Need tank resealer

[Steve]

Not really. It's been about 6 months since it leaked and my memory sucks to begin with, but if I remember right I think it was low on the right front of the tank somewhere.

[jcunningham0295]

Not really. It's been about 6 months since it leaked and my memory sucks to begin with, but if I remember right I think it was low on the right front of the tank somewhere.

Like where the bottom joins with one of the other panels?  If so, I am just throwing this out there, is it in a spot you could remove the silicon and add a glass patch?  Just a suggestion I was given by one of the tank building companies I talked to today.

[Steve]

I think that's about where Josh but I honestly am not 100% sure. I remember it was mostly running down the right front corner of the tank when it was leaking, and I couldn't see any leak from up on the vertical edge of the corner at the time. Then again with it being built into the wall I couldn't get a real good look at that area at the time either so it's really hard to say for sure, but I think it was most likely from the bottom right front.

Then again you know how it is, it could be from somewhere else on the bottom but just running through the trim and finding it's way down the right side of the stand. So hard to say for sure.

[danielratti]

Get all the board members together. I've build tanks both glass and acrylic wish I could help but a little strapped for time right now.

[Steve]

I'm gonna order the liquid rubber this weekend. Gonna give this a try, have nothing to lose and at best, maybe I will have found a way to help others that have a leaker. Will report back how this goes.

[Ron]

Not sure if you've already ordered the rubber product, but I came across this and thought of your tank:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?545519-Tank-resealing-w-no-silicon-at-all-1700-Gallons

[Steve]

Thanks Ron. I actually haven't ordered it yet because I was kicking around the idea of just trying to silicone it again myself and see what happened before I did the liquid rubber last resort attempt. I'll check out the link you posted more thoroughly this evening when I have more free time to read it all 

[Steve]

Been doing some reading on that stuff Ron, so far I think it sounds like it might be even better than the other stuff I was going to get. Slightly higher priced but at this point as long as it works I'm not too worried about the price. Sounds like it is much more durable from the tensile strength tests and usages they are suggesting for it. Going to do a bit more googling/research on it still but I think I may go with that stuff instead of the original one I was  looking at.

 

[Ron]

My brief impression is that it was better as well for sealing nearly anything water tight.

The benefit using silicone is that it's possible to remove and redo. I don't think these other options will offer anything like that. Since you've got an elaborate background and have it setup in-wall, I don't think you need it to look pretty though ... just need it water tight.

If you do give the silicone route another shot, I'd get something "better" than what you'll commonly see recommended or will find at Home Depot or Lowes. I can't locate my bookmarks on the topic, but here is an example:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17362483&postcount=19

I've used GE 1 for a number of reseal jobs,, but I think a rather large tank would be better served with a higher strength silicone. Maybe it's no different, after all the depth of the water is what determines the water pressure on the sides largely, but spending a little more and waiting on shipping, to me would be worth the piece of mind with a couple hundred gallons of water being held back.

[danielratti]

Scs1000 is what a couple places that I know who make tanks use.  So if you wanna give it a shot with that I'd say try that

[Steve]

Hmmmm. I'm not worried about the price because like I said if it works then that's all that matters at this point. I'm just wondering what the difference could be though...isn't 100% silicone gonna be 100% silicon no matter who makes it? Just tryin to understand why one would be listed different than another if they are both 100% silicon.


EDIT- Found the answer to my own question. Some variances in tensile strength between different 100% silicone.

[mibwb]

Hang in there Steve..accomplishments come through perseverance.

[fishandcards]

Hmmmm. I'm not worried about the price because like I said if it works then that's all that matters at this point. I'm just wondering what the difference could be though...isn't 100% silicone gonna be 100% silicon no matter who makes it? Just tryin to understand why one would be listed different than another if they are both 100% silicon.


EDIT- Found the answer to my own question. Some variances in tensile strength between different 100% silicone.

If you want the highly technical answer, I can start with saying that silicone is a polymer.  this means that silicone can have different lengths of molecules (usually referred to as average molecular weight).

If I remember correctly, silicone is dimethyl siloxane.  I had a lab class in college where we made this.  Lower molecular weights made an awesome lubricant - slicker than snot (reference silicone lubricant sprays).  Higher molecular weights had higher vicosity and would eventually become a solid......

This is from 20+ years ago.....may have mixed something up.

Bottom line, it is all called silicone, but you can drastically different material properties and out right behavior with different polymer chain lengths.

This is what i get for getting a degree in chemical engineering......

[Steve]

Hmmmm. I'm not worried about the price because like I said if it works then that's all that matters at this point. I'm just wondering what the difference could be though...isn't 100% silicone gonna be 100% silicon no matter who makes it? Just tryin to understand why one would be listed different than another if they are both 100% silicon.


EDIT- Found the answer to my own question. Some variances in tensile strength between different 100% silicone.

If you want the highly technical answer, I can start with saying that silicone is a polymer.  this means that silicone can have different lengths of molecules (usually referred to as average molecular weight).

If I remember correctly, silicone is dimethyl siloxane.  I had a lab class in college where we made this.  Lower molecular weights made an awesome lubricant - slicker than snot (reference silicone lubricant sprays).  Higher molecular weights had higher vicosity and would eventually become a solid......

This is from 20+ years ago.....may have mixed something up.

Bottom line, it is all called silicone, but you can drastically different material properties and out right behavior with different polymer chain lengths.

This is what i get for getting a degree in chemical engineering......

Thanks always appreciate good info. I did a lot of searching (was up till about 6am last night lol) and one thing I found was most people saying the strongest is the scs1200 when it comes to sealers. Another thing I found most people say though when it came to tank building was the high tensile strength scs1200 is good for the primary seal/building the tank, but for the secondary seal high tensile strength sealer isn't needed since the secondary inner seal is not and actual "structural" seal and just a waterproofing seal.

Anyone have any thoughts on that? Like I said I don't mind spending the extra $45 on three tubes of the scs1200, but if it's not "needed" for the secondary seal then I don't want to just throw money away for no reason either.

[OTE]

We, and a few of our customers, use american sealants aquarium silicone. I'm not a huge expert on silicone but from what i've read and heard, it is one of the strongest tensile strengths silicone out there that is safe for aquariums

http://www.americansealantsinc.com/wp-content/files_mf/asiaqsiliconepds76.pdf