Resealing 200 gallon tank

[combativeapologies]

I heard that reapplying silicone in old tanks that developed a leak, that you cant just cut out one seam (the leaky one) and reapply silicone there - you have to redo the whole tank. It's because (supposably) old silicone doesnt stick well to new - and you just end up having a leak where the old meets the new.
Anybody have extensive experience with silicone? - is it really necessary to redo the whole tank if you have a leak somewhere ? I just bought a leaky 200 gallon that sprung in the bottom front of the tank.

 

[cr500_af]

Agreed. I abandoned a 240 because I was going to have to replace the bottom, and I didn't feel comfortable trusting it after I'd taken it apart and put it back together... ever since I was a kid with my toys, I haven't had much luck with that.

I replaced mine, but if you want to do the job, I'd highly recommend talking to Chris @ Fish Scales about rebuilding it for you.

 

[fish scales2]

I would not recommend re-siliconing tank with out taking completly apart and removing any and ALL old silicone. If a tank sprung a leak than the panel is likely to release in due time. I am rebuilding a 265 now that has been resiliconed twice already. It now has euro bracing and starfire front.

Taking a tank apart is very time consuming and you run the risk of chipping the glass. It becomes much easier when you replace the front panel with new glass. Read as: I get to use a hammer

 

[combativeapologies]

Bad news for me, I just found out that the reason it leaked in the first place was due to a small chip on the bottom front panel. Chris, since your the expert, can I still reseal with a small chip? for instance if I can silicone over the chip? If not, how much does a starfire front cost on somthing like this? Or.... how much to repair with regular glass?

Tank dimensions are 60''x24''x30''

 

[fish scales2]

Post a pic of the chip please. You can possibly fix with small piece of glass and silicone.

A new front piece would cost you about $200 or $245 with low iron glass

 

[combativeapologies]

I actually have the chipped piece of glass... so maybe it chipped from me removing the silicone. I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow.

As for the $200-245 is that the starfire or regular? and with or without labor?