# saltwater tank



## franklinr_casedo (Sep 14, 2006)

hey guys, i need your advise.
i have this 50 gallon aquarium i purchased 2 weeks ago. do i need to put water inside to avoid leak or just leave it as is without any water inside.
am still canvassing equipments on my aquarium and i think by end of this october, i will have my 50 gallon already set up.would it be ok to stock it without any water inside or do i need to put water inside to avoid leak.

frank


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

If you are asking if the sealant will go bad without any water in it the answer is no. The tank will be fine for months on end with no water in it.


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## franklinr_casedo (Sep 14, 2006)

a million thanks mike.will take ur word for that.
i still have one question, been looking for a protein skimmer, the bad thing here was i dont find protein skimmer for outside, can i still buy protein skimmer but u can only install it inside the aquarium. any sugestions.


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

caferacermike said:


> If you are asking if the sealant will go bad without any water in it the answer is no. The tank will be fine for months on end with no water in it.


I had a 46gal bow front in storage this past summer in SC and the sealent peeled and cracked in places it was a AGA. I think It was the humidity and heat that caused it, because it got real bad down there this year. Would it of been just a bad batch of sealent, or what.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

usmc121581 said:


> caferacermike said:
> 
> 
> > If you are asking if the sealant will go bad without any water in it the answer is no. The tank will be fine for months on end with no water in it.
> ...


This is what I commonly heard from people who are using second hand tanks. Before using those tanks, check for leaks. If not, try to replace the old sealant with a new one.

Sealants will still peel off in time when the tank hasn't been used for long. The best you could do is replace sealant for precautions. You don't want waking up in the morning with a flooded living room, do you?:roll:


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

From the sounds of it I took this as a new tank. I've never seen my lfs put holding water in new tanks while they sit in the store for months. I myself have bought numerous old tanks that haven't seen water in years, have had trouble with only one but that one showed signs of decay.


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

This one was new till I had to put it in storage for the hottest/humid part of the yaer. And thats whaen the sealent peeled and cracked. I've never heard of LFS doing that either. I would laugh if I seen that.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

My lfs is accepting old tanks for resale and many of the owner's friends are contributing to sell tanks. They're still on the shelves after they replaced the sealant with fresh ones.
I wonder if I should get those old tanks for more fish.







Tempting as they're cheap.:mrgreen:


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Never trust a reseal unless done correctly. I'm unfamiliar with the type fo tanks for sale in the Philippines but I'm guessing tanks like Jebo. European tanks are easy to reseal as there are no plastic braces. American tanks are a pain. A proper reseal consists of removing the glass panels and applying the silicone directly between them, not just reseal it from the inside all stuck together. I've seen to many tanks that just had the old sealant pulled out and new sealant applied to the corners. It always let's go early. Unless you are getting fresh sealant between the panes it's a losing battle. TFH did a write up about it maybe 6 months ago. Jebo tanks also come with a large rim band that makes seperating the panels almost impossible as you can't get the sealant out from the band.


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