sump leaking

[brieman]

Woke this morning and went to feed fish, got water between the toes. After checking all the plumbing and main tank, found the sump to be the culprit. It is a 100g glass tank I am using as a sump. Problem is I cannot get the tank out, sitting under a 380g tank and the only way to get it out is to take the whole system down to remove braces. Drained sump and found silicone coming off around bottom panel. Question is can I silicone it myself or is it risky? Is there any special way to do it? Glass panels are not seperating. What kind of silicone should I use?

[5.0Stang]

I would say do it yourself if you already got water between your toes but then again that might be why my wife hates me! Then again i heard some1 around here say its the thin bead of silicone between the panels is the one that matters most. I took apart my 20 gal fuge when it was leaking and gave up and called FA to fix it, but i can take that tank out from under the stand easy. Last time i was lookin for silicone though i couldnt find one that said it was good for tanks over soo tall so i dunno?

[matt]

You might be able to rig up some jacks to handle the load while you remove enough braces to inch the tank out. You could also, and maybe this is a last resort, just break the tank in place, remove the pieces, and fit a new smaller sump in place. Trying to fix it in place would be tough, but maybe someone knows how to do it. I could do it with an acrylic sump easy if I could get to the leaky spot. Maybe someone with a lot of silicone/glass experience can do it.

[Ping]

I Think Louis @ Aquatic warehouse has experience re-doing seals. I would give him a call for advice.

[caferacermike]

I like Matt's idea of breaking the old one and removing it, then have a sump and refugium built in 2 pieces, join them with a pipe and bullheads. Ace could make something from Acrylic that would be much easier to work with.

[urban79]

I like Matt's idea of breaking the old one and removing it, then have a sump and refugium built in 2 pieces, join them with a pipe and bullheads. Ace could make something from Acrylic that would be much easier to work with.


GOOD IDEA!!!!!!!! I would try fixing it first and if it dont work then go ape crap on it...

[brewercm]

If you have enough room under there to work with it you can break it down where it sits. It is going to take you a long time and a lot of patience working the panel off. I think you just need to slowly take a razor utility knife and keep running it along the seem until you finally get it to give.

Like Ping said though. Louis or one of the LFS's around might be able to give you some excellent advice to work with.

[brieman]

It was a chore but got it broken down and out without breaking it. Now need to get some ideas and measurements and a design plan and have Ace design a two piece sump/fuge that will fit under the stand.