re-silicone tank?

[richiewwhite]

I recently have received a 54 corner tank and it had a slight leak. just moist with salt creep. The tank is now empty and the bottom silicone has turned from black to an off brownish orange. I can peel it off but in the center where the glass meets and the bead of silicone is thick it is still black. I would really like to use this tank but I dont want it to leak. I was thinking of just razoring out all of the silicone on the bottom and redoing it but I was worried about where the bottom meets the walls. is there going to be a hairline gap there where the old silicone meets the new? I was also wondering about silicone Is the water safe stuff at homedepot fine? or is there somthing in it bad for corals... anyone ever repair one with success? I was also thinking if I took the bottom bracing off then filling that with silicone and putting it back on so it couldnt leak from there any info is appreciated.. thanks

 

[scumonkey]

I build my own tanks....The silicon you saw may or may not be safe.
Some Silicons that were safe are no longer like GE's....(they keep adding a fungicide to them).
If your confident that the silicon is pure with no additives then it should be ok, However....... just in case-
http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...Ntt=silicone&In=All&previousText=silicone&N=2
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18273/si1378883/cl0/allglasssiliconesealant10ozclear

 

[Bob 1000]

From experience I can tell you if you don't let the tank dry 1 week min. after cleaning throughly..and then 1 week curing time after siliconing... that leak comes back....2 years strong hopefully on my pirahna tank...125 gal...

 

[tosiek]

There's only one brand of GE silicone that they make thats reef safe and its not supplied anymore to stores. AGA silicone is the best and get the large tubes and not the squeeze tube things. Perfecto has clumps in alot of their bottles which is ok for sump work but not for your display.

As far as resealing the tank its doable but ypur gonna get that hairline air pocket between the new and the old nomatter how well you apply it. And you won't have the same strength in the silicone seal beween the two pane of glass if you so. If you never did this before i would go speak to someone who has and knows what their doing. The safer bet would be to dissasemble the parts, clean with acetone to remove any oil/grease/dirt then reassemble. =0) Alot of work.

forgot to add that if the bead outside was rotting away be sure that the thin crack of silicone is going to turn the same way soon. So.

 

[scumonkey]

I also use the AGA