Best way to fill a bubble?

[bigd]

Wow, didn’t realize you took the overflow out too. That’s a lot of work, hope you got a good deal on it!

I‘m in a similar situation on an acrylic tank I picked up months ago... I left it up to an expert though, Tony’s got it.

Bad thing is, that means I‘m going to have to pay for it twice.

 

[Anthony king]

What silicone did you go with?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N1AMY0/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_Uz2CEbVJ8WKF6

 

[Anthony king]

Gonna let it sit like that for a couple days then reapply the overflow box then hopefully leave it full of water for at least 3 weeks

 

[jcook54]

You are the man. That's a big project but I think the 3 weeks is a good call. Here's the thing I always have to remind myself - when these things are made, it's by a person with silicone. I'm assuming they have more experience and maybe better equipment to build them but in the end, it's just silicone. I'd be nervous about doing it but if it's done right, there's no reason it won't be as good as the factory. Heck, considering it was done at the Red Sea factory, I hope it's better.

 

[Anthony king]

You are the man. That's a big project but I think the 3 weeks is a good call. Here's the thing I always have to remind myself - when these things are made, it's by a person with silicone. I'm assuming they have more experience and maybe better equipment to build them but in the end, it's just silicone. I'd be nervous about doing it but if it's done right, there's no reason it won't be as good as the factory. Heck, considering it was done at the Red Sea factory, I hope it's better.

Thats how i felt initially but my friend who works in installations of something similar was complaining about the craftsmanship of the original seal insall.much appreciated for the encouragement

 

[Adam]

Decided on trying to repair will keep updated

I can understand that. It'd be a hard pill to swallow having to trash the tank. Don't know if I'd have the balls to do it though.

Yikes. Well done. That is way more balls than I have....
Also curious about the type of silicone.

My first thought was the same thing. Instantly an AC/DC song popped in my head

 

[Rainblood]

I tank used as well and freaked when I got it home and into my garage and saw the silicone under brighter lighting...
I ended up leaving mine alone because the "structural" part seemed okay.

 

[Anthony king]

I tank used as well and freaked when I got it home and into my garage and saw the silicone under brighter lighting...
I ended up leaving mine alone because the "structural" part seemed okay.

View attachment 20418

How long has it been holding?

 

[Rainblood]

How long has it been holding?

68 days. But mine is a Nuvo40.
Yours looks a lot bigger.

 

[Anthony king]

68 days. But mine is a Nuvo40.
Yours looks a lot bigger.

Its the 425 max the display is only 88 gallons so hopefully it holds

 

[Steve Burton]

Looks good. I suspect leaving a nice long cure time would greatly improve the odds of success. I would consider extra cure time out in the sun after you think its dry, to insure the silicone deep in the seams that is not exposed to air is fully cured also. Good luck.

 

[Rainblood]

Its the 425 max the display is only 88 gallons so hopefully it holds

im in l'ville too, if you need anything just let me know

 

[sharis100]

I

Its the 425 max the display is only 88 gallons so hopefully it holds

highly recommend checking the stand to make sure everything level with no sagging and that it does not need an extra brace in the middle to support the weight. Red Sea stands have a structural defect if they are older models and must be reinforced in the middle to prevent seals from popping, tanking torquing and failures. Speaking from experience. Even the smaller models had some issues.

 

[Rainblood]

thats a good point, i read the biggest cause of tank failures is due to not being level

 

[joseayes]

Anthony, just some questions here,
Did you removed the front panel, removed all of the old silicon and before placing it back, did you placed silicone in between the edge of one panel and to face of the other panel?
or
Did you cut the old silicone in a 90 degree and left alone the existing (old) silicone that’s in between the panels and thus you place a bead of silicone on top of that “sandwiched” existing silicone?

I’ve worked, when I was a teenager, on a glass company, I actually just worked in residential installations, but there was a guy in manufacturing who have done some of that job, filling seems in glass displays for stores, doing custom tanks, and to my days, this is still applicable, filled seems in a tank, the way manufacturer does, is a must, and practically, holds and helps more bonding resistance than filling a tank with the outside corner bonded to the adjacent panel, just check in some glass tank manufacturers, Deep Blue, Innovated Marine, etc, just check how they have done it, in some of them you can even see that they only relay in the silicone that’s in between the panels, and remove or leave the least possible on the face of each panel, I hope it makes sense.
A while ago, I was reading some DIY projects on R2R on repairing tanks, many suggested remove, clean, apply a bead in between panels, seat the panels, clean then excess just for looks.

 

[Anthony king]

Anthony, just some questions here,
Did you removed the front panel, removed all of the old silicon and before placing it back, did you placed silicone in between the edge of one panel and to face of the other panel?
or
Did you cut the old silicone in a 90 degree and left alone the existing (old) silicone that’s in between the panels and thus you place a bead of silicone on top of that “sandwiched” existing silicone?

I’ve worked, when I was a teenager, on a glass company, I actually just worked in residential installations, but there was a guy in manufacturing who have done some of that job, filling seems in glass displays for stores, doing custom tanks, and to my days, this is still applicable, filled seems in a tank, the way manufacturer does, is a must, and practically, holds and helps more bonding resistance than filling a tank with the outside corner bonded to the adjacent panel, just check in some glass tank manufacturers, Deep Blue, Innovated Marine, etc, just check how they have done it, in some of them you can even see that they only relay in the silicone that’s in between the panels, and remove or leave the least possible on the face of each panel, I hope it makes sense.
A while ago, I was reading some DIY projects on R2R on repairing tanks, many suggested remove, clean, apply a bead in between panels, seat the panels, clean then excess just for looks.

I cut off all the old silicone detached the front panel and ran silcone between that and the tank then completed the rest as 1 single seam its currently still sitting empty with the clamps im gonna reattach the overflow and bulkheads today

 

[Anthony king]

Also gonna make sure the stand is level today dont want to deal with this again

 

[joseayes]

I cut off all the old silicone detached the front panel and ran silcone between that and the tank then completed the rest as 1 single seam its currently still sitting empty with the clamps im gonna reattach the overflow and bulkheads today

Nice job my friend!
You gonna have a tank for a while after it passes your tests!
I was just talking with Ira yesterday on how there’s really a disappointing job when you see brand new tanks at the stores and once you start to check on the panels you’ll notice that they’re not even lined up correctly, it happens that one panel might be aligned with the other on the bottom and it’s past some millimeters on the top, now the silicone works is as they did it at the end of their shift and they were ready to go lol! I’ve seen some Marineland tanks brand new looking like that, oh well.

 

[Anthony king]

Nice job my friend!
You gonna have a tank for a while after it passes your tests!
I was just talking with Ira yesterday on how there’s really a disappointing job when you see brand new tanks at the stores and once you start to check on the panels you’ll notice that they’re not even lined up correctly, it happens that one panel might be aligned with the other on the bottom and it’s past some millimeters on the top, now the silicone works is as they did it at the end of their shift and they were ready to go lol! I’ve seen some Marineland tanks brand new looking like that, oh well.

 

[Anthony king]

Gonna wait till next week and do the fill test