Aquarium Maintenance

[tangyman]

Assuming you don't want your tank to ever leak out.

How long can you leave a 80 Gallon tank full before you have to take it apart and resilicone the glass. I have had mine full for 9 years.

Just wondering if there is some kind of rule of thumb??

Tangyman

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

As long as the tank is full of water the silicone won't get a chance to dry out so it should, in theory, never leak.

[Lady Hobbs]

Agree. Some people have their tanks for many, many years with no problem. I'm always very careful scrapping the glass in the corners tho. Sometimes I use a razor blade to get the hard lime scale from the top and try to stay away from the sides.

[cocoa_pleco]

as long as the silicone isnt looking chipped or cracked its fine, ive seen people with tanks running for 20+ years without needing a silicone job.

theres a video on youtube on a guy who has a 55g reef running since 1989, so almost 20 years, and hes never resiliconed or anything

[siymdapolio]

Woah that tank is as old as me cocoa!

[cocoa_pleco]

incase anyones curious

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[john_auberry]

I have an old tank in my attic that was dated 1910......it has hand blown glass and a slate rock bottom. It sealed with hard tar looking stuff and it doesnt leak.

[siymdapolio]

John you can probably sell that for tons of money on ebay!!

[john_auberry]

Yea, I thought about it.......but i really like it. Id like to set it up but i dont trust the seals.......It doesnt leak, but they dont look good.

[siymdapolio]

incase anyones curious

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Thanks cocoa much appreciated!

[Tooch]

I'd say the tank will last as long as you don't see any leaks in the silacone! Once you see some water, then there's a good chance that the tank is leaking! lol