resealing tank questions

[smokinreefer]

Hey everyone,

so i picked up a used 120 to do a downgrade from my 180 at my parents house.

the silicone on the bottom of the tank looks great!
but the silicone on the 4 corner joints look dried up and worn down.

do i need to scrape all the silicone off? including the bottom? or can i just do the sides?

and from what i've read, i'm thinking i need to use scs1200 silicone.
where are you all getting that locally from?

thanks!

[spit.fire]

Only place I've seen ge 1200 is oceanic corals

[hillegom]

You need to completely remove all the old silicone. All traces of it.
I used an olfa knife to scrape everything off, then alcohol to take any oil off, that might have been put on the glass by my hands.

Silicone does not stick to old silicone so if you only do the vertical corners, the new won't stick to the old silicone at the bottom seam. You might not need to have a water proof seal there, but why take a chance. Its just a little more work now, compared to maybe breaking the whole tank down later .

Make sure the silicone you use is approved for aquariums.
There is a lot of information on the web on DIY resealing an aquarium, this being the one I like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKactsdPpO8&feature=player_embedded#!

[JmeJReefer]

Strip ALL Silicone. Old silicone, or even newly dried silicone cant adhere to new silicone. It has to be a "All or nothing" job. I used an exacto blade and some 100% acetone (evaporates damn quick!) to clean out the old silicone. depending on how old the tank is, you may want to gently poke the silicone between panes to see if that is still good. (if it crumbles or balls out really easy, time to replace>) Good luck!