# Reseal 125g



## Brandonl87 (Jan 15, 2012)

Hey guys well the 125g has a leak somewhere on the bottom.. I resealed the tank with aquarium silcone from petco and its now just a small leak somewhere.. Any ideas? Reseal the bottom? Or seal the outside bottom glass with marine B5200?
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## sidluckman (Jan 15, 2012)

How old is the tank? I just replaced a 15 year old 55 gallon because the top frame was splitting nearthe center brace. People suggested I get a new top molding, but after a certain point it's safer to replace: the sealant doesn't last forever and I was a nervous wreck wondering, each time I came home from work, is there gonna be fifty gallons of water all over the floor?

I also gave an old 125 gallon tank to a friend because after a respectable run, the glass had a lot of scratches and I no longer trusted it. He was gonna use it for a Water dragon and stash the tank in his basement, so that seemed like a good use for it.

When it comes to trying to stop a leak in a smaller tank, I'm all for giving it a go. I hope you find a solution that works for you, but I would never attempt a repair of this kind on so large a tank. The amount of pressure on the seals is so extreme, and the unlikelihood in getting a good seal without first cleaning all the surfaces to be joined makes me think the project is doomed. But believe me: I'm sympathetic because 125s don't come cheap. 

I will continue to watch this thread, because I want to see if anyone has had success doing this, and meanwhile I wish you the best . . .


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## Brandonl87 (Jan 15, 2012)

I did clean the corners and seems with acetone tgen wiped off with water and dried it before resealing so idk.. I used the petco silicone ive seen online people use ge number 1 for it.
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## sidluckman (Jan 15, 2012)

Where are all your fish in the meanwhile? Or is this a tank you are hoping to use to expand your "fish room?"


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## Brandonl87 (Jan 15, 2012)

My fish are in the 55gal this 125gal is replacing the 55gal once i can figure out the leak
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## sidluckman (Jan 15, 2012)

They will- - I mean--YOU will love the 125. Good luck.


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## Brandonl87 (Jan 15, 2012)

Thanks well its holding water as of right now everythings running i tried puting some fish in an they go straight to the top gasping for air an dont move..? I can reach in an pick them up. I put them back in the 55 and their fine idk whats going on now
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## sidluckman (Jan 15, 2012)

Residual chemical from the sealant? Water not dechlorinated? Hold off and be safe. Test your water before attempting to move them again.

Do they recover once they are back in the 55?


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## Brandonl87 (Jan 15, 2012)

Thats what i was thinking idid a water change and i use prime. So im going to wait a couple days and let it run until i try it again but so much bigger!! Its insane lol
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## sidluckman (Jan 15, 2012)

Once many years ago I did a 75 % water change on a tank and forgot to put the prime in!

Yikes.

That was the only time I lost fish to chlorine poinsoning and it was BAD. Painful to watch. I lost two Synodontis Multipunctatus cats and A beautiful trio of adult Copadichromis Borleyii. I was sick about it! 

That's what I get for hurrying!


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## Brandonl87 (Jan 15, 2012)

ouch im sorry about that. those synos arnt cheap!. They do fine once they were back in the 55. But heres a update so far since last night i notice the take is still leaking !!!. So i drained it and begain cleaning up the silicone now im redoing the intire tank and letting it cure for the whole 48hours as stated, patiences is the key..thats what i have learned from this i guess lol


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## sidluckman (Jan 15, 2012)

I noticed there is a thread on this site which illustrates how to reseal a tank. Check that out; maybe it will have tips you can use.

Yeah, those synodontis were wild caught and about 35 bucks each. which, at the time I thought was a fortune.

Now that I am into marine, it doesn't seem so bad. . .


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## Brandonl87 (Jan 15, 2012)

ok ill see if i can find that, yeah i bet marine is way more expensive once you start looking into the cool looking ones lol. Thanks for the advice


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## Brandonl87 (Jan 15, 2012)

Sorry to revive this but i noticed today it started leaking again!... i resealed everything and waited the correct amount of time for it.


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## sidluckman (Jan 15, 2012)

My sympathies. What a drag. Look at your local cichlid forums (if you have any) to see if anyone posts a used tank for sale at a good price.


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## 92smokeaccord (Jun 5, 2012)

from my experiance with sealing larger tanks is that.
you have to layer the new silicone. takes more time but works better and lasts longer.lay down the first layer give it a few hrs to set to the point when its not tacky then layer another and another.3 layers is perfect for a 225 i did once. you might get away with maybe 2 for a 125.


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## goldfishyman (Jun 8, 2012)

If you know which area is leaking I would take a razor and cut the glass panel that is leaking off. Clean off all the silicon and then reattach the panel with fresh silicon. Once its back in place apply a fresh bead of silicon to the inside seams and spread flat with fingers. You want a thicker layer near the seam and you want it to be flatter at the edges of the bead. This allows the water to press on the thin layer making the seam extra water tight. The thinned out are needs to be about 1/2 inch out on either side of the main bead. Applying an extra thick bead will help. In my opinion, applying new silicon on top of old does not make for a good seal. The old silicon will not adhere well to the new because while in service it collects all kinds of crap in its pores. Besides the chemical bond does not occur with old and new material. I would strip out all of the old silicon from the inside and then reseal. Heres where the biggest issue comes from. The silicon that holds the glass together is old and will not attach well to the new silicon that you are using to seal the edges. This is why it is difficult to reseal old tanks. The best way is to disassemble the entire tank and redo all seals and joints, but unless you have the jigs to hold things together it is not worth doing this. So remove all the silicone and redo the inside seams first. If it still leaks then you might have no choice but to take the tank completely apart and rebuild it.


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## sidluckman (Jan 15, 2012)

I was really hoping brandon had fixed the thing by now and was posting pictures of the tank in use.

But thanks, Goldfishyman, for a well-described and helpful post.


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