Tank sealing

[Ncreefer]

So was excited to buy this up and running 265. He drained got most of sand out. I get home vaccum sand out and putting it in garage till I set up. Then I noticed the glass has popped behind silcone!!!! So my question is. Try to put silcone over it. Or remove silcone from overflow to overflow and reseal.. it holds water. Don't want a future leak.

 

[Zos4me]

if you have a glass company near by they might be able to repair it just like a car windshield chip

 

[lapin]

"popped behind silicone"
Im not sure what you mean,.
Is the chip missing from the panel?
Was it missing before the tank was built?
They used it any way and the silicone covers it? (Its on the inside of a seam and you cant touch it?)

 

[jtl]

What Lapin said.

 

[Ncreefer]

Hard to explain. Like a layer of glass has come off like a chip. U could probably pull the chip off if silcone wasn't holding it. It's on the inside of the tank on bottom under sand bed. Looking like somebody might have chipped it putting rock in at one time.

 

[Ncreefer]

Have you ever seen a old broken glass bottle kinda looks like layers. it's like a layer less then a 1/8" has flaked

 

[jtl]

If the chip is not showing any spider cracks it will probably be fine. It may have been in the glass when the tank was assembled and not noticed. It is not doing you any good the way it is so I would probably pull it out and put some silicone in its place.

 

[Ncreefer]

If the chip is not showing any spider cracks it will probably be fine. It may have been in the glass when the tank was assembled and not noticed. It is not doing you any good the way it is so I would probably pull it out and put some silicone in its place.

You would silcone over it? I. Afraid if I pull it out might pull more silcone with it.

 

[jtl]

Take a razor blade and carefully cut out what ever it takes to get it out but do not start pulling out silicone then necessary. My take is, having built several tanks, is that the chip is not providing any structural support because it has separated from the glass. You want to fill the void with some new silicone to give you a seal. The glass pane will not fall out but it might get a leak. There is a lot of silicone holding that glass together. Like I said the greater concern is if the glass was "smacked" it might have a crack emanating from the chip. Take a flash light and look very closely. If there is any concern of a crack don't use the tank.

 

[Ncreefer]

Take a razor blade and carefully cut out what ever it takes to get it out but do not start pulling out silicone then necessary. My take is, having built several tanks, is that the chip is not providing any structural support because it has separated from the glass. You want to fill the void with some new silicone to give you a seal. The glass pane will not fall out but it might get a leak. There is a lot of silicone holding that glass together. Like I said the greater concern is if the glass was "smacked" it might have a crack emanating from the chip. Take a flash light and look very closely. If there is any concern of a crack don't use the tank.

There is no crack. So if I cut it out there won't be a " cold joint" like concrete if that makes sense. I do construction for a living. I know the "acutal" seal is between glass pieces and the extra bead is smeared for extra seal I guess you could say. No cracks that are visible. It's like it flaked off. The tank is 2010 manufacture which doesntean alot. Has had water in since

 

[jtl]

It should be fine. The new silicone will stick sufficiently to the old to give you some protection against a leak. Clean the area first with acetone. I would not recommend putting new silicone over old if you were replacing the entire pane of glass but this small area will be ok.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

"popped behind silicone"
Im not sure what you mean,.
Is the chip missing from the panel?
Was it missing before the tank was built?
They used it any way and the silicone covers it? (Its on the inside of a seam and you cant touch it?)

I've had similar, add silicon, set up tank somewhere outside. Fill tank let sit 7 days, no leaks, good to go. First let sealant dry, throughly

 

[Ncreefer]

It should be fine. The new silicone will stick sufficiently to the old to give you some protection against a leak. Clean the area first with acetone. I would not recommend putting new silicone over old if you were replacing the entire pane of glass but this small area will be ok.

This is what I got. I haven't cleaned it yet. Cut with a razor blade and removed. I found one spot on back of tank and another spot in front. They where kinda adject from each other. So silcone it or any other tips for it?

 

[Ncreefer]

...

 

[Dom]

The later photos look like photos inside the tank. Close-Ups aren't always the best photos. I'd like to see a few photos backed away from the problem area.

It appears that the tank is sealed on the inside with some sort of plastic edging. It looks like silicone first and then they put the plastic on top of the silicon. Is this correct?

I'm not terribly worried about the chip. I think a good surface preparation and resealing will do the job.

 

[Ncreefer]

The later photos look like photos inside the tank. Close-Ups aren't always the best photos. I'd like to see a few photos backed away from the problem area.

It appears that the tank is sealed on the inside with some sort of plastic edging. It looks like silicone first and then they put the plastic on top of the silicon. Is this correct?

I'm not terribly worried about the chip. I think a good surface preparation and resealing will do the job.

That's from inside of tank. You can see plastic trim on out side. Inside is thick silcone. I scraped all silcone off on repair area cleaned with acetone. Put a thick bead of asi silcone over area and tooled with a caulking spoon. Cure 7 days. It held water before I noticed the damage.

 

[Dom]

That's from inside of tank. You can see plastic trim on out side. Inside is thick silcone. I scraped all silcone off on repair area cleaned with acetone. Put a thick bead of asi silcone over area and tooled with a caulking spoon. Cure 7 days. It held water before I noticed the damage.

Please be sure to use reef safe products. Also, old silicon over new isn't ideal. I'd reseal the whole tank.

 

[Ncreefer]

Please be sure to use reef safe products. Also, old silicon over new isn't ideal. I'd reseal the whole tank.

I'd have to cut overflows out to seal it right. There in the main bead of the bottom of tank

 

[Dom]

I'd have to cut overflows out to seal it right. There in the main bead of the bottom of tank

It's worth the peace of mind.

 

[jtl]

Please be sure to use reef safe products. Also, old silicon over new isn't ideal. I'd reseal the whole tank.

Silicone will adhere to itself well enough for use on the inside seal which is only for a little additional protection. The inside seal is more of a result of silicone oozing out from the bonding of the glass panes than anything else. I would not ever expect silicone on silicone to work when assembling the glass panes. It would not have the tensile strength.