Blog Comments

Good luck Marc, if i wasn't a continent away then i'd be offering my help.


fingers and fins crossed

John

I've never built a display tank and don't plan to start now. The angled tank, a nano with a false back, and a very pretty 90g propagation tank are the only ones that I would consider were displays. I wouldn't feel comfortable with that much water volume, and the ease of scratching it is just not worth it longterm.

I'm happy to state that my tank didn't rupture its seam last night while I slept for a few hours. I've got 110g of new saltwater mixed, and have a couple of friends coming over today to start moving the livestock out.

I talked with a DFWMAS member who has made a number of beautiful aquariums about the possibility of completely disassembling this tank, and reglueing it with all new silicone. He would do it on site, provided I clean all the glass panels so he just has to build it. So that is another option, to use what I have and simply pay his labor. Once it is built, it would have to cure for 14 days before I could fill it up again.

Marc, how fast could you build a 280 g acrylic tank? Maybe that would be the better solution.

Thanks Wes. Get a little sleep. I'm about to pass out myself, and will be up at 8am to check on my second barrel of RO/DI water. I don't want it to overflow. The two combined gives me 110g of saltwater. Do you want to head over around 10 or 11am, or closer to lunch? I hate to cut into your holiday time.

sorry to hear buddy, i was hoping the patch job would hold for a bit so we could figure out how to fit that 500 gallon in Went and picked up my truck marc so im ready to head your way with the containers, just let me know.

More images added to the original entry.

just read last post, really sorry to hear about the troubles, you still have the huge tubs in the backyard? those might come in handy. Best of luck, ill be watching

Aww man, huge bummer. I really hope that once you get a new tank your tank will be just as successful, and just as beautiful. Good luck bud.

wow man, hate to hear that, love the creative temp solution though. ill defenatly be checking back in to see how this plays out

As I was working down the seam to remove the old, I watched a gap appear beneath it heading south with my every touch. Pressing on the front of the glass, I can make the bubbles in the old silicone rise up to the top, and when I let go they go down south quickly. My heart actually skipped a beat. The second clamp has been installed - I drilled a hole through the wall to pass the bar through it. This is really bad news because I was kind of banking on a couple of weeks to figure out what to do. Now the deadline is approaching quickly. I have a 100g trough, and Wes told me he'd lend me his as well. So that's 200g of the 280g. I'll have to figure out how to plumb those now. If I could run them to the current sump, that would be ideal. The angled tank may come into the equation as well. This is a mess of epic proportions.

Bummer Marc, sorry to hear that! What are you going to do now? Do you think you'll be able to get some sleep tonight? You may want to try because you probably will have a busy day tomorrow.

It's official. That seam isn't going to hold much longer. My mending job is not going to be able to save this tank.

You don't think that the silicone you put on will hold, so you don't have to change tanks out?

Well, it was around then if I recall. I was handling putty - probably poisoned my bloodstream. ;O)

Good point. So far, the box is staying dry so I'm about to start cutting out silicone. Then I can apply the new, and probably tomorrow remove the box.

Just noticed something above. . . pics were updated at 7:75 PM. . . Marc if your still up and reading this, slow down and breathe man.

If I remember right your tank had black silicone in it didn't it? Anyway a patch is a patch it's all good as long as it holds as long as you need it to. And I agree that repairing would be kind of a shame with scratches, though if you do tear down and reseal you could very possibly use some rubbing compound or jewelers rouge and a dremel with a buffing wheel or a drill with a buffing wheel, depending on the size of scratches and the area and buff them down/out. I do agree that checking the stand would be a good thing if there was even a little bad spot in one of the supports could allow something to shift especially if it got wet at some point.

And a tank with a warranty. . . WOW!!!! That would be realllllllyyy nice indeed.

I really don't know about the plumbers putty though. . . it is generally used on drains not supplies. I know plumbers grease is safe for use in water supplies and will not cause harm to people. So I would do my best to get it out as soon as possible. . . you may even take a piece of the putty and make a flat wide sheet cut out a piece and put in the bottom of a cup and put in some tank water and test if there are any major changes.

A home made plumbers putty can be made using modeling clay, linseed oil, and powdered limestone. http://www.ehow.com/how_5032013_make...ers-putty.html
So it is possible oil could leach into the water but I think that the protein skimmer would take care of that all eventually but I don't know what it would do to the water even in small amounts.

So far, it is holding. I'm watching it before I do anything else. I ran up to the LFS to get some aquarium safe silicone (squeeze tube kind). He and a friend both recommended rubbing alcohol to prep the area I'm going to be working on.

Aaron suggested I get some glass to sandwich the eurobracing top and bottom. It would need to be two pieces that are 3" x 6" x 3/4" thick. Heck, I'd do four pieces and hit the opposite corner as well to strengthen that wall as well.

NightShade, I've thought about redoing the entire silicone job in the past, then letting it cure. The front panel has a few scratches, so a repair would be a thrifty move but it would be a shame after all that work to have to look at scratches anew. Setting it up in another room isn't going to happen. I do like the size I have now, and have considered other sizes and how they would affect the humidity level of the home and how it might affect the structure over time. Getting a new tank with a warranty sure sounds good to me, and getting the old tank out of the fishroom would allow me to make any adjustments to assure the stand it level and true.

Wow, you been busy. Does it look like the box you made is not leaking? Fast thinker you are!

First post updated with pictures.