I have had this happen twice to two different tanks, a 55 and a 125. I
repaired both tanks by the same method. I removed both the top and bottom
rims, used a knife to break the silicone seal as best as possible, and then
used a very thin putty knife to separate the glass where the seam let go.
This whole process must be done with a great deal of patience as you can
easily injure yourself, or break the glass. The hard part is over once the
glass has been removed. At this point I removed all of the silicone rubber
from the rest of the tank, but left these pieces intact.
It is very important to remove all of the silicone rubber as new silicone
will not adhere to old silicone. I also used isopropyl alcohol (rubbing
alcohol) to clean any grease that may have come from my hands during this
procedure. Once the glass was clean, I set the tank down with the repaired
side up, applied a thick bead of silicone to the tank and then very
carefully laid the piece of glass I removed back on. I then used 5 gallon
buckets filled with water to press the glass in place. This was allowed to
set for 3 days, the excess silicone removed, and the entire tank was
resealed. Due to fear, I waited a full week before filling and then I only
filled it 1/4 of the way over a four day period. Once the tank was full I
waited another week before putting fish back into it.
In my case, both of these tanks lost their seam on the bottom of the tanks
and they both drained empty over night. Why this always happens on nights
or on vacations is one great mystery to me. As I said earlier I have done
this twice and both tanks have been in service for over 10 years since
doing this. If your willing to take the time, make sure every thing is
very, very clean when you replace the glass, this is something you can do.
I would not recommend resealing the tank with the glass in place as I
believe the seam will continue to weaken.
For what it's worth, both of these tanks were made by O'Dell, who I don't
think are in business any more.
At 03:41 PM 11/5/97 UT, you wrote:
>Yesterday I recieved a call from my greatly distressed wife who was bailing
>water out of our den. My 2 year old 75 gal., Mississippi tank has blown a
seal
>which fortunatly was about 3/4 of the way up the seam. 20 plus gallons on
the
>floor but no fishtalities. My questions are ... what success am I likely to
>have with repairing the tank? Is it worth trying to repair?(wife will be
>distinctly unhappy if this happens again real soon). What would be the
>recomenended method(s) of repair?. My collection of Rainbow's and Pleco's
are
>currently on display at their temporary home at Dallas North Aquarium. I
am as
>anxious to get them home as I am sure the fine people at Dallas North are to
>have them leave. Any help or advice on this dilemma would be most sincerly
>appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>Jeff LeCates
>
>
>