Michigan Cichlid Association
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: fish fan on October 15, 2012, 12:28:43 PM
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So, I bought a 220 off of craigslist. This tank had never been used. No scratches and it held water. I set it up with a nice sand bed and some texas holey rock. Started filling it up slowly over a span of a few hours. I put 3 filters from other tanks on this and started it all up. I was to the point of letting the fish out of the bags and.....drip, drip, drip woosh. >:( The water can gushing out. Needless to say this f***ed up my weekend. So now I need to clean this out and have it resealed. Is there a company out there that will do that and guarantee it? I don't want to try it myself on this large of a tank.
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How much water poured out? Where did the seam fail?
On one hand I've been looking at large tanks, but on the other I'm worried about the catastrophic failure potential of a big tank. I've dealt with 10, 20, and 50s leaking, and just a little water sure goes a long ways.
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Sorry to hear that man.
As to re-sealing it, I just did a 55 gallon and it was easy.
I went above and beyond when I did it and made sure I got every last piece of silicone out and then some. I went thru about 5 razor blades, and then I taped off the area around the seams with enough of a gap(about 1/2") to allow silicone.
Just do one section at a time, don't be shy with the silicone, wear rubber gloves and when you have the silicone in between the tape, start at the corner or bottom and run your finger up or sideways depending which seam you are doing.
Once you are done remove the tape, and let it dry. Use acetone to remove any unwanted silicone.
Wait 48 hrs before adding water and then another 24 hrs before adding fish
Make sure you are in a well ventilated area as using this much silicone it will start to burn your eyes and stink to high heaven
Any questions ask away, as I am very Diy and cheap LOL
good Luck and again sorry to hear about the leak
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How much water poured out? Where did the seam fail?
On one hand I've been looking at large tanks, but on the other I'm worried about the catastrophic failure potential of a big tank. I've dealt with 10, 20, and 50s leaking, and just a little water sure goes a long ways.
Just about all of it. I had a python hose filling it up an as soon as the water level reached the bottom of the top brace is when the waterfall beagen. The seam failed on the bottom pane. I only know this because the sand was flowing out with the water. Lucky I was standing there when it happened and took both of my siphons and ran them outside as well as bailing with a 5 gallon bucket faster than I have ever done anything in my life! LOL, and the wife happened to come down to look at it as this happened. ::) I think it would be a hard sell to my wife if I reseal myself, that is why I am looking for professional help.
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If your doing it you should always first test fill up tanks in the drive way i know its getting cold so it kind of sucks But as you can see much better then flooding your house. In my area 100 gallons cost $1 so its not like it cost much to do... I have also heard of some companies making large tank like that size and building them for reptile use and use much lower grade products to make the tank cost alot less.. Just thoughts i had on your situation.
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The tank was tested, it held for 2 hours, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it.
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If your doing it you should always first test fill up tanks in the drive way i know its getting cold so it kind of sucks But as you can see much better then flooding your house. In my area 100 gallons cost $1 so its not like it cost much to do... I have also heard of some companies making large tank like that size and building them for reptile use and use much lower grade products to make the tank cost alot less.. Just thoughts i had on your situation.
What would they use that's a lower grade? The components consist of a plastic frame, glass, and silicone. The plastic frame is the same regardless of whether it's for a reptile or fish, the glass didn't break, so that's not the issue.
That leaves silicone, my guess is that either enough silicone wasn't used, or moving the aquarium somehow broke the bond of the silicone between the joints of the aquarium, and the pressure of the full tank caused the leak (or a combination of both).
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What would they use that's a lower grade? The components consist of a plastic frame, glass, and silicone. The plastic frame is the same regardless of whether it's for a reptile or fish, the glass didn't break, so that's not the issue.
I believe that there are some which use thinner glass not designed to hold the pressure when filled with water without catastrophic deflection. That's the one way to save cost.
That leaves silicone, my guess is that either enough silicone wasn't used, or moving the aquarium somehow broke the bond of the silicone between the joints of the aquarium, and the pressure of the full tank caused the leak (or a combination of both).
That's my thought as well - perhaps it dried out or was left in an unheated area and experienced freezing temperatures.
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If you do it yourself purchase some Dow Corning OS-2 silicone cleaner. After you scrap the silicone with the razor blade srub the glass with the OS-2 to get the silicone film off so that the new silicone will adhere to the glass better.
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Bummer!
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How much water poured out? Where did the seam fail?
On one hand I've been looking at large tanks, but on the other I'm worried about the catastrophic failure potential of a big tank. I've dealt with 10, 20, and 50s leaking, and just a little water sure goes a long ways.
Just about all of it. I had a python hose filling it up an as soon as the water level reached the bottom of the top brace is when the waterfall beagen. The seam failed on the bottom pane. I only know this because the sand was flowing out with the water. Lucky I was standing there when it happened and took both of my siphons and ran them outside as well as bailing with a 5 gallon bucket faster than I have ever done anything in my life! LOL, and the wife happened to come down to look at it as this happened. ::) I think it would be a hard sell to my wife if I reseal myself, that is why I am looking for professional help.
** Wouldn't you know it--"The Wife" --came onto the "scene" at the wrong time. ::) To the wife...it was...Perfect Timing.. ???..shock city for the Hubby..."can you come back later dear"...LOL... ;D Sorry this happened--what a Bummer!! >:(
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There is an aquarim maker around 14mile and Dequinderthe name escapes me right now but they will reseal any tank you want its kinda set back off the road and looks like it wouldn't be open to the public but it is, and very nice guys.. Its actually South of 14mile on the east side of Dequnider
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oh no! thats terrible! :(
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There is an aquarim maker around 14mile and Dequinderthe name escapes me right now but they will reseal any tank you want its kinda set back off the road and looks like it wouldn't be open to the public but it is, and very nice guys.. Its actually South of 14mile on the east side of Dequnider
Great Lakes Aquarium is the name of the place. They are awesome.
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There is an aquarim maker around 14mile and Dequinderthe name escapes me right now but they will reseal any tank you want its kinda set back off the road and looks like it wouldn't be open to the public but it is, and very nice guys.. Its actually South of 14mile on the east side of Dequnider
Great Lakes Aquarium is the name of the place. They are awesome.
They are the first and only place I contacted. Unfortunately they will not do a reseal. They said too much work, and they don't want to be liable for the type of tank it is. 30" high is what they believe is the problem. I'm still on the fence about doing this myself. Unless someone is looking for a project and want to buy this off of me ;D
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I've never dealt with that company, but it seems odd to me that they won't do a reseal unless it's that they are concerned about the height of the tank relative to the thickness of the glass. I presume "reseal" would be taking all 5 panes of glass apart and putting them back together and not just a "hobbyist style" reseal of stripping the inside edges of the tank and re-running a bead around the edges.
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You would think that a failure due to pressure causing the glass to flex would happen in the middle of the side, not the bottom where there is a frame providing support.
That sounds more like a problem with the application of the silicone or perhaps the tank flexed when it was moved to the point that the bond with the glass was weakened.
I believe Blair knows someone that reseals tanks.
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I've never dealt with that company, but it seems odd to me that they won't do a reseal unless it's that they are concerned about the height of the tank relative to the thickness of the glass.
I believe Mark is the person I spoke with. He is the one that make all of the tanks himself. He said it is too time consuming to remove all of the silicone. I even said I would do that and just bring him the cleaned glass and frames. He said he still would not do it!
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Sorry for not seeing this earlier... You have a PM. with my reseal guys number included.
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Sorry for not seeing this earlier... You have a PM. with my reseal guys number included.
Blair,
Can you please send this info to me as well?
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Sorry for not seeing this earlier... You have a PM. with my reseal guys number included.
Blair,
Can you please send this info to me as well?
I will, but.... I don't think he has any goats. ;)
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Sorry for not seeing this earlier... You have a PM. with my reseal guys number included.
Blair,
Can you please send this info to me as well?
I will, but.... I don't think he has any goats. ;)
Omar has no more goats?? How about chickens?
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Omar have many many goats, but Dan no have goats
Anybody else want his info?
http://michigancichlid.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=382.msg3107#msg3107