Fixing a leaking tank

[Untamedrose]

OK was setting up a new tank been up three weeks now...blend of new and old rocks and started with old tank water. Everything was going good...great chem wise! was about to call it cycled, and adding it's first stuffs when last night....

All I did was add around two gallons of FW, top off evaporated. I just poured it in. Didnt think I was particularly dramatic about it.
30-45 mins later living room rug is wet....the two gals I had just replaced was gone. For an estimate on how bad the leak was.

Course....now most of the sand is in one bucket. Old LR is back in my other tanks, and new LR is in another bucket.
and the tank is on the back deck.

I'm not even seeing Where it was leaking from :/ See no cracks nor obvious that doesnt look right places in the seals. Got to be in the bottom somewhere Cause it never stopped leaking. We hauled it out with an inch or two of water and it was all gone by morning.
I know 100% silicone is what I need to use but how do I find the spot? and know it's going to be good beyond a few days water test.
Worried now tempted to trash it and just buy a new one.
Thoughts?

 

[Lonely reefer's]

Food coloring dye or toilet leak test dye?

 

[killingseed2000]

what size tank is it? i am assuming its glass as you said silicone?
would fill and try to find where it came out. would be import know whats wrong before you start investing.
using an eye dropper or baby medicine syringe with milk lets it out all around the corners and see it anything happens.

 

[Untamedrose]

40 gal. Yes all glass.

Milk or dye can that...looks like get to try the dye first B/C it just started downpouring (facepalm)

 

[reeferfoxx]

Even if you found a leak, i dont think you can just fix it without a complete tear down and complete removal of silicon.

 

[Fin]

IMO, doesn't really matter where it is leaking from. You would really need to strip all of the silicone from the inside, CLEAN it VERY well and run fresh beads of sealant on all inside joints. I would also use Momentive 100 series adhesive. Of course, you can always go to Petco when they are having their $1 a gallon tank sale and just get a new tank for $40. By the time you buy enough silicone and razor blades to save the one you have - not to mention your time and labor - you could have a new tank.

 

[Untamedrose]

IMO, doesn't really matter where it is leaking from. You would really need to strip all of the silicone from the inside, CLEAN it VERY well and run fresh beads of sealant on all inside joints. I would also use Momentive 100 series adhesive. Of course, you can always go to Petco when they are having their $1 a gallon tank sale and just get a new tank for $40. By the time you buy enough silicone and razor blades to save the one you have - not to mention your time and labor - you could have a new tank.

I was kinda afraid of that....is that the general opinion got to strip it all out and redo it all.

 

[Untamedrose]

Did I do this by adding top off water? Or was the tank just a ticking time bomb this whole time?

 

[ReeferBob]

I was kinda afraid of that....is that the general opinion got to strip it all out and redo it all.

No, not opinion, fact. Wet silicone does not adhere to dry silicone. Therefore, patching silicone will not work. You need a continuous run of silicon so as others have said, you would need to remove the entire inside silicone bead that is all the bottom, edges and top, then apply new silicone. Not worth it at all on a $40 tank. Time to upgrade perhaps?

 

[nemo1017]

Get rid of it, not worth the hassle.

 

[rebekwl]

I was kinda afraid of that....is that the general opinion got to strip it all out and redo it all.

Unfortunately you do have to scrape down and re-silicone the entire thing. My husband and I just did this on a 220. Getting every spec of dry silicone off of the tank is a lot of work for sure! It would be easier on a 40, but like they said above, it would probably be worth your time just to buy another tank

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

The last dpg sale ended a couple months ago, so it will be a few months before the next one. This tank is really not worth fixing. there are solvents that make it easier to scrape the silicone, but it's such a pain. then you have to know how to actually put it back together properly (silicone bead size). and if you mess up then you'll be back to square one.

 

[SandJ]

There was just a thread on here saying the dollar per gallon sale is going on right now at Petco.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

petsmart

 

[den75]

IMO, it's not worth trying to fix a leaking tank. I would never trust it and I like to sleep at night and not worry about a catastrophic failure.

 

[SandJ]

petsmart

Petsmart may be having the sale also, but I have seen several threads about Petco having the sale also [emoji106]
Here are the sizes available:

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Strange. I've never seen them back to back before.

 

[Urbanknight]

I agree that buying a new 40 gallon tank could be cheaper and save you time. However, if you want to learn how to DIY in this hobby, you won't get a better opportunity. I learned how to reseal a tank by doing a 20 gallon. Most recent job was the resealing of my 300 deep dimension. Agree with @Fin 's comment to use Momentive 100 series silicone. It's not an easy job but....what is in this hobby?

 

[cj in sac ca]

Just got the flyer too. Was going to get a 40 to replace my 30 tall. I think it would be cheaper and less expensive " if you mess up and everything dies off while not home" in the long run. Good luck let us know how it ends

 

[BluewaterLa]

I agree that it's not an easy job.
What most don't realize is the interior smooth silicone bead around the edges isn't what leaks.

The silicone that holds the glass panels together is the integrity of the tank and what separates to cause a leak.
The inside silicone is an added protective layer that helps bond the glass and mainly keeps things from harming the silicone seal between the glass panels