800g Tank Reseal (for the 2nd time)!
- Thread starter Trouser Cough
- Start date
Good advice above. You also don't want to have a setback in your healing process. Years ago I was laid up in the hospital due to a drunk driver hitting the car I was a passenger in. My right leg was in traction for 2.5 months, had no choice but to halt my life at that point, so to speak. You have this project to deal with, but at the same time remember to be mindful of your healing, which is more important really.
Thank you all for the kind thoughts! ...and I owe you all an update!
The 800g is dry and half of the substrate has been removed. The fish are all fine and I did history's slowest WC yesterday. The wreck was on the 20th, surgery was on the 26th and I talked the doc into a boot rather than a cast on the 12th of this month. In the interim I've been babying this as best I can in part because it seems the only route. For example, ten days ago my daughter brought over an adjustable peg leg stump that allows me to walk around a bit (I also have what looks like a kid's scooter and a set of crutches).
Last Fri after work I strapped on the stump, grabbed a 40V weed eater and ventured out of the house for the first time in a month for something other than a poke and prod visit at the doc's. Oh my, freedom was awesome but what a mistake.
With one hand holding the top of the stump and the other stretching out too far to get that ever important furthest weed the strains on my frame were different than normal and I wound up in the rack the whole weekend w/ a pulled muscle in my neck and shoulder. I am learning restraint and self control and whatever else comes along w/ that and it's one of the things that makes me view getting into that big tank with fear and respect. No way to pivot on the game leg to get in or out and putting too much weight on any of the panes to keep weight off of that same game leg could turn into a jump off the high dive quick.
The bummer...
Much of my plants have died and that's what I was using to mitigate NO3.
The positive...
All fish are alive and healthy so I should be ecstatic.
The discovery...
Expecting my wife to keep an eye on the works is like her telling me to sew a few things. Might be some good intentions in there but it doesn't work.
The prognosis...
Doc said minimum six weeks in this cast / boot arrangement and I'm counting the first two as that between the surgery date and when they swapped out the fiberglass cast for the boot. Assuming that's not far off I s/b trotting around boot free sometime around Aug 12 and on the 13th my heinder will be in that 800g tank.
Best case...
The fish will be in temp housing for another two months.
I still wonder what may have made the previous seal job fail. I've found a couple of bits of sealant that were just laying in the substrate and I wonder if something in the tank had been snipping at the sealant (like maybe one of those irritable crays) or maybe a fish had been the culprit but I can't imagine that given the occupants. The crays though. I can imagine them wrecking a bowling ball.
The 800g is dry and half of the substrate has been removed. The fish are all fine and I did history's slowest WC yesterday. The wreck was on the 20th, surgery was on the 26th and I talked the doc into a boot rather than a cast on the 12th of this month. In the interim I've been babying this as best I can in part because it seems the only route. For example, ten days ago my daughter brought over an adjustable peg leg stump that allows me to walk around a bit (I also have what looks like a kid's scooter and a set of crutches).
Last Fri after work I strapped on the stump, grabbed a 40V weed eater and ventured out of the house for the first time in a month for something other than a poke and prod visit at the doc's. Oh my, freedom was awesome but what a mistake.
With one hand holding the top of the stump and the other stretching out too far to get that ever important furthest weed the strains on my frame were different than normal and I wound up in the rack the whole weekend w/ a pulled muscle in my neck and shoulder. I am learning restraint and self control and whatever else comes along w/ that and it's one of the things that makes me view getting into that big tank with fear and respect. No way to pivot on the game leg to get in or out and putting too much weight on any of the panes to keep weight off of that same game leg could turn into a jump off the high dive quick.
The bummer...
Much of my plants have died and that's what I was using to mitigate NO3.
The positive...
All fish are alive and healthy so I should be ecstatic.
The discovery...
Expecting my wife to keep an eye on the works is like her telling me to sew a few things. Might be some good intentions in there but it doesn't work.
The prognosis...
Doc said minimum six weeks in this cast / boot arrangement and I'm counting the first two as that between the surgery date and when they swapped out the fiberglass cast for the boot. Assuming that's not far off I s/b trotting around boot free sometime around Aug 12 and on the 13th my heinder will be in that 800g tank.
Best case...
The fish will be in temp housing for another two months.
I still wonder what may have made the previous seal job fail. I've found a couple of bits of sealant that were just laying in the substrate and I wonder if something in the tank had been snipping at the sealant (like maybe one of those irritable crays) or maybe a fish had been the culprit but I can't imagine that given the occupants. The crays though. I can imagine them wrecking a bowling ball.
Update... all fish healthy and I have found another 200g tank that will relieve a little more pressure.
Next doc appt is on the 12th and assuming all goes according to plan I'll be teetering mein heinder over the top of that 800g and settling in for a full day's work on the 13th. The 200 will be a sump once the big tank is back up and running and might do temporary duty as housing for some of the big dudes that are no doubt tired of living in a genie's lamp. There's a three foot long Arowana that would give a gill plate to be in a roomier setup. I scooched down the stairs to gawk at him for a few minutes today. Definitely healthy. Definitely not meant to be in a 110. Half rations seem not to have presented any issues and WQ has been the better for it.
Next doc appt is on the 12th and assuming all goes according to plan I'll be teetering mein heinder over the top of that 800g and settling in for a full day's work on the 13th. The 200 will be a sump once the big tank is back up and running and might do temporary duty as housing for some of the big dudes that are no doubt tired of living in a genie's lamp. There's a three foot long Arowana that would give a gill plate to be in a roomier setup. I scooched down the stairs to gawk at him for a few minutes today. Definitely healthy. Definitely not meant to be in a 110. Half rations seem not to have presented any issues and WQ has been the better for it.
Okay... a small update.
The boot was removed last Monday at about 5:00p and I thought I'd spend the following Tuesday in the tank. That was absolute crazy talk.
Just taking a few steps for the first few days was enough excitement and the gyrations req'd to climb up a step ladder and slither myself over the top of that tank were out of the question however, todays the sixth day and I spent it in the tank. All the substrate's gone, I removed the silicone in one giant piece and I suspect I may have identified the problem... maybe.
I found a spot along the bottom silicone seam that had Peace River gravel behind it (between the glass and the sealant) and a hole in the silicone that would have been my error in not noticing it when I did the job last time. If you look directly at it there's no obvious hole but if I were able to look up from beneath I'd be able to see a void in the sealant that is sort of like a vein in that it's not a straight line from inside the tank to the outside of the tank but it's there and it's the only thing I saw that seemed suspect. Odd that it took a couple years to actually leak but whatever; it's done.
Now there's a ton of razor blade and acetone work to do. I don't mind the razor but that acetone is some tough stuff.
I'll be done w/ all that by next weekend and hope to complete the re-caulk then.
What was a fairly tidy room and a beautiful tank have both been a horror for the last couple months. Can't wait to get this done!
The boot was removed last Monday at about 5:00p and I thought I'd spend the following Tuesday in the tank. That was absolute crazy talk.
Just taking a few steps for the first few days was enough excitement and the gyrations req'd to climb up a step ladder and slither myself over the top of that tank were out of the question however, todays the sixth day and I spent it in the tank. All the substrate's gone, I removed the silicone in one giant piece and I suspect I may have identified the problem... maybe.
I found a spot along the bottom silicone seam that had Peace River gravel behind it (between the glass and the sealant) and a hole in the silicone that would have been my error in not noticing it when I did the job last time. If you look directly at it there's no obvious hole but if I were able to look up from beneath I'd be able to see a void in the sealant that is sort of like a vein in that it's not a straight line from inside the tank to the outside of the tank but it's there and it's the only thing I saw that seemed suspect. Odd that it took a couple years to actually leak but whatever; it's done.
Now there's a ton of razor blade and acetone work to do. I don't mind the razor but that acetone is some tough stuff.
I'll be done w/ all that by next weekend and hope to complete the re-caulk then.
What was a fairly tidy room and a beautiful tank have both been a horror for the last couple months. Can't wait to get this done!
Gettin it done mate! That's a big job! 
We're nearing the final stages. The SCS1200 arrived through Amazon (I didn't think anyone was still using 20 mule teams but they apparently Amazon does). There's a Home Depot in town that has a battery operated silicone sploojer. IIRC John you said that you had picked one up and didn't like it. I'm hoping my experience is better but if my own manual squeezer runs out of gas when I hit the 700 gallon mark I'll be wanting some auto-squeeze action for sure.
This weekend will be busy...
Saturday:
- Another vacuuming of the tank just because I'm a belt and suspenders guy
- A final acetone sweep to see if I may have missed anything
- Taping the margins so the job looks right for the next 20 years (and a much skinnier bead this time)
- A final QC run to make sure I haven't botched anything and then it'll sit dry overnight
Sunday:
- Run a 40' bead of SCS1200
- Yank the tape
- Beg for divine intervention and apologize for some of the stunts I've pulled. I need to make sure the bead sets perfectly
- Let it cure for a week, maybe two.
Update on the fish:
- They're healthy as horses. Bass, Arowana, Giraffes, etc. All of 'em are quite studly after what I expected to be a pretty traumatic experience for them.
- The Peacock Bass look out the voids in the top of their tanks (entire tops are covered in plants to make nitrogen build a little less of an issue) and they're ripped and awesome looking w/ full colors and full attitude. They definitely don't need the daily feedings I had been giving them prior to the flood.
- I gave one of the Peacocks away. A buddy has much more water volume than I've ever had and several Peacocks in his tanks as well as rays, bad boy catfish and the like. For as long as I'd had that particular Peacock it looked the same but as soon as I dropped it into his pond with another kind of Peacock that he hadn't been around before... he changed color. Became much more vibrant w/ deep reds and truth be told a prettier fish. I've since assumed that they can do a bit of a chameleon job to more closely emulate the colors of the Peacocks surrounding them.
Moral:
Don't crash your motorcycle. Don't snap big bones. Don't ruin your summer.
Something Unexpected:
I was scrambling post disaster to find something better than storage totes to put the fish in and I scoured Craigslist and FB for cheap and ugly tanks that would work. In the process I put an adult Giraffe Catfish in a roughly 70g tank but 4 baby Endlers stowed away in the net somehow and now they're adults. I'd have sworn that that big Cat would look at an Endler much like I'd look at a snack cracker but nope. They're all hanging in the same tank and the tiny little Endlers can swim all around that Cat's mouth and be perfectly safe.
A Modification to the 800:
I picked up a 180g rimless tank and intend to build a cool sump w/ overflow capacity for when the power goes out.
This weekend will be busy...
Saturday:
- Another vacuuming of the tank just because I'm a belt and suspenders guy
- A final acetone sweep to see if I may have missed anything
- Taping the margins so the job looks right for the next 20 years (and a much skinnier bead this time)
- A final QC run to make sure I haven't botched anything and then it'll sit dry overnight
Sunday:
- Run a 40' bead of SCS1200
- Yank the tape
- Beg for divine intervention and apologize for some of the stunts I've pulled. I need to make sure the bead sets perfectly
- Let it cure for a week, maybe two.
Update on the fish:
- They're healthy as horses. Bass, Arowana, Giraffes, etc. All of 'em are quite studly after what I expected to be a pretty traumatic experience for them.
- The Peacock Bass look out the voids in the top of their tanks (entire tops are covered in plants to make nitrogen build a little less of an issue) and they're ripped and awesome looking w/ full colors and full attitude. They definitely don't need the daily feedings I had been giving them prior to the flood.
- I gave one of the Peacocks away. A buddy has much more water volume than I've ever had and several Peacocks in his tanks as well as rays, bad boy catfish and the like. For as long as I'd had that particular Peacock it looked the same but as soon as I dropped it into his pond with another kind of Peacock that he hadn't been around before... he changed color. Became much more vibrant w/ deep reds and truth be told a prettier fish. I've since assumed that they can do a bit of a chameleon job to more closely emulate the colors of the Peacocks surrounding them.
Moral:
Don't crash your motorcycle. Don't snap big bones. Don't ruin your summer.
Something Unexpected:
I was scrambling post disaster to find something better than storage totes to put the fish in and I scoured Craigslist and FB for cheap and ugly tanks that would work. In the process I put an adult Giraffe Catfish in a roughly 70g tank but 4 baby Endlers stowed away in the net somehow and now they're adults. I'd have sworn that that big Cat would look at an Endler much like I'd look at a snack cracker but nope. They're all hanging in the same tank and the tiny little Endlers can swim all around that Cat's mouth and be perfectly safe.
A Modification to the 800:
I picked up a 180g rimless tank and intend to build a cool sump w/ overflow capacity for when the power goes out.
I hope you recover quickly and get the job done smoothly without any issues. Best of luck!
I was just wondering about this project yesterday, only to have this update pop up. Glad you're still on the mend; take your time and work at a pace that you can handle. Obviously the temporary accommodations for your fish work well, or they'd be dead by now, so just keep on keeping on with the maintenance on them and you should be fine. There really is no rush; any time you start feeling the first twinges of the "that's good enough!" syndrome...it's time to put down the tools and regenerate yourself a bit.
Yeah, I didn't fall in love with the power caulking gun, mainly because I didn't have a "feel" for how to lay down an even, consistent bead of silicone using it; there's way more tactile feedback with a squeeze-it-yourself model, IMHO. After years of putzing around with a manual version, my brain has too little free storage space for me to waste any of it on learning a new skill to replace one I have a decent handle on already.
YMMV...in fact, I hope it does!
Yeah, I didn't fall in love with the power caulking gun, mainly because I didn't have a "feel" for how to lay down an even, consistent bead of silicone using it; there's way more tactile feedback with a squeeze-it-yourself model, IMHO. After years of putzing around with a manual version, my brain has too little free storage space for me to waste any of it on learning a new skill to replace one I have a decent handle on already.
YMMV...in fact, I hope it does!
Super short update…
- I’ve healed up from surgery and the nut and bolt operation to connect me back to right.
- The tank has been resealed w/ SCS1200 (I think that’s what it was labeled).
- SCS1200 is a not the easiest silicone to apply well and use of a powered caulking gun introduced another layer of complexity that I wasn’t expecting.
- I’ve never enjoyed the smell of caulking but SCS1200 in a big tank w/ no air movement was a new level of harsh.
- I’m traveling and the tank is curing.
- I return next week and the tank will be filled on that Wednesday.
- All fish survived and all are healthy.
I’m looking forward to closing this chapter and moving on but the best part is that all the fish made it through the ordeal and remain healthy!
- I’ve healed up from surgery and the nut and bolt operation to connect me back to right.
- The tank has been resealed w/ SCS1200 (I think that’s what it was labeled).
- SCS1200 is a not the easiest silicone to apply well and use of a powered caulking gun introduced another layer of complexity that I wasn’t expecting.
- I’ve never enjoyed the smell of caulking but SCS1200 in a big tank w/ no air movement was a new level of harsh.
- I’m traveling and the tank is curing.
- I return next week and the tank will be filled on that Wednesday.
- All fish survived and all are healthy.
I’m looking forward to closing this chapter and moving on but the best part is that all the fish made it through the ordeal and remain healthy!