Tank Drilled...now it's leaking...Help!

[Michael]

I had my 72 gallon tank drilled on Saturday.
The store did a really good job....however, close to the drilled area...just on the other side of the overflow...it is leaking.
-I filled it up overnight and left it in the garage on a piece of plywood. In the morning, There was water on the side of the tank where it was drilled.
I don't know if it because the tank was old (1/2" thick glass) or what...but I need to fix it.

Any silicones I should stay away from when I reseal the bottom? Should I remove the old silicone first, or just silicone over it?
--note: the leak must be very small since the water level of the tank looked like it was the same height as when I filled it the night before. (but water on the floor).

Thanks,

Michael

[Troy F]

Are you sure that the new bulkhead isn't leaking? I had a bulkhead that wouldn't seal for the life of me, I finally resorted to using silicon on it and the problem was solved.

[sumpfinfishe]

Hi Michael,
Well sounds like a setback, better now when it's empty though rather than when it's full of life 6 months down the road :biggrin:
I would re-seal the entire tank if it was me, just incase the previous owner stressed the seams during there ownership.
I have a glass Hagen tank, and the folks there told me that the silicone is only good for about 8-10 years-salt and cleaning magnets are a major cause, not to mention transporting.
If you have never used silicone before, I would suggest asking a friend who is in construction or is a handyman to do the job as silicone can be tricky. If you want to do it yourself and have not used silicone before, then I would suggest some practice on a scrap few pieces of glass.
You will also need to remove all the old silicone before applying the new, and also be sure that the glass is really clean and dry as silicone leaves a residue that can be hard to see or feel.
What your looking for is a nice thick even beed that is applied in one long stream with no gaps or thin areas, as well as no air pockets. After a thick beed has been aplied, you will also want to lick your finger(prevents sticking) or use a corner of a small piece of cardboard and run it along the silicone to make sure that you get an even coat on both sides of the glass and also to fill any air pockets left behind the beed. This is the tricky part as you still want a nice thick even beed between both panels of glass, but also you want to just smooth out the beeds and not simply smear silicone all over the place.
You need to use an aquarium safe silicone for sure :exclaim: I buy mine at my LFS, but they also sell it at some home improvements stores too-just make sure that it's aquarium safe-it will say right on the box or tube that it's none toxic and aquarium safe.
If you don't know anyone with silicone experince and your not 100% comfortable doing it yourself then I wouls suggest doing all the grunt work of cleaning the glass and then I'm sure you could find a local glass shop to do the silicone for you at a reasonable rate :biggrin:
Goodluck :mrgreen:
Cheers, Rich

[Skimmerking]

if you can get a hold of scott stackhouse i good friend in St Catherines
i will pm you his number

AFSS is his name on Reef central and aquarium pros.ca

[Michael]

Are you sure that the new bulkhead isn't leaking? I had a bulkhead that wouldn't seal for the life of me, I finally resorted to using silicon on it and the problem was solved.

Yes...I haven't even gotten that far yet. The tank was tested up to the level of the overflow box, but not beyond that. So, technically, the overflow area was excluded from this test.
-But thanks for the input with regards to the bulkhead.

Michael