I recently bought a used 40 gallon aquarium, tag says it was made in 96. I resealed the inner seams, my first time resealing anything by the way. I was cleaning it and noticed scratches on the inside of the glass, about 5 or 6, can't feel them on the outside but you can on the inside. I was going to leak test it and see how it holds up, should I test this aquarium or is it likely to suffer catastrophic failure?
Need help and advice
- Thread starter Sageofstupidity
- Start date
I agree with the above post. The scratches are usually cosmetic and most used aquariums are going to have a few.
I've dealt with some used aquariums, recently just got done leak-testing a 90 gallon.
My recommendation would be to put the tank in your garage or other flat surface (make sure that it's a level surface). Fill your tank to the top of the plastic molding, and let it sit for three days. While it's full, carefully inspect all corners and surfaces of the tank. Look for any signs of stress fractures in the glass (these are much more noticeable than scratches. Check the plastic molding and cross brace. Make sure that your cross brace, located in the middle, is totally intact. If your cross brace is cracked, I wouldn't use the tank until the cross brace has been repaired. Cracks that are in the plastic molding that go around your tank are cosmetic. Just make sure that the plastic molding is still seated down well on your glass.
Good luck with your aquarium. Pictures would help tremendously here if you can provide them.
One note: I am curious to know what kind of silicone you used to re-seal your tank. If you used aquarium sealent then your good to go. I have used type 1 GE silicone sealent. Just make sure that you did not use any silicone type 2 sealents. Type 2 silicone contains mildew inhibitors that are not safe for your fish. (It's too bad that aquarium sealent is three times the price)
Cheers and good luck!
I've dealt with some used aquariums, recently just got done leak-testing a 90 gallon.
My recommendation would be to put the tank in your garage or other flat surface (make sure that it's a level surface). Fill your tank to the top of the plastic molding, and let it sit for three days. While it's full, carefully inspect all corners and surfaces of the tank. Look for any signs of stress fractures in the glass (these are much more noticeable than scratches. Check the plastic molding and cross brace. Make sure that your cross brace, located in the middle, is totally intact. If your cross brace is cracked, I wouldn't use the tank until the cross brace has been repaired. Cracks that are in the plastic molding that go around your tank are cosmetic. Just make sure that the plastic molding is still seated down well on your glass.
Good luck with your aquarium. Pictures would help tremendously here if you can provide them.
One note: I am curious to know what kind of silicone you used to re-seal your tank. If you used aquarium sealent then your good to go. I have used type 1 GE silicone sealent. Just make sure that you did not use any silicone type 2 sealents. Type 2 silicone contains mildew inhibitors that are not safe for your fish. (It's too bad that aquarium sealent is three times the price)
Cheers and good luck!
I JUST HAD A GOOD IDEA FOR THIS! got that out of my system. anyway, if the scratches are just on one side of the tank (the long side hopefully), and your really concerned about the structural integrity of the tank, you could put one of those backgrounds on the cracked side and then reinforce it with horizontal strips of ducktape. that way if it does crack (unlikely) the duck tape would hold it together long enough for you to do any necessary repairs or replacements. like how plexyglass will crack on the inside but not shatter this would work much the same way. and the nice background would make the ducktape invisible from the front.
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Thanks for all the replies. I used a DAP Aquarium safe sealant from home depot, shabby job but I tried for the first time. They are mostly on the back (long side) and 1 on the short side, I am waiting 48 hours for the sealant to bond and cure then I will do a leak test, 25% wait 24 hours and repeat until full. I planned on leaving it full for a month and seeing if it bursts and if it didn't I would feel ok. I feel much better about it now, I was really upset and worried last night. I live in an apt so I do not have a garage but I filled 2 water bottles half full and placed them on either side of the stand as a make-shift level, it only leans slightly to the side, away from the scratches.
I did not remove the old sealant, I mostly just did the seams again and put sealant around the old sealant so that is overlaps. There didn't really appear to be any sealant on the seams to remove anyway. No one lives below me and probably wont be for a while. I planned on testing it in the kitchen to minimize water on the carpets. Is all of this ok? I have extra sealant to re-do a 10-gallon as well.
It might be fine. I recently re-sealed a 55 gallon and like your tank,there was no old sealant to speak of in the corner's but the previous owner had apparently had a leak for the silicone was heavily globbed around the inside bottom.
Like you,it was the first time I had re-sealed a tank but the tank was free and I felt it prudent .
Those I asked about the procedure, said that new sealant would not adhere to old sealant so it was best to remove old sealant which I did.
I then cleaned the corners with alcohol and let dry before sealing the tank.Left it outside on the patio for three days full to the top and no leaks.
Hope this is the case for you as well.
Like you,it was the first time I had re-sealed a tank but the tank was free and I felt it prudent .
Those I asked about the procedure, said that new sealant would not adhere to old sealant so it was best to remove old sealant which I did.
I then cleaned the corners with alcohol and let dry before sealing the tank.Left it outside on the patio for three days full to the top and no leaks.
Hope this is the case for you as well.
Thank you for all the help and advice people, I just filled it to the brim and it held so far, I did 25% every 12 hours. About the stress/fractures comment, now that it is full of water I can not see or feel the scratches, does this mean I am better off than I thought I was? I forgot to mark where the scratches were with tape like I planned but I read the stress/fractures would be much more obvious than the scratches right? Thank you all very much for the input I feel so much more confident about my purchase. I will have more questions soon obviously but thank you for your help so far.
Help whats in our tank?
hi,
we have just looked in our tank and discovered that there are 4 or 5 little things swimming around in our tank we currently only have
2 glass cat fish,
2 guppies and
5 neon tetras
all of which we think are male
but not sure
any help would be greatly appreciated as we dont have a clue and are not sure if they may be paracites??
hi,
we have just looked in our tank and discovered that there are 4 or 5 little things swimming around in our tank we currently only have
2 glass cat fish,
2 guppies and
5 neon tetras
all of which we think are male
but not sure
any help would be greatly appreciated as we dont have a clue and are not sure if they may be paracites??