Resealing aquarium question

[Fishy_mcfish]

For anyone who has done this how long do you wait to put water in the tank? I won’t be completely resealing a tank I have but instead I’ll just be redoing the silicone edge guards. So the actual silicone holding the tank glass panels together won’t be touched.
I’ll be using ASI silicone and I believe it says cure time is 24-48 hours depending on bead size.

 

[KrisReef]

The directions are for curing for strength to hold a tank together. The majority of curing strength is completed in by 24-48 hours, but for a plastic rim you can probably get away with 12 hours or more and use the tank safely.

But follow the instructions for best results. I have sealed and filled after 24 hours but I was young and impatient….

 

[Shirak]

For anyone who has done this how long do you wait to put water in the tank? I won’t be completely resealing a tank I have but instead I’ll just be redoing the silicone edge guards. So the actual silicone holding the tank glass panels together won’t be touched.
I’ll be using ASI silicone and I believe it says cure time is 24-48 hours depending on bead size.

Edge guards?

 

[flakko0521]

For anyone who has done this how long do you wait to put water in the tank? I won’t be completely resealing a tank I have but instead I’ll just be redoing the silicone edge guards. So the actual silicone holding the tank glass panels together won’t be touched.
I’ll be using ASI silicone and I believe it says cure time is 24-48 hours depending on bead size.

I recently did the exact thing to a lowboy tank I picked up. Previous owner attempted to do so already and it looked sloppy so I stripped that off and redid it with the ASI silicone, let it cure for somewhere between 48-36 hrs and then filled it up. Held perfectly fine and even let it sit for a week to make sure so I’d say 48 hours would be enough cure time

 

[Barncat]

Hilarious how everyone says "yeah, you're good" to this aquarium getting resealed with the same silicone which I plan to use and they think my 125 gallon which only needs resealing/a chip filled is magically doomed.

48 hours is so short! I was honestly contemplating letting mine cure for an entire week haha.

 

[KrisReef]

Hilarious how everyone says "yeah, you're good" to this aquarium getting resealed with the same silicone which I plan to use and they think my 125 gallon which only needs resealing/a chip filled is magically doomed.

48 hours is so short! I was honestly contemplating letting mine cure for an entire week haha.

The curing process in acrylic seams also gets stronger with time, with much of the final strength achieved in the first few days.

I don’t know the scientifically measured numbers but with silicon and acrylic solvent the seal strength is approaching 90% (or better) by 48 hours, from what I recall.

The gain of waiting longer is mostly for our own peace of minds because having a seam failure is a highly undesirable result.

 

[Barncat]

The curing process in acrylic seams also gets stronger with time, with much of the final strength achieved in the first few days.

I don’t know the scientifically measured numbers but with silicon and acrylic solvent the seal strength is approaching 90% (or better) by 48 hours, from what I recall.

The gain of waiting longer is mostly for our own peace of minds because having a seam failure is a highly undesirable result.

Makes sense! Thank you!

 

[Prowler66gt]

I did this once to a 100 gal. The prep is what I found to be key. You want to make sure you remove ALL traces of the old and clean well before applying the new. For my own sanity, I let mine cure for a week then filled and let it sit for a week outside just in case.