Silicone repair?

[reslawski1]

Hi I bought a 180 gallon aquarium 2nd hand and I found this gross looking seal is there any way I can repair this WITHOUT completely taking the whole aquarium apart? The front corners don’t look to good either.

 

[UncommonSense]

Hi I bought a 180 gallon aquarium 2nd hand and I found this gross looking seal is there any way I can repair this WITHOUT completely taking the whole aquarium apart? The front corners don’t look to good either.

Thankfully, this bead of silicone along the interior of the tank’s glass seams is primarily cosmetic, and doesn’t significantly affect the structural strength of the tank!

It can be gently cut out with a razor, before thoroughly cleaning the glass, then laying new silicone beads…

But, given how far the interior silicone is worn down, it’s possible that this tank’s actual structural glass:glass silicone seams are compromised….

— you can check the silicone which actually between each of the glass panes (all eight seams) by examining each seam from the outside of the tank, through the glass itself! — you should ideally be seeing perfectly consistent black lines at each seam, no shiny mirror finish areas, or distinct bubbles/damage!

 

[reslawski1]

Hi I bought a 180 gallon aquarium 2nd hand and I found this gross looking seal is there any way I can repair this WITHOUT completely taking the whole aquarium apart? The front corners don’t look to good either.

Thankfully, this bead of silicone along the interior of the tank’s glass seams is primarily cosmetic, and doesn’t significantly affect the structural strength of the tank!

It can be gently cut out with a razor, before thoroughly cleaning the glass, then laying new silicone beads…

But, given how far the interior silicone is worn down, it’s possible that this tank’s actual structural glass:glass silicone seams are compromised….

— you can check the silicone which actually between each of the glass panes (all eight seams) by examining each seam from the outside of the tank, through the glass itself! — you should ideally be seeing perfectly consistent black lines at each seam, no shiny mirror finish areas, or distinct bubbles/damage!

Thank you so much for your response, however how do I look for the seam of the one on the bottom of the tank? I can’t quite see the seal due to the brace on the bottom?

 

[reslawski1]

Hi I bought a 180 gallon aquarium 2nd hand and I found this gross looking seal is there any way I can repair this WITHOUT completely taking the whole aquarium apart? The front corners don’t look to good either.

Thankfully, this bead of silicone along the interior of the tank’s glass seams is primarily cosmetic, and doesn’t significantly affect the structural strength of the tank!

It can be gently cut out with a razor, before thoroughly cleaning the glass, then laying new silicone beads…

But, given how far the interior silicone is worn down, it’s possible that this tank’s actual structural glass:glass silicone seams are compromised….

— you can check the silicone which actually between each of the glass panes (all eight seams) by examining each seam from the outside of the tank, through the glass itself! — you should ideally be seeing perfectly consistent black lines at each seam, no shiny mirror finish areas, or distinct bubbles/damage!

Maybe you can tell me from this photo but I had to remove some calcified coraline algae from it and I cleaned it with some water to get a better look and this is what it looks like is there anything g here that can tell us anything?

 

[UncommonSense]

Thank you so much for your response, however how do I look for the seam of the one on the bottom of the tank? I can’t quite see the seal due to the brace on the bottom?

I’ve had my best luck flipping the tank on its side, then sticking my head inside the tank to look from the interior, and looking from the exterior bottom… either side of the bottom pane requires you to look through the glass pane at a pretty extreme angle!

— a bright point light source like your phone’s flashlight can help you look for light grey “cloudy” areas within the black silicone (internal tearing/voids), and shiny mirror finished areas within the structural seams (silicone peeling off the glass)!

— you want to examine both sides of each of the eight seams very carefully; imagine a structural silicone seam as a piece of paper between two panes of glass; to view both sides of that paper, you need to view through each of the adjoining glass panes!

If you need any reference photos, search here on R2R for “seam failure”, or similar!

 

[UncommonSense]

Maybe you can tell me from this photo but I had to remove some calcified coraline algae from it and I cleaned it with some water to get a better look and this is what it looks like is there anything g here that can tell us anything?

It’s hard to say, the half of the actual important part of the seam that’s visible looks good (there’s some minor peeling at the periphery, but that’s the silicone inside the bottom plastic frame, outside the tank!)

— try examining from a much more extreme angle, through the glass pane as you are here!

— you may struggle to get a photo from such a extreme viewing angle due to glare, so just start by doin a round of inspections on both sides of all eight structural seams for anything that just doesn’t look like a consistent, perfect strip of black silicone between glass panes! (Use your vertical seams as visual examples, they’re easier to see!)

 

[reslawski1]

Maybe you can tell me from this photo but I had to remove some calcified coraline algae from it and I cleaned it with some water to get a better look and this is what it looks like is there anything g here that can tell us anything?

It’s hard to say, the half of the actual important part of the seam that’s visible looks good (there’s some minor peeling at the periphery, but that’s the silicone inside the bottom plastic frame, outside the tank!)

— try examining from a much more extreme angle, through the glass pane as you are here!

— you may struggle to get a photo from such a extreme viewing angle due to glare, so just start by doin a round of inspections on both sides of all eight structural seams for anything that just doesn’t look like a consistent, perfect strip of black silicone between glass panes! (Use your vertical seams as visual examples, they’re easier to see!)

Ok got it thank you, however the seal in this photo is supposed to be clear, it’s kind of a weird coloring mix with the seals. What should I look out for with the clear?

 

[reslawski1]

Thank you so much for your response, however how do I look for the seam of the one on the bottom of the tank? I can’t quite see the seal due to the brace on the bottom?

I’ve had my best luck flipping the tank on its side, then sticking my head inside the tank to look from the interior, and looking from the exterior bottom… either side of the bottom pane requires you to look through the glass pane at a pretty extreme angle!

— a bright point light source like your phone’s flashlight can help you look for light grey “cloudy” areas within the black silicone (internal tearing/voids), and shiny mirror finished areas within the structural seams (silicone peeling off the glass)!

— you want to examine both sides of each of the eight seams very carefully; imagine a structural silicone seam as a piece of paper between two panes of glass; to view both sides of that paper, you need to view through each of the adjoining glass panes!

If you need any reference photos, search here on R2R for “seam failure”, or similar!

lol I wish I could, I might just have to dig deeper but all I see is Red Sea seal leaks so far but will keep researching!

 

[UncommonSense]

Ok got it thank you, however the seal in this photo is supposed to be clear, it’s kind of a weird coloring mix with the seals. What should I look out for with the clear?

Good catch!

It does look like the bottom structural seams are clear silicone, but the interior of the tank is done in black silicone… this suggests someone has done a cosmetic “reseal” on it before in the past…

Would you be willing to get a photo of one of the vertical seams as viewed through the exterior of a long front or rear glass pane?

 

[reslawski1]

Ok got it thank you, however the seal in this photo is supposed to be clear, it’s kind of a weird coloring mix with the seals. What should I look out for with the clear?

Good catch!

It does look like the bottom structural seams are clear silicone, but the interior of the tank is done in black silicone… this suggests someone has done a cosmetic “reseal” on it before in the past…

Would you be willing to get a photo of one of the vertical seams as viewed through the exterior of a long front or rear glass pane?

He’s and is this what you were talking about? Looks like moisture??

Are these what you meant?

 

[reslawski1]

Ok got it thank you, however the seal in this photo is supposed to be clear, it’s kind of a weird coloring mix with the seals. What should I look out for with the clear?

Good catch!

It does look like the bottom structural seams are clear silicone, but the interior of the tank is done in black silicone… this suggests someone has done a cosmetic “reseal” on it before in the past…

Would you be willing to get a photo of one of the vertical seams as viewed through the exterior of a long front or rear glass pane?

He’s and is this what you were talking about? Looks like moisture??

Are these what you meant?

 

[reslawski1]

Ok got it thank you, however the seal in this photo is supposed to be clear, it’s kind of a weird coloring mix with the seals. What should I look out for with the clear?

Good catch!

It does look like the bottom structural seams are clear silicone, but the interior of the tank is done in black silicone… this suggests someone has done a cosmetic “reseal” on it before in the past…

Would you be willing to get a photo of one of the vertical seams as viewed through the exterior of a long front or rear glass pane?

He’s and is this what you were talking about? Looks like moisture??

Are these what you meant?

 

[reslawski1]

Ok got it thank you, however the seal in this photo is supposed to be clear, it’s kind of a weird coloring mix with the seals. What should I look out for with the clear?

Good catch!

It does look like the bottom structural seams are clear silicone, but the interior of the tank is done in black silicone… this suggests someone has done a cosmetic “reseal” on it before in the past…

Would you be willing to get a photo of one of the vertical seams as viewed through the exterior of a long front or rear glass pane?

The person I bought it from said they had bought it new about 5 years ago and I’m looking at the birth tag and it was made it 2020 but maybe I’ll ask if he has resealed it at any point.

 

[UncommonSense]

Okay, now THAT looks like an issue!

Do the other vertical seams look similar?

My immediate thought is that whoever had it before you tried to reseal it, hoping to inject silicone into the seam between panes after cutting some of the factory silicone out…

The clear silicone looks a lot like it was added later… very strange…

 

[reslawski1]

Okay, now THAT looks like an issue!

Do the other vertical seams look similar?

My immediate thought is that whoever had it before you tried to reseal it, hoping to inject silicone into the seam between panes after cutting some of the factory silicone out…

The clear silicone looks a lot like it was added later… very strange…

The other corner has much smaller parts that look like this but the corner you are currently looking at is the worst of it.

 

[UncommonSense]

The other corner has much smaller parts that look like this but the corner you are currently looking at is the worst of it.

That is very, very unusual…

Is the entirety of the bottom structural seams clear silicone? — just that cosmetic bead of black silicone inside the tank at the bottom?

I’m trying to fathom how a professional tank builder would switch silicone colors halfway through tank assembly…

It was clearly up and running in this format, given the coralline algae/general calcification… was it dry when you arrived to purchase it?

 

[reslawski1]

The other corner has much smaller parts that look like this but the corner you are currently looking at is the worst of it.

That is very, very unusual…

Is the entirety of the bottom structural seams clear silicone? — just that cosmetic bead of black silicone inside the tank at the bottom?

I’m trying to fathom how a professional tank builder would switch silicone colors halfway through tank assembly…

It was clearly up and running in this format, given the coralline algae/general calcification… was it dry when you arrived to purchase it?

Yes it is super weird but it looks like they just ran out because look at this, the black and clear mix together

 

[UncommonSense]

Yes it is super weird but it looks like they just ran out because look at this, the black and clear mix together

That’s so strange….

Well, technically, the primary difference is pigment to change the clear to black… so, as long as they were both applied at the same time, vs. one being used after the other was dry; it shouldn’t affect structural integrity!

It will make searching for defects much more challenging, though!

 

[reslawski1]

Yes it is super weird but it looks like they just ran out because look at this, the black and clear mix together

That’s so strange….

Well, technically, the primary difference is pigment to change the clear to black… so, as long as they were both applied at the same time, vs. one being used after the other was dry; it shouldn’t affect structural integrity!

It will make searching for defects much more challenging, though!

That is true I’m actually just going to take it apart and reseal it it’s not worth any damages or losses at this point and I have more than enough time to deal with this, and I have my own LLC helping people with aquariums so I feel like I’m obligated to know how to properly take an aquarium apart and put it back together again without any issues. Also I’ve got king of DIY on my side so I think I’ll be alright

 

[UncommonSense]

That is true I’m actually just going to take it apart and reseal it it’s not worth any damages or losses at this point and I have more than enough time to deal with this, and I have my own LLC helping people with aquariums so I feel like I’m obligated to know how to properly take an aquarium apart and put it back together again without any issues. Also I’ve got king of DIY on my side so I think I’ll be alright

A full rebuild is a very demanding job!

The primary issues you’ll run into are the likes of glass weight: I can’t tell if the tank is 1/2”, or 3/4” thick glass… the former would be a bit shy of 100lbs per-long pane, the latter would be well over 100lbs-per…

You get 10-20mins (depending on silicone) to actually assemble the entire tank less top plastic rim… the silicone skins over fairly quickly and makes a mess if “tooled”…

The glass has to be immaculately clean, completely and totally free of old silicone… the pros actually use 99%+ anhydrous isopropyl alcohol for final glass prep, specifically so no water gets left behind…

If the panes are pressed too tightly together or too loose/far apart, you can end up with a structurally compromised seam… also, the top plastic rim still has to fit over the four panes… (the plastic rim is nearly impossible to remove without damaging it; replacements are sold, but they are to exact dimensions… if your tank is even 1/4” longer or shorter; the replacement rim won’t fit!)

Silicone choice is another factor; you will need multiple tubes of whichever type you pick! (I personally prefer clear silicone, purely because it allows you to check your work, and thoroughly inspect your structural seams over time! (Black silicone hides defects and early warning signs prior to seam failure!)