Resealing a tank

[prof]

What do y'all know about resealing tanks?

I have resealed some smaller tanks. Just scrape out all of the old silicon, clean the glass and reseal with new aquarium grade silicon.

I am considering resealing a large tank and want to know what kind of trouble I could get into.

Does anyone in Austin reseal tanks?

[DW1230]

I don't know about Austin, since I'm from Dallas. But I've called almost everyone in the DFW area asking to reseal a tank with a new piece of glass. I tried everything from glass companies to pet stores to custom aquarium builders themselves. Nobody is willing to fix it, mainly because of liability issues, regardless of whether I signed a liability waiver or not. The advice I got from most was to just buy a new tank. Of course it's not the best news to hear, considering I bought a 135 gallon and my moving person broke the tank the same day and I never got a penny back for it. :evil: I've done a lot of searching on the internet and found basically the same as what you posted already, about scraping every last bit of the old silicone from the area, cleaning it very well, and applying lots of new silicone, insert the new glass, make sure there's no air bubbles, and take it from there. I think it's a lot easier said than done, especially with large tanks. Someone else also told me that it helps to make sure you put the glass down and let all sides of the glass hit the silicone all at once, and this eliminates the chance of getting too many air bubbles. That's about all I know at this point, sorry it wasn't the best news, I know how it is! Best of luck to you! [/list]

[prof]

I have never replaced any glass, just replaced old silicone.

I ended up not buying the leaker tank that I was considering so it is kinda a non-issue but still a chance for a good thread.

[DW1230]

Oh okay, sorry I was thinking you had to replace some glass, as in my unfortunate situation. But I also have a 48 gallon I bought which had a slight leak. I found it very easy in re-sealing, just using a small single edge razor to scrape the old silicone out, and applying new silicone liberally and letting dry for 48 hours. It worked out just fine for me. Sometimes the leaker tanks are worth it if they are selling for super cheap, as long as there aren't any cracks or broken glass.

[brewercm]

I had a 40 hex once that split a seem while I was at work. My ex-wife called and said there was a major mess on the floor. I removed the sealant that I could and like DW1230 said, just applied the crap out of it, paying special attention in trying to push as much into the edge as possible.
Didn't leak any more after that and I did it with the water still in the tank just below the spill line.