Interior chip on bottom corner of 150 gallon aquarium - help!

[LandoCommando]

Hello, new guy here. I have a 150 gallon Aqueon that I previously had resealed. I paid a local guy to do the work, and while he did a fine job he revealed he did not use alcohol or acetone to remove the silicone residue before he resealed it. This worried me enough that I decided to just reseal it again myself. I found this chip below the silicone in a bottom corner, and I'll be frank, I'm freaking out a bit.

I'm 95% sure it was there before I removed the silicone as I started hearing a scraping noise when I got the razor under this corner. It is about 1/2 inch long by 1/4 inch tall and shallow, but my fonger nail can catch on it. It does not appear to have runners, but with some silicone residue still in the corner it is hard to tell.

Is this tank finished? Would I be okay to liberally apply silicone in that area or is it a lost cause? I'm not saying the dude who worked on this previously caused the chip and did not tell me, but I'm pretty sure I did not create it from my razor work and I doubt it left the Aqueon factory like this.

Any advice would be helpful!

 

[tlindsey]

Is this tank finished?

Welcome aboard
It may still be usable.

Would I be okay to liberally apply silicone in that area or is it a lost cause?

You could do that and let the silicone completely cure.

I suggest after cured and completely dry fill aquarium with water and let sit for a week.
Check for leaks. If no leaks then you should be good.

 

[tlindsey]

Old thread but may be helpful.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...leaks-big-and-small-and-repairing-them.33808/

 

[LandoCommando]

Appreciate it. This tank is for my home office where my work computer and guitars are, so I may just CL this thing with the disclaimer that it has a chip and get a new one for peace of mind. I feel confident in my ability to reseal it, but the chip is a worry that would never go away and potentially ruin other expensive items, not to mention the house repairs.

 

[tlindsey]

a worry that would never go away

I definitely respect that.

 

[Backfromthedead]

How thick is the glass?

I think it'll be alright. If you can, take a magnifying glass or similar and check the area for any significant radiating cracks...just eyeballing it i cant tell if im seeing cracks or scrapes. ime most of these flakeoff chips dont seem to travel though. I would just widen the silicone bead/seam significantly in that area. Be careful when "liberally" applying silicone, sometimes if you have too much globbed in it is hard to eliminate any air bubbles in the seam.

Ive built several sumps, utility tanks with reclaimed glass that had worse chips than that. As long as your silicone skills are decent you should be fine.

 

[LandoCommando]

How thick is the glass?

I think it'll be alright. If you can, take a magnifying glass or similar and check the area for any significant radiating cracks...just eyeballing it i cant tell if im seeing cracks or scrapes. ime most of these flakeoff chips dont seem to travel though. I would just widen the silicone bead/seam significantly in that area. Be careful when "liberally" applying silicone, sometimes if you have too much globbed in it is hard to eliminate any air bubbles in the seam.

Ive built several sumps, utility tanks with reclaimed glass that had worse chips than that. As long as your silicone skills are decent you should be fine.

I appreciate that, but I've already found a buyer who is fine with the risk and will be keeping this in his basement fish room. I've already ordered a new one from the LFS, luckily 150 talls are on sale where I live so the net cost wasn't bad at all.

 

[Backfromthedead]

I appreciate that, but I've already found a buyer who is fine with the risk and will be keeping this in his basement fish room. I've already ordered a new one from the LFS, luckily 150 talls are on sale where I live so the net cost wasn't bad at all.

Your buyer sounds like me lol