Hello......i Need Some Help!

[alexhood]

hello all, im alex and im new here. i have a problem and i hope someone can give me some advice!
i have a 30gal tank. ive had it for 2 years but have kept fish much longer. last night i noticed a dripping, i checked the tank and there was water comin from the bottom(between stand and base of tank)
i stripped the tank, using a friends spare tank to save the fish. its now empty. i put it on wood over the bath and put in about 2 inches of water. there was no dripping and no leaks. so the water maybe comin from the side seals. wat is the easiest and safest way to check? and if we find a leak how do we fix it? we do not have enough money to go get a new one and i really dont wanna do that. my husband is worried that if i fill completely the tank could burst and our house would b flooded!!! please help me save my tank
thanks, alex

 

[fishyfeet]

hello all, im alex and im new here. i have a problem and i hope someone can give me some advice!
i have a 30gal tank. ive had it for 2 years but have kept fish much longer. last night i noticed a dripping, i checked the tank and there was water comin from the bottom(between stand and base of tank)
i stripped the tank, using a friends spare tank to save the fish. its now empty. i put it on wood over the bath and put in about 2 inches of water. there was no dripping and no leaks. so the water maybe comin from the side seals. wat is the easiest and safest way to check? and if we find a leak how do we fix it? we do not have enough money to go get a new one and i really dont wanna do that. my husband is worried that if i fill completely the tank could burst and our house would b flooded!!! please help me save my tank
thanks, alex

sound like a nightmare alex, cant you not go over all the seals with some silicone, or remove the exsisting silicone and re do it, maybe you could do one edge and see if it leaks, might take a bit of time though, id do the lot, di

 

[alexhood]

hi, i have filled it more and still no leak, i rang the shop we got it from and they said that it may be a pressure leak so it has to be filled right up! is it easy to seal it? id rather not take theold seal off
alex

 

[SharonCC]

I had to reseal one of my 5gal tanks. It's recommended that you remove all the old silicone, and then redo. I couldn't get it all off, but did my best. I siliconed all of the seals.....just to be sure. I still don't completely trust it, though...

 

[fishyfeet]

test it out first by filling it outside from a hose or something if it looks ok, leave for a day or two to make sure, before filling with proper water and adding gravel etc, di

 

[alexhood]

hmmmm, thanks for ur replies, will get an expert in to reseal it as i wouldnt trust it either, 30gals of water is pretty darn heavy!!!

 

[rabbut]

Right, set up a flat work surface outside and line it with polestirien if you don't have a floating base (plastic frame raising the tank base off the stand top). Apply outward pressure to the front and back pains, and watch for glass movement. If the pains move, your structural silicone has gone, and it's time to re-build the tank. This is the usual caurse of pressure leaks. If no movement occurs, then it is the waterproofing silicone that has gone, and there is no risk of a full collapse of the tank, hence it is safe to fully fill it to ID the dodgy seam

With bust structural silicone, you will have to get a sharp knife and seporate each pain from it's counter parts and scrape off all the silicone, before re-building as a new tank. Silicone costs about £10 a tube from the LFS for specialist stuff, that needs to be used realy for livestock safety. Most bathroom sealants will leach toxins

If the waterproofing has gone, cut all the silicone on the internal section of the dodgy seam out and re-seal, as per the finishing stage of building a new tank.

A guide for tank building can be found here

Any questions, post back and I'll try to help. I've done many repairs like this in my time A final tip for now, use masking tape. It avoids having to remove stray silicone from the glass later, and gives perfect and crisp lines to the finish

All the best
Rabbut