Reconstructing Old Tank

[colemann97]

Hey everyone! I’ve been in the hobby for a little while now (3 years), but I am rebuilding an old tank for the first time. It’s a 135 gallon tank, I removed each panel, scrapped off the old silicone, used acetone to remove the remaining residue, and then reassembled the tank yesterday using the GE ASTM C920 Class 50 supreme silicone. Foolishly, when purchasing the silicone I was distracted by the high adhesion strength. Anyway, since I already have the tank all put back together and curing, I’m wondering… would it be okay to leave the tank assembled (using the GE C920) but strip the inside seal and use the ASI aquarium sealant to reseal it??? My thought process is that none of the GE C920 will be in contact with the water that way AND I wouldn’t have to completely deconstruct the tank again. Please give me some ideas on how to do this as I really don’t want to redo the whole process again with these large, thick, pieces of glass!

 

[Johnd651]

It sounds like it should work the way you think, but I wonder if the mold free part will leech through the ASI silicone?

 

[colemann97]

It sounds like it should work the way you think, but I wonder if the mold free part will leech through the ASI silicone?

That’s pretty much my main worry about doing it that way. I’m tempted to get an arsenic testing kit to use during the cycling process and maybe once a month after that

 

[cilyjr]

Silicone is by nature very resistant to mold and mildew.

To my knowledge very few manufacturers are actually adding additional chemicals to prevent mold.

I am not saying none do, but there's a good chance you don't need to do anything except let it cure.

A quick check of the SDS just showed a bunch of silanes.

 

[colemann97]

Thank you so much! I started removing the inside seal of all the corners today so I’ll use the ASI silicone for that, but having this extra information really helps put my mind at ease that (hopefully) I won’t have any problems with doing that! Hallelujah for not having to deconstruct the entire tank again!

 

[Gjedde]

Curious to see how this went for you. I recently purchased a used 180 and some bubbles in the seam were covered by salt creep! Going to have to totally rebuild!