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View Full Version : My stupid re-silicone questions!


Coasting
09-13-2012, 08:56 PM
So i'm trying to re-seal a tank right now, I think I'm doing it properly (Yeah right... this is hard)! Do I have to remove the silicone along the bottom inside of the tank even if it still looks good? What about when I get to the top where the black plastic rim is? There are chunks up in the corners I'm finding hard to reach, are those necessary to totally remove if the water wont be going that high?

Anyone in the area want to come help? LOL.. I can provide drinks....

BTW home hardware has the aquarium safe silicone on sale $2.46 each!
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Paint-Décor/Painting-Supplies/Caulk-Coatings-Seals/Caulking/Silicone/300mL-Clear-Silicone-Sealant/_/N-2pqfZ67l/Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I2031205?Ntt=silicone

Aquattro
09-13-2012, 09:32 PM
When I've resealed tanks, I've removed all the silicone on all edges. I always take the top brace off so that I can clean under it.

Cal_stir
09-13-2012, 09:33 PM
Yes you need to remove all the silicone from the bottom and sides, get as high as you can in the corners, use painters tape on the vertical corners to get a nice even finish, don't worry about taping the bottom as you can't see it anyway. Silicone doesn't stick to cured silicone.
There are some good videos on youtube.
I used Homehardware silicone on my sump and it turned yellow after a while.

FishyFishy!
09-13-2012, 09:45 PM
What are you using to smooth it out?

I use a handy little tool that plugs onto the end of the tube, and ejects the silicone through a tiny hole right in front of a nice rounded smoothing edge. They are like $6 at the local hardware. You never have to worry about uneven silicone anywhere.

DEFINITELY remove all the old silicone. Use a razorblade to scrape ALL of it off the glass. Then wipe it down with rubbing alcohol. Mask the whole tank with painters tape before starting to re-silicone. That way you can peel away the tape after siliconing to have nice straight edges. That combined with a nice smoothing tool and you'll get good results.

Here is a link to the tool (in the middle) and the two other ones that are very helpfull.

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Paint-D%C3%A9cor/Painting-Supplies/Caulk-Coatings-Seals/Caulking/Guns-And-Tools/Caulking-Tool-Kit-with-Scraper-Applicator-and-Flexo-Tip/_/N-ntlnrZ2ppz/R-I2034700

Coasting
09-13-2012, 10:24 PM
I dont think I will have a problem re-sealing it (haven't gotten that far yet) I'm still in the process of trying to take all the old silicone out. But this removing of the old silicone around the bottom is exhausting, holy cow I dont know how anyone does this! All 4 sides are done, and 1/3 of the base is done. The corners are the hardest :neutral:. I dont think I will be able to get the top black brace off, it's really siliconed on there.

Cal_stir
09-13-2012, 10:36 PM
fresh razor blades is the trick, they dull fast making it tough.

Coasting
09-13-2012, 11:09 PM
Of coarse now that I'm almost done I find my blade holder.... 2 new blades left and 1/6th of the bottom. So worth paying somebody else to do. I think I fill finish getting the bulk of it off today, then do the tidy up and get the fine stuff off tomorrow and hopefully seal it back up.

Still unsure in regards to the top brace about what to do.

11purewater
09-13-2012, 11:48 PM
GE also makes a silicone remover,it takes of the remaining silicone film off the razer just cant seem to get.paint it on let it sit and it all wipes off with paper towel.Use vinegar or methl hydrate to wipe the seams after to remove all traces of the paste and you're good to go.Most hardware stores will have it (did 10 years in bathroom reno's re-siliconing acrylic showerstalls so I know it works.):biggrin:

Coasting
09-14-2012, 12:13 AM
I would just worry about it ruining the silicone inbetween the panes of glass. I dont want to totally take it apart. But I'm paranoid like that.
done silicone removing for today, still have 2 fresh blades to hopefully get the last little bits off. Those corners are hard. My fingers are numb.
What to do about the top.
How thick should the beads along the side be? Obviously thicker then what was on there, those were sad looking...

Coasting
09-15-2012, 11:27 PM
Hey guys I'm really not sure what to do about this top brace. It is really stuck on there. I had quite a bit of trouble trying to get the silicone in the top corners off. But its flush with where the bottom of the top brace is on the inside. Is this okay? I dont think I can physically take this brace off with out breaking something. I can do some serious globs of silocone in the top so it goes over and past where the old silicone in there is if that will help, but the water wont be going that high anyway.

I have the rest of the inside cleaned and ready to go, I was hoping to seal it up tonight. But want confirmation about the top brace. Will pictures help?

Coasting
09-16-2012, 01:06 AM
Heres one of each corner.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/Lolaandthecrowd/Fish%20Tank%20-%20SW/siliconetank001.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/Lolaandthecrowd/Fish%20Tank%20-%20SW/siliconetank002.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/Lolaandthecrowd/Fish%20Tank%20-%20SW/siliconetank003.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/Lolaandthecrowd/Fish%20Tank%20-%20SW/siliconetank004.jpg

Aquattro
09-16-2012, 01:16 AM
They stick those on pretty good, eh? Ya, if it's that stuck, don't risk breaking the tank.

Coasting
09-18-2012, 07:21 AM
Is it easier to pull off fresh silicone then old silicone? like 12 hours old?

I'm livid! I trusted my father to help me silicone the tank and he made the biggest mess possible! Not only did he not listen to a single thing I said in regards to how thick and where but he starts going over it again with his fat fingers making a mess after its starting to set! "Oh you wont see it" :neutral: Its a tank am I never going to look at it once its full or something?

I think its fully sealed but it looks like crap in the back 2 seams! He didn't even give me a chance to tape the back corners. Theres disgusting smears and finger prints coming out more then an inch from the corners. Is it easier to just pull it all off again and re do it? (seriously ready to pay one of you guys to do this, cash in hand!)

I'm going see how bad of a mess it looks in the morning and if I can simply use a blade to fix this up or if I should spend the next week ripping this silicone off to re-do it. Oh hey and the kicker... for some reason he assumed I wanted the top black brace futher siliconed to the tank so he starts running a bead along the edge to the black brace so now I will never get the top corners cleaned up.....

Just had to vent, couldn't sleep, too angry about the tank.

MKLKT
09-18-2012, 01:38 PM
You can see why I was hesitant to suggest re-silconing. :p It's likely easier to peel it when it's cured as you can get a continuous strip; otherwise, if it's not cured it may still be an irritant as well as kinda smear instead of coming off. (Over night is probably enough.) At least you've got dry weather for the near future if it's outside. You could easily razor off the fingerprints or smears but don't mess with the edges.

At least you know that brace isn't going anywhere.

Coasting
09-18-2012, 02:27 PM
I didn't want to have to, but once I started cleaning out the insides and actually crawled inside to scrub the overflow, i noticed theres wasn't much left of the old silicone in some places. Just didn't feel comfortable with how it looked. Thats a lot of water on the floor and crabby people I would have to deal with if it sprung a leak....

I just wish if people didn't want to help, and they wanted nothing to do with my fish, they would go away and not touch my projects.

I'm going to attempt to razor away the nasty figer smears and see how it looks. At least I got the tape in the 2 front corners. And if It still looks like crap, guess I get to go buy more blades and start over again. 2 tubes of silicone left, whats that 2 more trys?

blacknife
09-18-2012, 02:30 PM
The first time i redid a tank took three trys until it looked good and held water.

Coasting
09-18-2012, 02:33 PM
Is it easier to pull off the fresh silicone? Its been 12 hours now. If it will be easier I will just head out, buy more blades and start again, but if its going to be just as hard as taking the old stuff off, I will try and fix the ugly first.

Coasting
09-18-2012, 03:40 PM
well fixing it looked like crap, so off it goes! 4 corners are off already. Its easier, just messier. Still wet silicone in some of the spots where its stupidly thick. Its still a little damp outside so will wait until it dries up later so I can tip the tank and crawl inside to do the bottom.

blacknife
09-18-2012, 04:20 PM
Like all artforms.. I did my best, the last time, when the GF had the kids out somewhere and i could relax, prep, tape, and caulk in my own time without outside influence. whats the worst that could go wrong? You don't like the result and have to redo it? I figured it was practice as it was a small tank<40b> and i have tinkered with the idea of building a bigger tank at some point.

just take your time.. make sure you get all the new old silicone off, clean it again with acetone or whatever you are using to clean it and try again.

Coasting
09-20-2012, 08:43 PM
All right. Just siliconed the tank. Very first time I have ever siliconed anything in my life! All I can say is it looks much better then what the first attempt looked like, I really hope this will work. I will take some pictures a little later and see what you guys think... If it looks like its up to holding water standards. Yeesh, time to peel the silicone off my hands now.

blacknife
09-20-2012, 11:12 PM
I got some cheap rubber/vynil whatever gloves for "dirty" projects.

Coasting
09-20-2012, 11:28 PM
despite the fact that I have tons of nitrile/laytex gloves laying around, that thought never occurs to me until AFTER I'm peeling the silicone off my hands.

I'm fairly happy with how it looks. One of the corners looks slightly ruffled at the edges, thats just from excess that was on the tape trying to set as i peeled the tape off. The bottom is not neat at all in the corners, but that will be covered by sand or whatever. Overall looks like it should hold water just fine.

There is the odd itty bitty bubble. Do you guys think that is okay?

I dont think its half bad for a girls first attempt at siliconing something.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/Lolaandthecrowd/Fish%20Tank%20-%20SW/silicone001_zpsd63a2e83.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/Lolaandthecrowd/Fish%20Tank%20-%20SW/silicone005_zps616e149b.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/Lolaandthecrowd/Fish%20Tank%20-%20SW/silicone006_zps84ef12d9.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/Lolaandthecrowd/Fish%20Tank%20-%20SW/silicone011_zpsb23cb53f.jpg

Coasting
09-22-2012, 05:04 AM
Been 24hrs, silicone is still as stinky as ever but seems set. Will probably let it sit another good week before adding water. Do you guys think it looks okay? Those bubbles are safe? Their smaller then they seem... I should have taken the marco lense off the camera....