265 gallon re seal

[Zex Marquis]

Sooo I'm new to this site, but not to the hobby. I just recently purchased a 265 gallon glass aquarium with a plexiglass sump at a great deal. The tank looks solid. Half inch glass with a double pane on the bottom. The sump is another story. Before i actually put this tank in my house and fill it up with 2000 pounds of water I want to reseal it just to be safe. Looking for tips on products and procedure. As far as the sump goes, it looks to be 40 gallons or so. My plan for it was to use L brackets on the top corners with plastic screws and rubber washers and then reseal. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Will post pics this weekend so you guys can see exactly what I'm dealing with

 

[BIG-G]

As for the 265, If the silicon in the joints is solid then you may be able to get by just cutting the old silicon out inside and resealing. But, If the joints are not sound then you will need to cut the tank apart and do a complete rebuild. Which is what I would do on a tank this size anyway. If I had any doubt at all.

 

[krichardson]

When I resealed my leaking 265 a few years ago I cut out and removed all of the silicone that was on the panels inside of the tank,I did not bother with what was between the panels.

 

[Zex Marquis]

When I resealed my leaking 265 a few years ago I cut out and removed all of the silicone that was on the panels inside of the tank,I did not bother with what was between the panels.

Did you use a specific brand of silicone?

 

[krichardson]

Did you use a specific brand of silicone?

Yes,GE from Home Depot.....there is a specific number on the label on the tube and I can't recall which one it is.You can search the threads or someone will chime in soon.

 

[markstrimaran]

Your acrylic sump, should have transparent corner seams, If so it will be fine.
A leaking seam, can get a little technical.
I have an old acylic tank that I cut a 16" section out of. Then reattached the ends. My acylic gluing was not water tight.
However silicone will adhere to acylic if the corner radius of the silicone fillet, is sanded with 220 grit.
Oh I would only silicone acylic if the tank is structurally solid enough to hold water. It is a easy leak stopper. Bubble gum works also, even underwater.

 

[Rafini]

With a big tank like that you have to reseal it anyway.
I purchased a 225 gallon aquarium used about 3 years ago. Sadly I had to sell it when I moved into my current house.
The standard door width for interior residential doors is between 2'-4" to 2'-8". You do occasionally see ext. width inside but My house is very average in terms of its architecture.
My aquarium was 5'-0"X3'-0"X2'-0". with the 3 feet being the width.

When I got the tank I didn't trust the seals on an old 3 foot wide tank so I actually came here much like you to get some advice.
First off you need aquarium safe silicone, Home depot even sells them so that shouldnt be too hard. I think I got 3 tubes and I ended up having a little to spare.

Get some scraper blades and carefully remove all silicone from every surface.
Silicone won't adhere to other silicone (with the exception of when its applied at the same time)
when your tank is 100% silicone free (and in pieces) thats when you can begin resealing.
make sure you don't reseal the whole tank right away, its good to do one piece each day.
you can also use clamps to hold the glass plumb and at the correct angle.
I had a large cross brace piece in the center because of the width, I used a bucket to stop it from sagging.
The width lead to the production of my tank to be different than the typical store bought kind. It had a single solid base piece of glass, but then thin long bracing around the entire perimiter. The base glass was adhered to both the braces and the side pieces.

I was only about 20 at the time and it was the first aquarium over 50g that I ever owned. So it was a real undertaking but The tank was in great condition for years after the reseal up until I sold it.

Good luck with your project and if you have any questions about how I did specific things I would be happy to help you.

Also worthy of note is that my tank had 1/2" thick glass. very heavy and a single side piece (2'-0"X3'-0") cost $300 canadian. and that was when our dollar was in a good place lol.

 

[krichardson]

In pieces?....I don't think he needs to take the tank completely apart.I certainly didn't have to.

 

[Rafini]

well I wanted to be 100% sure that the tanks integrity was secure. thats a lot of water to have on the floor so many people would rather be safe then sorry.

I'd rather not be the guy recommending cutting corners just in case something bad happens down the line. thats the problem with forums, We aren't professionals that are getting paid and we have no liability. So we should only give advice we are sure of. And I'm sure that if he resealed the whole thing it wouldn't burst and flood his home.

It also depends on the age of the tank. My tank was very old, definately more than 10 and had been moved multiple times.

 

[krichardson]

I don't know about cutting corners or how much piece of mind one would have but taking a tank completely apart and trying to reseal it sure sounds like compromising it's integrity to me but what do I know? I only followed the advice of others here and a few youtube videos when I did my 265 a few years ago.