New cheap tank......but will it hold water?

[Brooklynreefaddict]

hey all, long time reef keeper that's been out of the hobby for the better part of 8 years

grabbed a used Reef ready 72 gallon bowfront


everything looks great BUT the secondary seals on the front pane of glass look pretty chewed up most likely from someone getting too close to it with a razor while cleaning the tank

main seals where the glass meets looks perfect

no moisture

no white calcification

my question is

do i need to re-seal this tank?

and should i be concerned with it before i get started with the build


any response would be great as i'd like some input

thanks all

 

[Brooklynreefaddict]

hey all, long time reef keeper that's been out of the hobby for the better part of 8 years

grabbed a used Reef ready 72 gallon bowfront


everything looks great BUT the secondary seals on the front pane of glass look pretty chewed up most likely from someone getting too close to it with a razor while cleaning the tank

main seals where the glass meets looks perfect

no moisture

no white calcification

my question is

do i need to re-seal this tank?

and should i be concerned with it before i get started with the build


any response would be great as i'd like some input

thanks all

 

[Crazeh]

That silicone looks in pretty bad shape. Have you done a water test on the tank or seen it full?

Either way being 72g, that's a lot of water to end up on your floor if it was to fail. Considering the large investment the tank will hold in rock, fish, corals, time and effort, I would be looking to get it repaired.

 

[Hot2na]

Had a longtime LFS employee warn me about bowfronts several years ago ...his take : they all leak !! take that for what it's worth...but I only owned 1 bowfront in 30+ yrs of reefing and it leaked....

 

[Waters]

I have only had one bowfront and it didn't have any issues. That being said, the silicone didn't look like yours. I personally would not trust it. Easier to rectify now than when it is full of water leaking onto your floors

 

[Retro Reefer]

Considering the time, effort and money you will have invested in your reef I personally would not start with a tank that could potentially fail.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Two points:
1) If you are worried about the seal I'd remove it all, make sure it's crazy clean and reseal it. The cleaning is the hardest part.
2) I've built 7 tanks over the years and I don't even do an inside seal because it does get so beat up. But then I trust my ability to make takes without them. But I don't think if I had a tank that came with that kind of inside seal, I'd trust running it without one.

 

[dantimdad]

Definitely reseal. Been resealing and building tanks for nearly 30 years and that needs it.

Bowfronts don't leak any more than any other tank. I have had 3 and helped setup probably a dozen. I can't recall any of them leaking except the one a guy tried to drill almost full of water! ;Nailbiting

 

[Brooklynreefaddict]

That silicone looks in pretty bad shape. Have you done a water test on the tank or seen it full?

Either way being 72g, that's a lot of water to end up on your floor if it was to fail. Considering the large investment the tank will hold in rock, fish, corals, time and effort, I would be looking to get it repaired.

have not done a water test yet because it is reef ready and i don't have the stand drilled for the bulkhead and don't know any other way to do a water test without having the bulkheads installed and the stand pip adjusted over the top of the overflow to the point where it wont start to siphon

 

[jtl]

Like Ron, I have built several tanks. The inside seal does very little if anything to prevent leaks when primary seal is done correctly. All too often the tank manufacturer does a crappy job and makes the inside seal too wide and it get dinged up from cleaning.

Take a razor blade and remove the old silicone but do not cut into the actual seam. Clean with 00 steel wool and acetone. Use masking take to create a very small (like 2mm) gap between the opposing panes of glass and spread the silicone over the gap. Immediately remove the masking tape and you will have a new, narrow and very nice internal seal.

 

[TriggerFinger]

You can leak test a reef ready without hooking up plumbing. At least I did on mine. The over flow box had two layers and the water doesn’t go into the box until there’s enough to get over the top of the box. Hope that makes sense...also not sure if all reef ready tanks are like this or not.

 

[Brooklynreefaddict]

Definitely reseal. Been resealing and building tanks for nearly 30 years and that needs it.

Bowfronts don't leak any more than any other tank. I have had 3 and helped setup probably a dozen. I can't recall any of them leaking except the one a guy tried to drill almost full of water! ;Nailbiting

Like Ron, I have built several tanks. The inside seal does very little if anything to prevent leaks when primary seal is done correctly. All too often the tank manufacturer does a crappy job and makes the inside seal too wide and it get dinged up from cleaning.

Take a razor blade and remove the old silicone but do not cut into the actual seam. Clean with 00 steel wool and acetone. Use masking take to create a very small (like 2mm) gap between the opposing panes of glass and spread the silicone over the gap. Immediately remove the masking tape and you will have a new, narrow and very nice internal seal.

yea that's what i thought

the actual thick black seal looks very intact ans sturdy

it's the thin overcoat that coats the glass thats the only thing that looks chewed up

and again i can bet it's from someone trying to get algae of the glass and got too close

 

[dantimdad]

Well hopefully, it passes the leak test. Rebuilding a bowfront is way more of a pain than a rectangle tank because the rims want to crack. I did it once on a 46 bow, never again.

 

[sde1500]

Considering it is not the main seal, it looks crappy but I wouldn't be terribly concerned it over it. I'd leak test before trying to reseal it, but I'd bet it is fine.

 

[Brooklynreefaddict]

Considering it is not the main seal, it looks crappy but I wouldn't be terribly concerned it over it. I'd leak test before trying to reseal it, but I'd bet it is fine.

that's what i'm thinking

looks lousy

but i don't think it's that bad

but other ppl's input is always a great way to weigh pro's and cons