dantimdad
7500 Club Member
Let me start off by saying, I have another build thread that had to be put on hold until the flooring is put in the dining room. This one is being built and setup in the living room before the carpet goes in and they will carpet around it. So this one will be an uninterrupted build. 
It will also take a very long explanation before I show my progress (?) thus far.
I was given a 70 gallon custom built setup from a friend that had leaked very badly. It's 36x24x19 with an overflow on one end with two holes next to it for a closed loop. I love the dimensions of this tank! I absolutely hate the stand and will be using just the frame and recovering it. The canopy weighed almost 60 pounds, ugly and was promptly thrown in the trash.
Now, for the leak...
The company that built this tank is no longer in business from my understanding so I will name names. ocea.com and they really, really did a poor job. The glass on the end that leaked looked like it was clamped together to squeeze almost all the silicone out. The other end had the spacer dots like it should for 3/8" glass. The seam that leaked literally pulled apart with just my hands and had very fine sand in the silicone. (You will see it in the pics) The trimwas purely decorative just glued using silicone to the top edges of the glass and came off very easily. They were providing zero support to the glass. I saw the tank when it was setup and noticed the weak seam and warned him about it. There wasn't any bow to the glass at that point so my guess is the seam failure was just poor workmanship.
So I have decided to cut out the end put in spacers, and then remove the inside seals and clean the heck out of this thing then reseal. I am also going to do something that I have done to a rebuilt tank before and put aluminum angle at the corners and go rimless. I really like the look. I saw it a long time ago on a much larger tank. Plus, it will reinforce the corners.
Here is the seam:
(more photos to follow)
It will also take a very long explanation before I show my progress (?) thus far.
I was given a 70 gallon custom built setup from a friend that had leaked very badly. It's 36x24x19 with an overflow on one end with two holes next to it for a closed loop. I love the dimensions of this tank! I absolutely hate the stand and will be using just the frame and recovering it. The canopy weighed almost 60 pounds, ugly and was promptly thrown in the trash.
Now, for the leak...
The company that built this tank is no longer in business from my understanding so I will name names. ocea.com and they really, really did a poor job. The glass on the end that leaked looked like it was clamped together to squeeze almost all the silicone out. The other end had the spacer dots like it should for 3/8" glass. The seam that leaked literally pulled apart with just my hands and had very fine sand in the silicone. (You will see it in the pics) The trimwas purely decorative just glued using silicone to the top edges of the glass and came off very easily. They were providing zero support to the glass. I saw the tank when it was setup and noticed the weak seam and warned him about it. There wasn't any bow to the glass at that point so my guess is the seam failure was just poor workmanship.
So I have decided to cut out the end put in spacers, and then remove the inside seals and clean the heck out of this thing then reseal. I am also going to do something that I have done to a rebuilt tank before and put aluminum angle at the corners and go rimless. I really like the look. I saw it a long time ago on a much larger tank. Plus, it will reinforce the corners.
Here is the seam:
(more photos to follow)
