big tank leak

[Bushkill]

RTV.

I would even balk at re-buidling a 75G, but everybody comes at this stuff from different angles. So it's not necessarily a one-size-fits-all type of decision.

I wish I had kept the link to the test reports on the shear strength of various adhesives that the guy from Dow had sent me. It told quite a story. But that was over 10 years ago when I was building frag tanks and sumps during the SW days. The names and product lines have changed quite a bit since then. The GE Momentive line had a bunch of different products back then. So LOTS has changed since then.

Just like there was a time when a tube of GE1 was really cheap. Like a few bucks. That's just not the case anymore. I made sumps with GE1 a long time ago, but they were all eurobraced and shallow to fit space constraints in my fish room, so I never had much to worry about. If you have both handy, just take quick sniff of GE1 vs. pure silicone, even the AGA stuff you can get at a LFS smells like pure acetic acid by comparison. Lots of people call it pure silicone, but acetic acid gets your attention real fast.

That's a really neat trick using the bottom trim for an alignment jig! But I'd still spring for the pizza and beer, lol!

[LizStreithorst]

RTV.

That's a really neat trick using the bottom trim for an alignment jig! But I'd still spring for the pizza and beer, lol!

Loner types have to be resourceful   RTV it is.  Thanks for the info.

[BillT]

AS I have been slowly dealing with htis aquarium, I noticed that the top frame corner where the seam split is broken apart.
I guess Ill have to remove it and glue it back together.
A friend also suggested gluing a piece of glass across the top of the end for added support.

[Bushkill]

Grazy glue will hold the trim together just fine. Just give it time to set well.

I bought a used 90G a long time ago. I knew it had been used for SW. But that was back in the day of Metal Halides. Those things were brutal on plastic cross-braces. Mine broke about 2 years after I got it, and of course the break was right where the cross-brace meets the edge. I cut a piece of clear acrylic into a T-shape to cover the areas on either side of the break well. Crazy glued it in place and the tank's been fine for about 10 years now.

I think what's been suggested to you is eurobracing. Honestly, I'm a big fan, but it isn't just a simple strip of glass siliconed in place at the tank's mid-section. There are a few eurobracing methods, but they all involves siliconing strips of glass to the top rim of the tank and in some cases a center strip siliconed to strips running the tank's front and back edges. It all depends on the dimensions of the tank really. Four feet and longer, I would choose a pattern that involved a center strip.]

Probably one of the worst example of eurbracing is the the old Oceanic brand of jumbo tanks. On 180's and bigger they came with an IMMENSE glass centerbrace that was siliconed in place. I should know.....I have one.  It's a 2 foot square 1/2" glass panel siliconed over the middle of the tank's top rim. I need a snorkel to get to anything that's at the bottom middle of that tank. I should've removed it and added my own, but it was dirt cheap and I was pressed for time. Lesson learned.............a little late.

[Mugwump]

I have one of those older tanks too...besides the glass being a foot thick...LOL...the center brace could be used for a table....and it's the same 3/4" thick glass....man those tanks are heavy...really...but solid as a tank...

[Bushkill]

I have one of those older tanks too...besides the glass being a foot thick...LOL...the center brace could be used for a table....and it's the same 3/4" thick glass....man those tanks are heavy...really...but solid as a tank...

They had to be heavy. That centerbrace has enough glass to build another 55G! The only tank I've owned I couldn't move by myself. And I had to buy 8" tweezers and scissors so I can care for the plants in the middle. Gottem' after I tried the snorkel, lol!

[GraphicGr8s]

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/aquariumsilicone.html

[GraphicGr8s]

Rvt 103,, RVT 108

[ilroost]

I have a old 125 gal. that needs resealed. It is real old, the kind that is real thick glass and heavy as hell. It is so thick of glass it doesn't even have a center brace on top. Any ways i bought 3 tubes of GE1. Are you guy's telling me that i should of bought some other brand?

[BillT]

My tank has two cross braces near the middle (6 foot tank) but none at the end, so doing that at the ends kind of makes sense, plus the split seam is right there.

[GraphicGr8s]

It's not as critical on a reseal as on building / rebuilding a tanks. The silicone in the joint already is holding the tank together. What you're adding is to make it watertight so there really isn't a ton of shear pressure.

[BillT]

Wel there is a big gap at the seam, maybe 1/4". The silicon is still sticking to the glass enough to keep most of the water from gushing out, but its not really sealed.
Even without any water in it now there is still a large gap there. The silicon has probably been jammed between the glass at some point and is keeping it separated.
I'll probably cut out everything I can get to before resealing it.

[Bushkill]

I have a old 125 gal. that needs resealed. It is real old, the kind that is real thick glass and heavy as hell. It is so thick of glass it doesn't even have a center brace on top. Any ways i bought 3 tubes of GE1. Are you guy's telling me that i should of bought some other brand?

I had one of those. Full 1/2" glass panels and no cross braces at all. In fact the top trim wasn't even one-piece. It was four mitered sections siliconed in place.

I ended up dismantling that tank altogether and still have some of the panels. Learned a lot in the process. The 1/2" panels had small clear plastic "spacers" between each panel. Looked just like the bumpers some cabinet doors have to keep them from slamming on the frame. Except these were a little smaller and a hard clear plastic. They were all embedded in the outter silicone bead. After asking around quite a bit, I found out what they were for. With 1/2" glass, the weight of the panels starved for silicone. It was a really simple way of assuring a uniform silicone bead thickness between the panels. Made perfect sense after reading about it.

[ilroost]

Same tank then. Mine is a black trim top and bottom. 4 pieces glued together.
Dang this thing is heavy

[BillT]

I ended up dismantling that tank altogether and still have some of the panels. Learned a lot in the process. The 1/2" panels had small clear plastic "spacers" between each panel. Looked just like the bumpers some cabinet doors have to keep them from slamming on the frame. Except these were a little smaller and a hard clear plastic. They were all embedded in the outter silicone bead. After asking around quite a bit, I found out what they were for. With 1/2" glass, the weight of the panels starved for silicone. It was a really simple way of assuring a uniform silicone bead thickness between the panels. Made perfect sense after reading about it.

Sounds like the little spacers for doing tile and easily getting a uniform amount of space for grout between the tiles.