hoody Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 yeah, in bed thursday night my wife wakes me asking what that sound is? i new straight away what is was......my 6x2x2 tanks seal had let go at about 230am.i had bought the tank maybe 5-6 months ago second hand everything looked fine the seal was still soft.all my display fish are ok, but i lost around 30 maingano fry due to only having the 2 tanks.any ideas what might have happend? no rocks would have done this. the seal that went was at the bottom so i was not home i would have lost all my fish and be having to call my landlord :/i ended up moving my intake closer to the door and the out take out the door on my fx5.my thought was that the foam had this gap? but even still i did not think it would matter that much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I couldn't imagine that gap in the foam doing that, but you never know. Do you have any pictures of the rank full of water? It would be interesting to see how level it was, side to side and front to back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 It looked fairly level from Karl's previous posts. How many cross supports are there on the stand? If they are spaced at the same spacing as the legs it may not have been sufficient. Did it give way in the centre back of the tank as it appears that this is the widest spacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoody Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 the water did run past the front of the tank, but the tank its self was fairly level.it gave way on the 2nd support on the right and there is only the 4 supports under the tank. ill add more once i remove the tank.the foam does not cover the back of the tank to the join i couldnt see that being a problem but does any one else think it might?is it worth paying someone to strip and reseal the tank? or just buy another one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intangcity Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 could of that paint uve used eaten at the silicone or the upright only being screwed with no other support pushed up onto the bottom of the tank thus putting pressure on the bottom glass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoody Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 I don't think it was the paint. . There is none under the tank where the seal is. The stand never sagged in any spot with water in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoody Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Just had another look at the back panel. I thought the glass looked bowed so I got a straight edge to see and sure enough the back panel has shifted out maybe up to 5mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 How thick is the glass and what bracing was used at the top of the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n3wbi3 Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Wow how does glass bow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Glass will flexi, if it has silicone or sand behind it will look like it's bowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoody Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 10mm bracing at the top. But the bow is at the bottom only. Think im gong to cut my loses and sell it as is I don't want anyone to have 600lt of water in their lounge because of me. Tax time hopefully ill have a brand new tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southcoastbrad Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Does the tank have a board under it? If not I would just put a piece of marine ply under it put your polystyrene back on top, cut the silicone out on the back length and re silicone it, or if your really worried silicon the whole bottom, its really not hard, and a much cheaper option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozbloke74 Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 The wife and I were looking at your post only 2 days ago and felt for you, wife woke me at 4am this morning, just want you want with a hangover, sump pump screaming, upon opening living room door I was greeted with just about the entire water capacity of my 4*2*2 on the floor and every back room in house, luckily I saved all of my tropheus and have relocated them to a smaller tank. I have found the leak at base of tank. Can I just silicone straight over the old stuff or do I need to pick all the old stuff out first?Any advice on how I should go about this would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoody Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 that sucks mate, glad the fish are ok! is the leak in the silicon or a crack in the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoody Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 i cleaned the tank up today much to my disgust.i think im kinda lucky the hole was only 2-3 inches compared to how much silicon pulled away.any ideas on how much i could sell the tank for as is? (tank lids and foam only) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southcoastbrad Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Hey ozbloke,no you have to cut old silicone out as silicone wont stick to silicone permanently, just cut with a stanley knife at both ends at the length with the hole and run the blade along the whole length top and bottom, pull the old silicone out and clean the glass up with the blade removing any excess silicone, reseal with aquarium grade silicone, smooth out the joint and be sure to leave it for 7 days to cure and you should be all sweet. I just did a ten footer which holds over 2 tonne of water and it is as good as new. Hope all goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Probably only worth $50 as a reptile tank. Someone may pay more. It pretty much useless selling it as a fish tank that needs repairing. Most off the time I see leaking tanks for sale they are free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozbloke74 Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Thanks for reply, 7 Days to cure you think? I have some bristlenose babies about to emerge from cave any day now so do you think the Tropheus will feast on them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadnappa Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Yeah I would wait 7 days, I have seen the base let go on a 6x2 from the silicone not being fully cured. Also a mate of mine ran an aquarium down here in Vic for 15years. He ordered in a divided tank to grow out a few batches of alto comp fry. They all died with a sticky coating on their gills. He noticed the silicone didn't look the right colour rang the builder turns out the builder had built the tank the day before he sent it and my mate had filled it the day he got it. He swears it was silicone stuck to the fry. As tempting as it is to fill it early I always wait the 7 days. And yeah tropheus would have a munch on fry.Do you have a fry saver kicking around? In a squeeze I have cut a small hole in the base and one in the wall of an ice cream container, then cut 2 pieces of filter sponge so that it pushes through and blocks the holes. Push an airline through the sponge in the base. Then sit it in your main tank, rest a piece of polystyrene under it so it pushes the container up to the lids. And plug the airline into an air pump. I have the outlet just through the sponge in the base, so when it's on it will pull some water through the base and it won't overfill as the hole in the wall lets some water out. It's not ideal but you don't need to wait for silicone to dry as you do on standard DIY fry savers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southcoastbrad Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Yeah exactly what vadnappa said, definitely no less than 7 days, and with fry another solution is an esky with a airline for agitation and a heater, the heater will hardly be on because of the insulation of the esky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoody Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Ive looked on you tube how to reseal tanks, they say to not cut in between the 2 sides what do you do if its pulled away already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoody Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Ive looked on you tube how to reseal tanks, they say to not cut in between the 2 sides what do you do if its pulled away already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozbloke74 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Mine was just the silicone Hoody, no crack. I just spent the day cutting all my silicone from tank, I noticed the witness marks on base of tank where it sits on cabinet, lots of gaps so I am guessing that didn't exactly help. School boy error on my part not using foam.Thanks for replies VAD and SOUTH, I have plenty of eskys here so will run with that idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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