Repaired 100g.. Trustworthy?

[LindaD]

The 100g that I'm going to look at today has been repaired. Apparently somewhere on the bottom was leaking and they siliconed a piece glass on the inside and outside to reinforce it. She said it's held water for a year since the repair, but they took it down last week since her son lost interest in it's upkeep.

If it's held water all that time I'm assuming they did a good job in fixing the problem. But is it trustworthy? 100g's is alot of water... but the price is really appealing. $225 canadian. And it comes with a large canister filter, wooden stand, large peice of driftwood, glass top and lights, plus 100 pounds of pea gravel and tons of fake plants... The filter alone probably cost them more than that.

I've been searching my butt off looking for a tank... my 46g is going to be gone in 2 days. Long story.. I had a 90g on hold and the lady sold it on me. So I'm rushing to find another tank before I have NO tank.

She swore to me it's been fine for a year.... But I'm worried. I have bad luck, or I seem too.... another long story. This is the 4th tank I was suppose to get. I almost gave up until I found this 100g. Only to be told it's been repaired. :/

I know I've heard of people repairing tanks this way, but will it hold? After being fixed for a year, sitting with all that weight and decor. Would it not have re-leaked by now?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm calling the lady back a 5pm est. this evening. I can probably get more info on the leak.. I was in such a freak out trying to find another tank (So I don't have to take all my fish to the lfs) that I don't remember half of the conversation with her. :(

Thanks,
Linda

[TKOS]

I guess I would question what the leak was from. I assume that if they had to add pieces of glass to the inside and outside then there is a crack in the glass. I don't know if that means the sturdyness of the tank is comprimised.

[beviking]

Cracks in glass tend to "run" meaning get longer. The way to prevent this is to drill a hole at each end of the crack and then repair it. If the leak is from a seam, I would trust the repair, or at least more so than a crack in the glass. Personally, I wouldn't buy a large tank that was repaired. That's just me, many ppl repair tanks and have no problems. Hopefully more ppl will weigh in on this.

[TKOS]

The the leak is in the seam I would just remove all of the silicone from that area and reapply. You shouldn't just add more silicone on top of old silicone.

[Prometheus]

I'd have to agree with the above posters, if it's the actual glass, I wouldn't trust it. eventualy it will get worse if it wasn't properly repaired (heck it might anyway).

If it's the seam, no worries... like TKOS said, just remove the old silicone and redo it. FWIW I wouldn't removed anymore silicone than absoultely necessary. And give it the full drying time + 25% fill it and let it sit for atleast 24hrs (preferably 48-72) check for even the slighest moisture coming from it.

Good luck.

[LindaD]

Thanks, all.

Well I didn't make it up to see the tank yesterday. But I did call a glass shop. Since I was just thinking about replacing the bottom glass all together. She mentioned that I should bring it in and they would patch the area with glass and silicone it in. I'm like Uh.. that's the way the tank is now. So I guess it must be able to be done and actually work. She said to make sure I check the silicone for gaps. And make sure if's soft.. check all seams ect.

I'll find out today whether it was in fact a crack, or just a leak. The lady on the phone just said that they noticed water coming out the bottom when they were filling it. So they drained it and had someone come out and 'patch' the leak. Which was a year ago. They drained the tank last week. If it was a crack I imagine they would have heard it pop, unless it was cracked during the move to get it into their house. I'll find out more details today. As soon as my boyfriend gets home from work we are driving up their with a trailer. Either way I think I'm going to buy it. It's cheap enough, and even if I end up replacing the bottom it will still be pretty cheap. Considering it comes with everything.

If it looks good. I'll fill it 1/4 of the way and let it sit for at least 24 hours. Or fill it a 1/4 at a time and let it sit more.

My oscar and Pim are going to have to be returned to the lfs. :( Not exactly how I wanted it to happen. But I'll have NO tank once the 46g is gone. And the only spare I have is a 5g. There is no way they could live in there, for even 24 hours. I asked the lfs to hold them, but they won't. Yet they will take them to sell though. :mad:

So I'm probably going to have to start over.. But I really don't want to re-cycle the tank. I can't find pure ammonia for the life of me.

Any tips on keeping my filters established? Unless I use fish food or raw shrimp to feed the bacteria.. My existing tank has been sold and is being picked up either today or tomorrow.

[chefkeith]

Why bring the fish to the LFS? Why don't you just keep your fish in a large rubbermaid container for awhile. You should be able to find 25 gal. containers for only $5 each. Get one for each fish if you have to. All you need is an airstone and a heater for each, if you have a few sponge or hob filters even better.

I have 4 -25g rubbermaid's for such emergencies. Its a good idea to be prepared to quarantine a whole tank of fish if you have to. I would, especially if you get a 100gal tank that might leak. I've kept fish in these containers for as long as 4 weeks.

[LindaD]

Actually I never thought of that. Thanks. I just want to give the tank a full week before I go putting all my decor in it. How would I rig the heater in there so it doesn't melt the plastic tub?

Taking the fish back was hubby's idea. The oscar I have does not seem to like tankmates. Although in a 100g that might be different. I actually haven't had any luck finding an oscar the same size as mine in the lfs. Other than Adults. Which would probably be a disaster for my 4 inch oscar.

Basically hubby wanted me to get 4 baby oscars and let them pair off... and return 2 of them later on. Since he's not really a fish person, I was hoping I might be able to get him interested.

[Prometheus]

Originally posted by LindaD
Actually I never thought of that. Thanks. I just want to give the tank a full week before I go putting all my decor in it. How would I rig the heater in there so it doesn't melt the plastic tub?


After a long post about 3 weeks ago, the concenus was it woun't hurt the plastic.

And I agree. If you are worried about it, place a small peice of plastic ect. at the top of heater tube (where it doesn't heat up anyway) as a spacer to keep it off of the wall of the tub.

[chefkeith]

An aquarium heater would have to steaming hot and be able to boil away water first in order to melt most plastic containers.

Most heaters come with a plastic clip and suction cup. They won't melt either, aslong as they are in the water.

[stan the man]

Hello! I recently was given 3 tanks, two of which had been resealed and one of which I resealed once it leaked during a move from one room to another. A few observations on old tanks.

Glass doesn't go bad. Silicon will eventually loose its elasticity and then it will no longer "give" with water pressure/weight inside tank. If you have cracked glass, the silicon isn't an issue because the glass is going to give! In other words, crack more!

Take note that while the bead of silicon inside the corners of the tank does help seal, it is the bead between the paices of glass which actually hold it together. The only way to repair a tank structurally is to take the glass in question completely off, remove ALL old silicon, and reglue.

Good news: All repair takes is some razor blades, silicon I/food save silicon with no mold inhibitors, and a good supply of patience and caution. I'd get the tank!

BTW--my africans lived in a 32gallon can for one week while the silicon cured. Heater and filter mounted on side of the can (big grey one from home supply store).

Good luck--sorry for the long post!