bubbles in silicone glue

[stinger]

Hi,

I've got a tank in the process of being made by my local fish shop. It is just been assembled at my place only couple of days ago. Right now it's waiting for the silicone glue to cure. However yesterday i noticed air bubbles start to appear in some area.
I've attached some pictures. Is this normal? Should i worry about this.
Tank size is 8ft long by 3ft wide by 2ft high.
Cheers

 

[stinger]

couple more pics

 

[Anonymous]

Poor workmanship. I hope they give you a good price for it, and a 1 year warranty, cause you may need it. Good luck.

 

[Nautilus1]

I would worry. It looks as if they have no experience whatsoever in sealing a tank.

 

[Anonymous]

That is without a doubt, the worst job of siliconing I have ever seen. I hope it is not a DIY, cause you want to ask for your $$ back. That tank WILL fail.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd want that seal to be perfect. Especially if it's 8ft long. That's a lot of water if it decides to let go. 8O Take X*a gallon of milk, and that's the mess you're looking at.

 

[Anonymous]

Not to mention, algae will find it's way in there and you won't be able to clean it, and neither will your critters.

 

[stinger]

Thanks for the opinion guys. I haven't pay yet. I'll ask them to redo it again.

 

[stinger]

BTW how would you go about fixing this problem?
I rang my LFS, and he said he's gonna use a syringe (i'm guessing to fill the bubbles). How about it?
Cheers guys

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know... I'd like to do it over again the correct way. Razor it off, start again. JMHO. :?

 

[Anonymous]

BTW how would you go about fixing this problem?
I rang my LFS, and he said he's gonna use a syringe (i'm guessing to fill the bubbles). How about it?
Cheers guys

I feel you better off telling him to take it back, and you pay him something for his trouble. It is probably not going to work out well for you at the end if you let him to "finish" you... um... I mean finish the tank.

 

[trido]

Just wondering what ever happened with this tank.

 

[stinger]

It's just been dismantled, gonna start glueing again. hopefully soon. I just clean off the old silicone this whole evening. I will let you guys know the progress.

 

[stinger]

They just finish glueing the tank again. Just wondering, I'm thinking of testing the tank after the it's cured with fresh water first just to be sure. How long do you test the tank to get a good indication there'll be no problem in the future?

 

[Anonymous]

I always fill a new tank with fresh and leave it overnight. If the water is cold then expect condensation on the tank that looks like a leak so using warmed water is best.

 

[Anonymous]

Fill up the tank overnight will let you see the immediate leak. However, given the poor workmanship of the tank, I will closely inspect all glue joints to ensure they pass both structural and cosmetic criteria.

The air-filled silicone joint won't leak right away, but it won't hold the tank for long due to the expandability of air.

 

[stinger]

The air-filled silicone joint won't leak right away, but it won't hold the tank for long due to the expandability of air.

How long before you will know this, days, weeks? I just wanna make sure it's gonna hold before stocking it with fish and corals

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

You never know, but it is alway going to fail earlier than seam that without air bubble. As I said, inspect and make sure it is done correctly. Take a look at professionally made glass tank in store, and expect the same quality.

 

[stinger]

Well i've checked out a couple of big tanks in a couple of places. It seems that none is actually perfect. There is a little bit amount of bubbles present in the glue/silicone on some areas. I'm talking about bigger tanks than mine and taller as well (a couple of them are about 3 feet tall). Do you guys find this to be the case as well? If so then hopefully my new one's going to be alright now

 

[trido]

If your custom looks like a store bought model, Good. As with any service that you hire. You have to be the one that is comfortable with the end result and be truly satisfied. Obviously you had your doubts the first time around. If your builder is local, has been around for a while, and has written you a contract with some sort of warranty. Seems like he honors his work. You should be OK.