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Article on relining your tank.


Sam Chicklets
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Do you have an ugly old tank or a leaker? Or just one that you don't think will hold water? I want to help you out with fixing this problem.

S I will go through relining a tank and show you how to do it. I picked a real rough one up for free because of the shape it was in, and it took about 3 hours to reline it.

The tank. A 25g long. resealed in several places with various materials including Mono caulking, and poorly done.

1.jpg

I felt that this was a good candidate for a demo.

Here is the things you will need. Razor knife or utility knife blades, windex, paper towell, plastic scotchbrite pad/sponge, and depending on the size of the project either a squeeze tube or a caulking gun and tube of aquarium safe silicone and a vacuum for removing the debris.

equipment.jpg

First you will want to clean the glass and remove any dirt etc from the tank. After that you are ready to start removing the old silicone or what ever it is that was used. Place the edge of the blade against the glass at an angle and slide it under the silicone cutting toward the face that is butted against first. This will take several passes before you will reach the oposing glass. Next cut into the silicone from the other face. be careful not to cut into the joint between the two panels. When you have cut deep enough the silicone should come out in large lengths or pieces. if you make diagonal cuts in the bottom corners it is easier to clean them out..

cleaning.jpg

8cleaned.jpg

It should look similar to this. Vacuum out the debris clean the glass with glass cleaner, not the foaming spray as it leaves a residue, and you are ready to start taping.

Starting with the bottom place pull tabs in each corner. Then place your tape approximately one quarter inch back from the joints all the way around.

taping1.jpg

Next is to tape the sides Start with the verticle runs first so that when you pull the tape it will lift the bottom run as you go. After this is done trim out your corners.

taping2.jpg

Now you are ready for the new silicone. Cut the tip of the nozzle at approximately forty five degrees with a quarter inch opening. Sorry hard to see in this photo.

13caulking1.jpg

Lay a quarter inch bead all the way around.

14caulking2.jpg

Press it in and smooth it with your fingerworking everything til it is fairly even and smooth.

It is very important to remove the tape immediately after smoothing. Other wise you will have tape siliconed to your glass and dificulty removing it.

And the finished result should look like this. Wait atleast forty eight hours before filling.

finished.jpg

One final note if you accidently get silicone on the glass leave it cure for twenty four hours and it will peal off easily with a razor blade.

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Great article,

Thanks for sharing :thumbs:

I actually found a similar picture DIY walkthrough when I also picked up a used 25g tank that needed resiliconing. If it wasn't for the article, I dont' think I would have been able to do it.

Make sure you submit this article for the library.

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PM sent to the Librarian.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
Great demo . Now that's what I call instructions. One question though, will your regular construction glue be safe.

No. It has to be aquarium safe silicone.

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Found that getting the tape on straight to be the hardest part.

The vertical side isn't too bad. It is the bottom that is hard as you need to reach in and try to do it without seeing it from the side. Next time I would skip taping the bottom, as no one would ever see the silicone on the bottom of the tank (I don't run bare bottom tank)

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  • 2 months later...

I didn't know there was such a thing as aquarium safe silicone till now. Thanks so much for the infor i'm sure i'll be able to use it in future or direct someone here who needs it. I must say it was a perfectly photographed demo meaning you could really tell how to do it without reading it and with my eyes going as bad as they are i'm sure to appreciate it in the near future.

Thanks ever so much

It's people like you that make life better for everyone

L -ham- -roll- :thumbs: :thumbs:

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