How to tell if seals are still good on tank

[Reefer Matt]

You cannot reseal a tank despite all the “wisdom” in this thread. Once the silicone has bonded to the glass, you cannot slap more silicone over the top and have it do anything useful. Any shop that offers is a shop that I wouldn’t return to. Those seems look fine to me, put it in your garage and fill it with freshwater to make sure there isn’t a leak somewhere you can’t see.

What makes you think you can’t reseal an aquarium? People do it all the time, and I have as well. The old silicone has to be removed first, surfaces cleaned and prepped, then reseal it with aquarium safe silicone. Some will even go a step further and completely dismantle the tank and rebuild it. I do agree that putting new silicone over old won’t do anything though.

 

[MrPike]

What makes you think you can’t reseal an aquarium? People do it all the time, and I have as well. The old silicone has to be removed first, surfaces cleaned and prepped, then reseal it with aquarium safe silicone. Some will even go a step further and completely dismantle the tank and rebuild it. I do agree that putting new silicone over old won’t do anything though.

Conversations with reputable tank builders.

Supposedly it has something to to with the silicone being stuck to the glass even though we have scraped it off, it’s still there and prevents proper adhesion later.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Conversations with reputable tank builders.

Supposedly it has something to to with the silicone being stuck to the glass even though we have scraped it off, it’s still there and prevents proper adhesion later.

Nope... you rub the surface with acetone and it's clean.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You cannot reseal a tank despite all the “wisdom” in this thread. Once the silicone has bonded to the glass, you cannot slap more silicone over the top and have it do anything useful. Any shop that offers is a shop that I wouldn’t return to. Those seems look fine to me, put it in your garage and fill it with freshwater to make sure there isn’t a leak somewhere you can’t see.

I will disagree here. I have resealed tanks for at least 75 other persons with 100% success and some were very large tanks. It has to be done right- not applying silicone or silicone over old silicone

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for all the info. Is redoing the seals difficult? It seems like it could get sloppy pretty easily. @vetteguy53081 any instructions would be helpful. I could at least evaluate if it’s something I’d be comfortable tackling.

Its asy yes and just sent you info

 

[Reefer Matt]

Conversations with reputable tank builders.

Supposedly it has something to to with the silicone being stuck to the glass even though we have scraped it off, it’s still there and prevents proper adhesion later.

Ok, I understand. They may have that opinion which drives others to believe it as well. I let those that make claims like that present their evidence before believing it or not though. And imo it’s also possible they just wanted to sell you a new tank rather than you reseal a used one.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Thanks for all the info. Is redoing the seals difficult? It seems like it could get sloppy pretty easily. @vetteguy53081 any instructions would be helpful. I could at least evaluate if it’s something I’d be comfortable tackling.

Good use of masking tape will keep the silicone lines beautiful

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I have done a few and it is very easy. The key is to take your time on the prep work and make sure you don't cut into the seams when scraping the old silicone. If done correctly it is one of the most satisfying things I've done. Now you have a chance to change the color of the silicone. I use black on my last build and was very happy.

 

[MrPike]

Doesn’t change the fact that the seems in the picture are fine, and it’s only the only issue is cosmetic. Cutting those glass panes and scraping the silicone and trying to do it yourself is in my opinion a poor decision.

If you want to clean up the edges of the ragged silicone with a razor without digging into the seem at all, and then redoing cosmetic silicone I’m sure that’s fine, but honestly not worth the effort.

 

[Northern Flicker]

I think the silicone looks fine but I personally wouldn’t trust a 10 year old tank to hold water. It probably will, but I’d just get a new tank or diy repair.

 

[braaap]

Seals are what keep the water from leaking. SEAMS are the "protective layer" that hold the glass panels together. The seams are located in between the panels of glass where they meet. The seams main purpose is not meant to keep water out. They might for a little amount of time but that's not what they're there for and they will eventually bust. The SEALs purpose is to keep the water in the tank, but it's not meant to hold the glass panels together. From the pictures the SEAL obviously needs to be redone. If OP fills them with water they will eventually bust, then the SEAMS won't be able to keep the water in for long if at all before the tank starts leaking. I can't tell the condition of the SEAMS so I can't say if those need to be redone. I can only see that the SEALS are peeling and severely damaged and those need to be re-done. OP needs to scrape all the silicone from the SEAL off, clean it and reapply silicone. Hope that makes sense

Ya. No. There isn’t a difference. All the silicone is one entity. If it’s peeling then it could be compromised somewhere. This just looks cosmetic. The little bit outside of the joint isn’t a “seal” or anything else. It’s just the nature of building a tank. It plays no structural purpose.

 

[braaap]

Ok, I understand. They may have that opinion which drives others to believe it as well. I let those that make claims like that present their evidence before believing it or not though. And imo it’s also possible they just wanted to sell you a new tank rather than you reseal a used one.

Back in the day it was believed that the silicone filled the microscopic pores of the glass and was impossible to clean. I saw a supposed magnified image of it once when someone was trying to prove it.

That said I’ve seen tons of properly resealed tanks and they look just as good and likely have the exact same failure rate as anything else. It’s all in the prep.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Doesn’t change the fact that the seems in the picture are fine, and it’s only the only issue is cosmetic. Cutting those glass panes and scraping the silicone and trying to do it yourself is in my opinion a poor decision.

If you want to clean up the edges of the ragged silicone with a razor without digging into the seem at all, and then redoing cosmetic silicone I’m sure that’s fine, but honestly not worth the effort.

I disagree, I would not want to look at those edges in my reef. Anyone who has done this properly would say it was well worth it and were glad they did it.

 

[MrPike]

I will disagree here. I have resealed tanks for at least 75 other persons with 100% success and some were very large tanks. It has to be done right- not applying silicone or silicone over old silicone

Then you have managed to do something that the professional tank builders advise against.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Then you have managed to do something that the professional tank builders advise against.

And Thomas Edison said DC power was the way forward

 

[MrPike]

I disagree, I would not want to look at those edges in my reef. Anyone who has done this properly would say it was well worth it and were glad they did it.

You including the people who redid a tank that wasn’t leaking, screwed up and had it rupture? Or the people who did it “correctly” according to this thread and still had it leak?

I’m guessing those people would wish they ignored the ragged edges and focused on cool coral.

If ragged edges are a deal breaker then buy a new tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Then you have managed to do something that the professional tank builders advise against.

They want to encourage a new purchase mainly. I was friends with the Ristows who owned all glass aquarium’s and the process is quite simple and they even had factory seconds from reseal work
I think there a few who have attested to a successful job in resealing and some simply don’t have funds to acquire a new tank and stand

 

[braaap]

Then you have managed to do something that the professional tank builders advise against.

You are barking up the wrong tree. Because Reef Savvy has redone tanks before. Widely considered the best tank builder out there.


There is even a thread here where someone ordered a Reef Savvy. It came broken. Felix shipped out new glass for a side and redid it on site.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

You including the people who redid a tank that wasn’t leaking, screwed up and had it rupture? Or the people who did it “correctly” according to this thread and still had it leak?

I’m guessing those people would wish they ignored the ragged edges and focused on cool coral.

If ragged edges are a deal breaker then buy a new tank.

First off there are some tanks that are not a candidate to be resealed. This is not one of them. The other is " properly done"

 

[MrPike]

You are barking up the wrong tree. Because Reef Savvy has redone tanks before. Widely considered the best tank builder out there.


There is even a thread here where someone ordered a Reef Savvy. It came broken. Felix shipped out new glass for a side and redid it on site.

Reef Saavy is allowed to redo tanks because they are the best tank builder out there.

Advising some guy on a forum that he should cut the seems of his tank because they are ragged and that resealing them is a good idea because Reef Saavy can do it seems ridiculous.