is it time to re SILICONE my tank?

[DEAD_BY_DAWN]

i will be getting a 12y/o tank on sat 85g,its held water for that time,would it be a good idea to place new silicone on it ,or not bother does this stuff break down with time ?,and is it easy to do thanks for any thoughts on this.

[Pro Fish Keeper]

It is a good idea to resilicone considering it can get rips and tare's that can eventually open up. After you silicone consider putting the tank on a towel and fill it with water. Then watch it over the course of a cupple days to see if there are any leaks.

[DEAD_BY_DAWN]

thanks its my understanding that you just remove the outer layer and dont remove the panels is this correct ?.

[BMW Rider]

That's what I did with the used tank I got for my pond fish to winter in. I just used a razor scraper to cut the silicone out of the corners, then applied a new bead. Just be careful not to cut into the joint itself. The joints on my tank were good, so I saw no need to cut them apart. I'd probably end up breaking the glass doing that anyway. If it looks like the silicone in the joint is failing, then that would be another matter.

[ree-fready]

I think for a tank that age you might want to disassemble it and start fresh. I have a 135 Hagen with the clear silicone and one side is weaping. I lowered the water level in the tank and redid a small area with silicone but the structural integrity has been compromised and now I have a clamp on that side for safety. My tank is about 10 years old I think and I asked Paul @ Pauls Aqua. how long a tank should last he said about 15 years. When I get my new tank I`m going to strip this one and redo it. It should be like a new tank. JMO

[Canadian Man]

Just so you guys are aware.

Cutting the excess silicone out of the corners and putting more in makes no diffrence to the tank. The silicone that actually holds the tank together is the stuff between the glass and the glass. The splooge in the corners are there because that's what happens when they build the tank.

I believe Evan here in Calgary put masking tape right to the corners when he was building his last tank so there is almost 0 excess silicone on the corners.

Just incase you wanted to know :biggrin: