anybody have any horror stories

[colegamby]

ebay seems good but the shipping on the tank is probably really expensive

 

[Tolak]

Resealing a tank is pretty much like caulking anything else. To remove the old silicone, get some new single edged razor blades. There is truth to the saying that a dull tool is a dangerous tool. If you hold the blade with a pair of vise grip pliers, you will be able to get to the spots where 3 seams meet, and also keep your hands away from the sharp blade.

To smooth the bead, without making a mess & with very little clean-up, Cut some curved wedges out of raw potato. Use those to smooth out the seam after you put down a bead of silicone.

GE silicone I is the same stuff All-Glass used in the manufacture of their tanks. Don't pay double or triple the price for something that says aquarium sealant on the tube. GE silicone II is not the same as GE silicone I.

If you do have to re-seal it, be glad it's a larger tank. It leaves you much more elbow room to work in it than something smaller.

Tolak

 

[Mr Miagi]

Visiting the person who is selling it is always an option. Look at the way they keep their house and other pets, that will normally mirror how they have treated the fish. Most aquariums sold here are pick up only so, u basically have the option of refusing to buy it once you go to their house.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

do you really need the vise grip? that seems like overkill. and the thing about a dull blade being dangerous, that is completely bull shiitake mushrooms(haha made you think i was saying it was bullcrap and it wasnt true, FOOLED YOU!, too bad it is true ) yeah, so dont cheap out on blades. i cut myself all the time with dull blades when you use a blade, always keep your hands in the opposite direction of the blade, i learned this the hard way

 

[Tolak]

A dull tool requires more pressure to make it operate properly. The more pressure you exert, the less control you have. You use muscles to stop movement, as well as start it. Small, light muscle movements are easier to stop than large, forceful ones. That is what makes a dull tool more dangerous than a sharp one. Plus a dull tool will lose it's bite & slip. Combine this with excessive force, you can get in trouble.

You can't beat a good pair of needle nose vice grips for getting in tight areas with a razor blade. I've been using that trick for decades, it works on everything.

I don't know how handy Torrean is with tools, I sure wouldn't want to be responsible for telling someone to do something that would lead to some stitches or severed fingers. I climb under machines holding a razor blade in my mouth a couple of times a day, I wouldn't suggest this to someone I don't know. Start with the safe way first, unless you like being called "Lefty".

Tolak

 

[millym]

our 2nd hand tank( from ebay) ruptured at the seals about 10mths after we got it..............day from hell does not even begin to describe it as i struggled to stem the tide, make that lake........................ on our 1st storey flat floor....to cut a long & traumatic tale short.... bought new tank that day... set it up.... saved 5 buckets of old tank water & all fish survived except our hillstream loach who died a couple of days later

but i have heard that this can happen occasionally with new tanks too so obviously we were unlucky, although not really cos at least i was home when it happened & saved the finned ones

 

[Torrean]

do you remove all of the sealant before you start replacing it. Will the seams hold together without it?

Sorry to hear about that millym. Glad to hear most of your fish made it.

 

[Paul_MTS]

just make sure there selling the tank as leak free.

if it doesn't state it on the auction then ask, if they don't give a definate answer leave it.

 

[littlefishie]

My first 15g was secondhand.. it had a small crack in the bottom so I siliconed it and was told by the guy I bought it from [LFS employee] that it didn't leak.

4 days later there was water all over the floor. So after an emergency rush to get the tank emptied I went to his house and demanded a new tank.

So he just gave me one right off the bat.

But if he and I weren't friends like we are I probably would've been screwed. Be really careful with eBay, if the tank is close enough to you see if you can go take a look at it before you buy.

 

[Torrean]

thanks little fishie. I like the new avatar btw. I will try out the ideas you guys gave me. If I get the tank should I even bother asking if it is leak free or should I just strip out the sealent and re seal it my self.

 

[littlefishie]

thanks little fishie. I like the new avatar btw. I will try out the ideas you guys gave me. If I get the tank should I even bother asking if it is leak free or should I just strip out the sealent and re seal it my self.

No problem.

It was actually more humourous than it sounds.. cos this happened about half an hour before parents were due to arrive to pick me up for my birthday dinner at the Mandarin! That was the most panicked tank emptying I've ever done in my life.. the fish lived in a 4L pickle jar til I got back..

And thanks about the avatar! I just figured out tonight how to do animations for Adobe ImageReady, so I've been playing with stuff.

 

[Torrean]

man that sucks. I'm glad the fish made it. You look much better in black and white, not to insult the color version.

 

[littlefishie]

There weren't nearly as many fish at that time as there are now.. about 4 guppies and an oto, as I was just starting the tank with seeded filter media and old tank stock.

Now if that happened with my current tank stock, I think I'd cry.. a school of neons/cories/otos, and a pair of German Blue Rams! Not to mention it's currently on the kitchen counter as I've not been able to get stuff for the bigger tank yet and I just moved out of residence yesterday. I think my grandparents would KILL me if it leaked!

And thanks again.. I have such a Photoshop addiction now, so you can bet that my sig and avatar will be changing regularly now.

 

[Blue Lobster]

Oxyclean the tank. It leaves no harmful residue.