Have you ever wanted, or needed to reseal your aquarium for any reason? It leaks, or perhaps you are sick of looking at the blue quick cured silicone.
Well, I resealed a 40 gallon last week, and took step by step photos. It wasn't that hard to do really. As for which silicone to use, any clear silicone that does not say "kitchen or bath". I used GE All Purpose Silicone I.
Some might say "not for use on aquariums". I believe this is just the manufacturer's way of disclaiming lawsuits *if* the silicone doesn't hold.
Step 1.
Use a sharp knife and remove the existing seam. Do this my inserting between the glass and pushing down. Use a razor blade and make sure all of the old silicone is removed. Vaccum off any dust. Clean, with vinegar and water, and let dry. It is very important that the two contact surfaces are extremely clean, dry, and clear of dust.
Step 2.
Apply a liberal amount of silicone on the glass.
Step 3.
Push the pieces of glass together gently, and once it is in the correct place, apply weight on top to hold it in place.
Run a bead of silicone along the inside to make the seam watertight.
Step 4.
After that is done, apply a large amount of weight. I estimate there is probably 150-200 pounds of rocks on that glass.
Step 5.
Wait a few days for the seam to dry. (I waited a week). Gently move the tank outside and fill it up. 2 days later there has not been a leak.
There you have it. 5 steps to resealing a tank.
I have not yet attempted to remove and replace a bottm panel, or have not attempted to build a tank from scratch.
Well, I resealed a 40 gallon last week, and took step by step photos. It wasn't that hard to do really. As for which silicone to use, any clear silicone that does not say "kitchen or bath". I used GE All Purpose Silicone I.
Some might say "not for use on aquariums". I believe this is just the manufacturer's way of disclaiming lawsuits *if* the silicone doesn't hold.
Step 1.
Use a sharp knife and remove the existing seam. Do this my inserting between the glass and pushing down. Use a razor blade and make sure all of the old silicone is removed. Vaccum off any dust. Clean, with vinegar and water, and let dry. It is very important that the two contact surfaces are extremely clean, dry, and clear of dust.
Step 2.
Apply a liberal amount of silicone on the glass.
Step 3.
Push the pieces of glass together gently, and once it is in the correct place, apply weight on top to hold it in place.
Run a bead of silicone along the inside to make the seam watertight.
Step 4.
After that is done, apply a large amount of weight. I estimate there is probably 150-200 pounds of rocks on that glass.
Step 5.
Wait a few days for the seam to dry. (I waited a week). Gently move the tank outside and fill it up. 2 days later there has not been a leak.
There you have it. 5 steps to resealing a tank.
I have not yet attempted to remove and replace a bottm panel, or have not attempted to build a tank from scratch.
At the same time I had also used this on another tank of which I had a Black Moor-Pugsy, and a Chocolate Oranda-Cookie, and some Otto's-the Otto's died after a few days, and Pugsy and Cookie started acting funky all of a sudden and no longer wanted to eat. Being that these two are piggies, I knew that they HAD to come out! They are now recovering in a smaller tank and I hope that they come out of it! I also used this on a 15 Gallon of which had two Cichlids in it, just over night, and it hit them, but they are now recovering in a small tank as well and eating. I am now going to switch to the Silicone I as I have read many times over that it IS safe, so I am willing to give it a try. I guess the biggest lesson here is, that no matter what you use, give it WAY MORE TIME to cure than the package says to! I am going to wait a couple more days before I start cycling the last two tanks again just to be safe. Hope to hear about more lessons learned from all of you!