Am I looking at a re-silicone ?

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Hi Guys.
I bought a 2nd hand tank for a very reasonable price from a fellow reefer about 4 months ago, with the idea of starting up the new bigger tank once I moved.
But fate had other plans. I got retrenched a few weeks after I got the tank.
So with no space to set it up... its been standing outside, virtually empty.

My question now is, will the silicone deteriorate? The tank's probably +- 2 years old.
Do I need to replace the silicone ?
 
By replacing the silicone one will have to completely disassemble the tank. Because the structural integrity is in the joints. Where glass meets glass. Not the pretty filler of silicone in their corners.

I would suggest a fill of water on the lawn for a day or so, level of course, and then check for air bubbles along the seals. There will be some but check for ones where seal is suspect.

If you are unsure and want Peace of mind, and i recomend. Cut out the silicone fillers in the corner of the tank joints. Clean all silicone and oils etc from the corners. Like squeaky clean and then silicone a glass strip into the joint.

So if the tank is made of 10mm glass. silicone a strip 10mm x 15 to 20mm into the joint so that the side panel that had the 10mm contact with the facing panes now has the contact reversed. I mean the facing panel has the 20mm glass joining and the side panel the 10mm .

But in general the tank should be fine as long as it was looked after in its non use.
 
there are a few thigns to consider;

how long was the tank empty in total? before you got it inclusive of the time you had it standing empty?
was it in the sun or shade?

then you need to as yourself:

is it not worth the extra few bucks to make sure i can sleep well at night assuming im going to run this tank for a number of years to come.

it may be better to reglue the tank as keith has advised and then you know that the structure is secure and will last.

its very easy to rush these things and then have something go wrong.

perhaps post a few pictures of the tank and the siliconework and we can see what stste the gluework is in.

you never know it may just be a reseal :)
 
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