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Leaky 55 gallon...

catfishXhunterX

catfishXhunterX

Members
I was given a 55 by a friend if mine who had no use for it (not a fish person) the middle supporting the top frame had been cut off of it and its cracked on one corner...doesn't hold water at all...just ice right now...my question is how difficult is it to replace the frame and reseal it?


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Harleyrider5

Harleyrider5

Members
It's not hard you can order the top brace online and any local fish store should have sealant safe for aquariums. It takes time. In my experience it is best to remove all the old sealant and start fresh. Wait several day in order to let it set up . Then fill it with water and wait to see if it leaks


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verbal

verbal

CCA Members
Where is the leak located? If it is towards the top it might have potential as an outside "summer vacation" tank. If it is towards the bottom or involving multiple panes, I would look for a deal or the next $1/gallon sale.
 
catfishXhunterX

catfishXhunterX

Members
Not really sure where the leak is...maybe when it gets a little warmer out ill fill it up and see if I can't find it...if not I'm sure I can make a pretty sick terrarium out of it...


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Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
I'd go the terrarium route as well. 55 gal tanks are fairly easy to come by used.

May not be worth the effort and risk of dumping 55 gallons of water on your floor.
 
E

ezrk

Members
I would look to get a $55 dollar 55g next time there is a sale and move that along to someone that doesn't need it to hold water.
 
STATMATT

STATMATT

Members
Yes, I recently repaired a 55gallon tank. It took two caluk gun tubes of sealant and I had to purchase a top brace, if you filled the tank without the center brace. The distance between the side panes expanded by over 1.5 inches. So The top brace fixed that.

It was a lot more work than I expected. I would have rather waited for the $/gal sale.

I was not able to get the caulking as smooth as I had liked and it took more than a day and a few packs of razors to remove the prior sealant.

I have a not so fancy sump at this time.

STATMATT
 
catfishXhunterX

catfishXhunterX

Members
I'm just going to be on the safe side my lfs has a 75 with glass canopy light and stand for 330 I believe...not sure how good of a deal that is but I do know my devil will be way happier there than the 50 he's in now...


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Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Less is more?

STATMATT said:
Yes, I recently repaired a 55gallon tank. It took two caluk gun tubes of sealant...

It was a lot more work than I expected. I would have rather waited for the $/gal sale.

I was not able to get the caulking as smooth as I had liked and it took more than a day and a few packs of razors to remove the prior sealant.
STATMATT
Click to expand...

Grasshopper, your Kung-fu no good, you X-box too much....

This reads like a horror story - while I freely acknowledge that removing a broken top-frame can be something of a challenge, I recently did one on a 33 long (same as a 55) in about 30 minutes (not for the faint of heart) with the tank half full of water/fish. As for sealing, I don't know what to say about that except that with good technique (and a single decent razor blade), stripping and resealing a 55 should take about an hour if it's dry and shouldn't require more than one small tube of silicone.

Perhaps we should schedule a demo at one of the meetings lest people get the idea that this is actually hard. No, that's boring. How about this:

1) Drain/dry the tank (hair dryers are good for this if one is impatient);
2) Using a single-sided razor blade (like the ones from hardware stores with a non-cutting reinforced side), make long cuts along the seams flush against the glass perpendicular to the panes and pull out the old sealant - if there's little bits/threads left in the seams it doesn't matter;
3) Use a clean cotton rag and some alcohol to clean/prep the seams where the silicone will adhere;
4) Walk the seams with a hair dryer to eliminate any residual moisture - this is really quick and will ensure a good seal;
5) Lay in a thin bead (about or slightly larger than a pencil diameter) in all the seams and use your index finger or something suitably shaped to push and smooth the sealant into a nice concave triangular shape - this will result in the silicone being spread along the glass in both directions out to about 3/4 of an inch, thin at the edges and thicker in the middle;
6) Wait 24 hours and fill it up.

This works because the water pressure is inside the tank pressing against the silicone, hence the use of alcohol to clean the bonding surfaces to ensure a good seal so that the water can't push past/around the sealant.

Tips:

Disposable plastic gloves (like the kind your GP/dentist/local food handlers use - read as "free") are good if you don't want silicone on your finger.

Open the window or turn on a fan when using sealant - the vapors are quite heady coming out of the tank and while they may not be toxic per se they're not oxygen.

CVS and most grocery stores sell isopropyl alcohol really cheap.

The razor blades from hardware store that come in plastic dispensers are also cheap and really handy - I use them for cleaning algae from glass which often allows one to remove most of the algae from a tank rather than just mixing it into the water as occurs otherwise.

This is/was also boring but it's just not that hard to re-seal a tank and no one should imagine that it normally takes a day or more to do so. Hopefully the benefit (dubious) of my accumulated experience will preclude others from similarly arduous/protracted debacles.
 
catfishXhunterX

catfishXhunterX

Members
Excellent write up of the procedure, avatar, I really appreciate the info. Actually one of my fishing buddies came up with the idea of trying to get some baby bluegill come springtime and use it as a bait tank and just keep it out in the garage that way i dont have to worry so much about it leaking a little bit...I know this is a cichlid forum but does anyone know if I could get away with something like that in a 55?


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