So my tank decided to leak today. 600 gallon from middle in the bottom seam. Slow drip for now. I am headed to walmart to look at a pool to hold the water while I figure out the rest. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Glass 10'x3'x30" is silicone reseal a realistic option? What about covering the bottom with rubber pond liner and silicone that to glass an inch or 2 up the glass? Let me know what you guys think. Thanks.
Leaking 600 gallon display suggestions.
- Thread starter dewkey
- Start date
No warranty. Bottom pane sits inside all side panes and has an extra 1" or so glass reinforcment i guess is the best way to put it like doubled up glass all the way around. Got a pool from Walmart for $18 550 gallons so everything should fit in there as good as anything else. Resealing involves seperating the panes or just removing and replacing all the corners? Is there no option to coat the bottom with something similar to what would be used in a wood tank build assuming it would bond to glass appropriately? Had plans to plumb everything in teh garage so my closed loop runs there i can use the return to drain water into the pool with minimal hassle i think. Tank has held water for 2-3 yrs now without an issue. Seperating the panes seems unrealistic, is coating the bottom a bad idea? What about adding another bottom on top of the existing pane and sealing the sides to that?
How about siliconing another piece of glass along the bottom inside the tank?
I think your best bet is to put a pane on the inside and seal it up to the glass. Probably the quickest and easiest fix that I can think of.
skriz
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Before You consider any repair that is not the best repair, consider what you are wagering: your house. If damage to your home is an acceptable loss should disaster strike, by all means, take whichever route is most comfortable for you. If that's too much to gamble, your choices are limited..
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Edit:
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I hate this for you Erin!
+1
I hate this for you Erin!
I feel most comfortable with adding the pane on top of existing glas and realing everything there. I cant see a negative for doing it this way due to the current construction with the bottom inside the side panes of glass. If there are downsides to this solution i am not considering please feel free to let me know. The tank was used and full of water when purchased. I will need 2-3 pieces of 3/4" glass to fill the recess area inside the bracing and then smaller 1/2 or 1/4 pieces to lay flush across the bottom touching the side panes. Has anyone dealt with local glass company they could recommend?
+1 I resealed a 40 cube and it was a breeze. The most time consuming part is getting ALL the old silicone off. A few razor blades and lots of rubbing alcohol. Make sure you get all the old stuff out, tape the corners to get nice clean lines and reseal. It will be good as new.
Sorry to tell you this but you are in for a complete replacement (this happened to my glass cages about two years ago). The key thing will be to identify why it is happening. Mine did the same thing and as it turns out it was due to the stand not being fully supported in the middle. Shine a light behind or put shims in as a temp fix if that is what it is. If you do not fix the root cause it will do it with the next tank as well. Good luck. I can't imagine that any silicone or epoxy will fix this long term...a complete repair or replacement must happen.
I didn't mean that you had to trash the entire tank but a quick fix reseal with water in it will not work it will take an entire rebuild--a complete dismantle. Most folks do not have a place to keep 600g worth of livestock while they tear down and complete the repair.
That is what I had to do and as it turns out Glass Cages will not fix leaks so I had to get a new 240g at the time. The fact that you have a leak on 600g tank at the bottom should be a huge concern...it will only get worse. I have had 5 gallons on my floor in basement at one time and it looked flooded--600g would be complete devastation. Sorry to hear about your troubles. I didn't sleep for 3 days when mine occurred all livestock went into rubbermaids and I did a complete dismantle. Good luck and let us know if you need any help.
It failed for a reason. Twisted/crooked stand, not level, whatever. I concur that any "fix" is temporary if the cause of the problem isn't diagnosed and corrected. Even a new tank will fail in time if the problem is in its placement.
I wouldn't want the liability of re-sealing such a large display.
Lousy situation to be in, for sure.Jenn
I have pumped most of the water out into a pool i bought from walmart into the garage. The tank is loscated in my basement and i will check for the levelness of stand after I get all the rock adn livestock out. Does anyone have any large submersible heaters i could borrow for a month probably while I try to sort this out. The pool is on the floor of the garage sapping out the heat. Sharper pieces of liverock on egg crate on bottom will work out some sort of overflow and pump water up to be skimmed and gravity drain back into pool for filtration. Just had a good 1 hr sleep now back to damage control.
