Seam integrity..

illuminata · Jun 17, 2018

Hello fellow reefers,
Would you be concerned with this bubble in the seam? It's on the top right corner of a 65g, 48" long 18" tall tank.

Scorchx1245 · Jun 17, 2018

Yes and no, if it was lower with high water pressure then yes. But that high ehhh.... I would definitely fill it outside to the brim and let it sit for a day or two and see if the bubble has shifted shape from pressure. I work in a glass factory and we have onsite fab shops. So glass is kinda my speciality =)

illuminata · Jun 17, 2018

Scorchx1245 said:
Yes and no, if it was lower with high water pressure then yes. But that high ehhh.... I would definitely fill it outside to the brim and let it sit for a day or two and see if the bubble has shifted shape from pressure. I work in a glass factory and we have onsite fab shops. So glass is kinda my speciality =)

Once filled, the water will be at the bottom of the bubble due to the overflow, does that matter? Should I plug up the overflow and fill to the brim to test? Thanks!

illuminata · Jun 17, 2018

Hmmmm..

larryl · Jun 17, 2018

Did you water test the tank yet?

illuminata · Jun 17, 2018

larryl said:
Did you water test the tank yet?

Let me do that now!

larryl · Jun 17, 2018

Keep us posted.

illuminata · Jun 17, 2018

Here is the tank with water, I tried to take the same picture as the first for comparison sake - definitely noticeable changes to the seam. Thoughts? Never experienced this before. Been trying to read up as much info as I can before I proceed. From what I've read, it possibly needs to be reassembled, I can stick a syringe in it t fill? patch up the seam with a larger coat of silicone?

Skep18 · Jun 17, 2018

I don't think injecting silicone will help. Puncturing the existing silicone might actually be worse.

I assume this isn't a new tank?

illuminata · Jun 17, 2018

Skep18 said:
I don't think injecting silicone will help. Puncturing the existing silicone might actually be worse.

I assume this isn't a new tank?

Not a new tank, I believe it's about 3 years old.

JoshH · Jun 17, 2018

Deleted

illuminata · Jun 17, 2018

Updated photo..

Neoalchemist · Jun 17, 2018

No standing waves for you. If it were mine I would remove all of the silicone from the inside of the seam with a razor then I would do the syringe trick as best as possible then re-silicone the inside seam with a clean slightly thick bead. I'm not worried about leaking, but rather the pane being able to flex and move more due to the shortage of contact. I've never used a syringe to fill a void but I would imagine you would need two syringes, one to vent the air, for it to have any effect.

Mark Gray · Jun 17, 2018

If it were me I would not use it. I have experienced 2 major tank failures. Well one was because of dogs. but any no I would not

larryl · Jun 17, 2018

Whoa...not good. I would now trust this tank at all. Sorry about the bad luck.

Scorchx1245 · Jun 17, 2018

Nope re-seal, it shifted way to much. That will slowly get bigger and eventually tear. Kinda like opening a ziplock bag.

illuminata · Jun 18, 2018

Thanks for the comments guys. All the feedback is appreciated!

Scorchx1245 said:
Nope re-seal, it shifted way to much. That will slowly get bigger and eventually tear. Kinda like opening a ziplock bag.

Any tips on the reseal? Do I need to completely take off each pane and redo the seams? or from all the youtube videos, can I just take out all the silicone I can from the inside and reapply the inner edges?

This seems like a lot of work! maybe I'll fork up the cash for a new tank : /

Mark Gray · Jun 18, 2018

illuminata said:
Thanks for the comments guys. All the feedback is appreciated!

Any tips on the reseal? Do I need to completely take off each pane and redo the seams? or from all the youtube videos, can I just take out all the silicone I can from the inside and reapply the inner edges?

This seems like a lot of work! maybe I'll fork up the cash for a new tank : /

I tried to do this once I won't do it agasin just me but yes you really need to remove the plates and reseal the whole thing Good Luck

BigJohnny · Jun 18, 2018

illuminata said:
Hello fellow reefers,
Would you be concerned with this bubble in the seam? It's on the top right corner of a 65g, 48" long 18" tall tank.

Yes. Very concerned, even more so because it changed when you filled it. Sorry bud