Help! Tank leak
 

My Reefer’s Nightmare came true & of course it’s just when you’re feeling smug. Just a couple of nights after a WC & re-scaping, I was admiring how good everything looked, when I saw with horror that water was seeping from the bottom front. Thank God I noticed before I had gone up to bed. It’s my nano (about 25 gal?) snd it was a slow leak so I was able to quickly transfer everything into a tub. Dammit!
The dimensions of the tank (31” x 12” x 15”) was great because it fit so well on the shelf. I don’t think I can find a similar tank quickly (let me know if there’s any leads) so it occurred to me that I could re-seal this tank. It’s in good shape and I also chose all my equipment around it, including the HOB skimmer.
My husband helped me when we did my sump years ago but I know that’s a different kinda thing. Any tips please from experienced tank builders, repairers?
Where can I buy the right silicone? I know I have to scrape off old silicone but do I need to actually take tank apart?

Many thanks for any input, advice etc.

PS. If anyone is selling or have leads on where to buy a similar sized tank, please let me know. Many thanks!

Hi Maggie,

Sucks to hear about the leak.
I haven't redone a tank myself, but I would imagine on a tank that size it shouldn't be too daunting of a diy task to try.
Front my research on the topic main points would be to get ALL of the old silicone off. Wipe with alcohol, we all probably have this laying around now thanks to covid. Lots of good youtube tutorials.

Having said that, can you fit a 30"l x 15"w x 24"h bowfront?

Good luck,
Shao

I have seen this before. My question is how secure is that shelf. If you put another or the repaired tank back on this shelf, will it leak again down the road?
Just the water in this tank weighs at least 200 lbs. If the shelf sags a little in the middle, the vertical glass panes will slowly separate from the bottom horizontal piece of glass.
I have repaired a 30 gal tank that was placed on a dresser. The top of the dresser eventually sagged and the tank of course leaked. I read about this scenario quite often. Some people place their tanks on styrofoam, so that any small irregularities can be smoothed out. But that can only handle a small amount of unevenness . The pink stuff is the best. The better and stronger the base the better.
And I am assuming your shelf sagged a bit.
The best, of course is to take the leaking pane of glass off of the tank and and resealing that part. Plus I would take off all the inside silicone and resealing all of that as well. You could just try to reseal only the insides, and put water in to see if it will leak, but this is not recommended in my opinion .
As Shao said, clean every piece of silicone off and clean with alcohol or acetone in a well ventilated place, like outside. New silicone does not stick to old silicone properly.
J&L should sell silicone specifically made for aquariums, no added chemicals.
quick google search turned this up
https://www.loctiteproducts.com/en/k...fish-tank.html

Hi Shao,
Thanks for the advice. I think we’re going to go ahead and do the re-seal. Luckily husband is fairly handy and willing to help. (Thanks for the offer of bowfront but the shape is not quite right).
Sounds like your job is much bigger than mine. Good luck setting up the new tank!

Hi Hillegom
Thanks for the info. I got some silicone from JL this morning already.

The shelf was not the issue. It’s old school solid wood and built like a tank. The tank was bought 2nd hand in 2019 so who knows what happened. Hope our re-seal will give it an extension on life