Help fix a 40gal

[Billythefish]

Hay guys-n-gals,
Ok so my brother give me he's old 40g malawi tank thats been in his garage for about 2years, i got it home and give it a good clean and looked it over for cracks and all was ok, i start filling it up and it was all good until i got over half way full and it starts to leak like mad... The front glass panel was pushing out and the water was leeking through the silicone seal. (Q) How would you go about fixing it? Or would you throw it away?
The tanks 4ft'l-2ft'h-18''w
Thanks in advance :thumb:

[angelcakes]

IMO i would bin it, because it might start leaking in another place,

[Billythefish]

IMO i would bin it, because it might start leaking in another place,
Isn't there a way to fix it? It hasn't got a scrach on it and seams a waste to throw it away

[Fishalicious]

You need to get silicone kit and a silicone gun...tape up the sides leaving a line in the centre between the tape where you need to glue and fill that area up with silicone kit - do this on the insde on all the edges where the seal should be. Get clear silicone as it goes longer than black silicone. If it doesn't have a center stabilizer strip also add one using your silicone kit in the top center of the tank.

Leave it all to dry for 24 hours and then remove the tape leaving a nice clean silicone line instead of it being everywhere and on the sides of the glass. Then fill it up to test with cold water first

[Billythefish]

You need to get silicone kit and a silicone gun...tape up the sides leaving a line in the centre between the tape where you need to glue and fill that area up with silicone kit - do this on the insde on all the edges where the seal should be. Get clear silicone as it goes longer than black silicone. If it doesn't have a center stabilizer strip also add one using your silicone kit in the top center of the tank.

Leave it all to dry for 24 hours and then remove the tape leaving a nice clean silicone line instead of it being everywhere and on the sides of the glass. Then fill it up to test with cold water first
Cool thanks jess, would i need to cut out the old silicone or is it ok to just go over the old silicone?.

[Fishalicious]

Just reseal over the old silicone :thumb: :thumb:

[Billythefish]

Just reseal over the old silicone :thumb: :thumb:
Good that makes it nice and easy... Thank you for your help jess :11:

[Lady Hobbs]

And hope the leak is on the side and not on the bottom. It's hard to do a repair that actually lasts. Good luck. A 40 is a nice tank.

[Nick89]

I thought you had to take off all the old silicone, because the new silicone won't stick to it as good?

[cocoa_pleco]

I thought you had to take off all the old silicone, because the new silicone won't stick to it as good?

true, you usually need to scrape off the old stuff

[Billythefish]

I thought you had to take off all the old silicone, because the new silicone won't stick to it as good?
Oh darn it... Im to late ive alredy done it and am letting it dry for 24h, i hope it dose the job even without cuting out the old silicone, the only saveing grace is that the old silicone has shrunk down a hell of a lot, i'll be filling it up tomorow in the garden just in case it leaks of go's pop all together :confused:

Thanks for the help people :thumb:

[Fishalicious]

If it is really old dried up silicone it is fine to glue over it with new silicone... I did it with a leaking 'antique' tank and it went for another 10 years :thumb:

[Billythefish]

Ok so i left the tank to dry for 48h and have now added the water to the top and it started to leak in the same place as befor :c11: , so now im going to have to start againe... But this time im going to strip out the old silicone, if it dont work this time its going in the rubbish bin lol

[Lady Hobbs]

I was afraid of that. Now you have to take off all the bottom trim, too. sheesh Huge pain you know where!

[Billythefish]

I was afraid of that. Now you have to take off all the bottom trim, too. sheesh Huge pain you know where!
Tel me about it lol, it would of cost less to buy a 40g off ebay rather than pay £25 a tube of silicone, if it dont hold water then i could sell it as a viv tank maybe

[Lady Hobbs]

You just found out what can come of buying a used tank. LOL

My kid got a free 55 gal tank that had been sitting out behind someones garage in the sun and snow for two years. He got it for me but I told him to forget it. He put water in it just to see and it leaked like a sieve. Once that silicone has gotten all dry and brittle you have to tear it down, scrape all that stuff off and hope to heck you can fix it. He tossed it in the trash.

I repaired a 29 gallon 3 times. And it held water for 3 months then would leak again. That went in the trash pile, too. Must be something a person can do with old leaking tanks other than to put flowers in them........or snakes!

[Billythefish]

You just found out what can come of buying a used tank. LOL

My kid got a free 55 gal tank that had been sitting out behind someones garage in the sun and snow for two years. He got it for me but I told him to forget it. He put water in it just to see and it leaked like a sieve. Once that silicone has gotten all dry and brittle you have to tear it down, scrape all that stuff off and hope to heck you can fix it. He tossed it in the trash.

I repaired a 29 gallon 3 times. And it held water for 3 months then would leak again. That went in the trash pile, too. Must be something a person can do with old leaking tanks other than to put flowers in them........or snakes!
You would think it would be easy to fix a leak...i mean its only glass and silicone after all, ive just spent 1h making a timber frame to hold the glass in place, damn it better work this time! :confused:

[TorqueWorks]

Make sure the glass is really clean before using the silicone. I would use vinegar and newspaper to remove any residue that still may be on the glass. You should be fine after that. While putting the silicone on, make sure it does not lift while applying. If it lifts, you will still have the leaking problem because there is possibly some residue still on the glass.

[Billythefish]

Ok now this is how things are ment to go! Haha it holds water, im going to leave it in the gardan for a day or two just in case it leaks againe but all looks good so far, haha and i was so close to smashing the dam thing lol

[Lady Hobbs]

Hope you let that silicone cure up for a couple days.

Good luck. I have faith in ya!

[Billythefish]

Hope you let that silicone cure up for a couple days.

Good luck. I have faith in ya!
I Did do just about 48h, thanks for the help lady hobbs :thumb:

[Boertjie]

The best way to reseal old seals is to remove all the silicone with a hot knif or blade and clean the surface very nice with acetone. The acetone removes all the oil in the old silicone. Let it stand for a couple of minutes then you can reseal it. If you remove all the oil with acetone and it cures for 24 hours it would not leak again.
You have to remove the old silicone, because of the oil base in the silicone.

Here is a good link.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Good luck with your tank......I start mine tonight.thumbs2: