTV 108 silicone. Just make sure you remove all old silicone and clean with alcohol before sealing. Also let it cure a minimum of 48 hours

Shaun Sweeney · Dec 4, 2016

kashman100 said:
For glass to glass I would Momentive RTV 108 silicone. Just make sure you remove all old silicone and clean with alcohol before sealing. Also let it cure a minimum of 48 hours

Will Momentive stick to acrylic?

ReeferBob · Dec 5, 2016

If you have glass siliconed to acrylic, you are going to have a lot of problems getting these to stay together. Did this break and someone repaired this? I can't imagine a tank coming from the factory with part acrylic and part glass. This is probably why it started to leak in the first place. Silicone does not stick permanently to acrylic.

Shaun Sweeney · Dec 5, 2016

These Oceanic 1/2 pipes are built that way. The back is glass (I know because I drilled it) and the curved front is acrylic. As it turns out, I may have jumped the gun regarding the leak. It looks like it might be the skimmer I installed. I'm going to pull the tank out and tighten the fittings tomorrow. Still, I wonder what they used.