# If you are thinking about doing this don't lol



## Danny (11 Feb 2013)

Decided to keep my little cube but take it apart and re build it as not happy with the silicone work...........Well what a fantastic idea that was not!

Taking the tank apart was hard enough but now slicing off the silicone from the panes of glass......well what a pain in the **** this is!  Looks like I have found something to keep me busy for my two weeks off anyway lol

So if anyone is thinking about taking a tank apart and re siliconing it think long and hard before doing it lol!


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## foxfish (11 Feb 2013)

Its all the fun of the hobby mate LOL
Razor blades will help & you can also buy silicone remover, although it is not that great, it will soften the cured silicone.
Good luck...


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## Danny (11 Feb 2013)

Got it all off now down to the smear with a blade, now will just soak it in white spirit for an hour or so and scrub off the residue   I thought it would be so much easier than it actually was lol


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## andyh (11 Feb 2013)

Brave Man!


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## ian_m (12 Feb 2013)

I have used this before to remove sealant "blobs" from a tank where someone had stuck down a Juwel 3D background. Works well, breaks the adhesion between the sealant and glass meaning the thin film of remaining sealant just peels off leaving absolutely no sign it was ever there. Washed thoroughly afterwards with soapy water, bleach and soak in dechlorinator. Job done.

No Nonsense Sealant Remover 100ml | Screwfix.com


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## ale36 (18 Feb 2013)

i just started to take the front glass of my 3ft tank as its quite heavily scratched, have manage to break 2 blades just removing the front laminate trim, tied to tackle the seal but didn't have any spare blades and the ones i had where a bit blunt, might have to try the sealant remover and see how that goes.


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## abloomer (18 Feb 2013)

Very brave people.  Not sure I'd want to try it!

Although I did do a fast and dirty underwater repair on my grandads leaking tank....that was fun and messy!


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## ale36 (18 Feb 2013)

Im dreading it but once i set on something there is not goin back. The tank only cost me £11 of ebay so of i mess it up oh well!


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## Danny (18 Feb 2013)

Likewise, I got my small one with 3 others in a "job lot" type purchase so if it goes wrong it is not a problem lol


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## ale36 (19 Feb 2013)

Thats the way i see it. I also got a brand new cabinet for mine from freecycle!


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## Danny (19 Feb 2013)

Just waiting for the silicone to arrive off ebay then I will get it back together


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## Danny (19 Feb 2013)

I plan on a 4mm bead of silicone that when compressed against the 6mm glass will make a 2mm thick bond with minimal oozing and wiping lol


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## ian_m (20 Feb 2013)

Danny said:


> I plan on a 4mm bead of silicone that when compressed against the 6mm glass will make a 2mm thick bond with minimal oozing and wiping lol


Little hint from years ago, when my mate made his own tanks, he placed two needles between the joint to guarantee a minimum thickness of silicone. Let set, pull needles out, use syringe to inject silicone into hole. I suspect he did this as the glass edges were not 100% flat.


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## nayr88 (20 Feb 2013)

All part of enjoying this hair ripping out tongue biting hobby haha!

But yes I think ill take your work and not try to clean up my silicone by dismantling the glass


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## Danny (21 Feb 2013)

Well.................. I got as far as putting the back/side and base together. Made a mess of that so gave up lol It was still a success for me as I quit before running out of patience and throwing the damn thing out the window for once pmsl

I will end up using the panes for sump baffles at some point so nothing wasted and was good to try as now I know I cant do it it will stop me ever thinking of doing it again lol


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## Ghettofarmulous (1 May 2013)

It's all about the effort we make


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## ale36 (1 May 2013)

i manage to get mine done, first time i filled it up had a small leak in one of the bottom conner so all the water had to be emptied and dried, i then smeared some silicone and waited 24 hours before second fill, i has now been filled for over a week so time soon to empty it out and start escaping


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## zico_aqua (1 May 2013)

concentrated acetone that's all what you need..


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## DanMac (2 May 2013)

Hi everyone i am new to this board and i dont mean to hijack this thread but I have a problem.

I ordered a custom tank and had a glass lip added to the inside front of the tank to stick a submersible LED light to.I quickly found out that they dont fill the tank well enough so i now have a t5 light above the tank.

My tank is nearly complete,sand rocks fish ect are all in and today i removed the lip with a razor (i removed half the water and covered tank with clingfilm so the excess glue wouldnt fall in the tank)

But now I cant get the rest of the glue off the tank, Is there a way of doing it without chemicals or am I screwed?, I really do not want to remove everything from my tank. This is the last thing i need to do with my beginner setup before I can make a thread and show pictures of it!

Help please. appreciate it.


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## ian_m (2 May 2013)

You can either scrape like mad, try a razor blade. I assume its silicone. Best way, I have found to remove the silicone 100% is to use a silicone remover.

I have used this to remove the silicone "blobs" left in a tank.
No Nonsense Sealant Remover 100ml | Screwfix.com

Cut as much as possible off with a blade, apply remover, leave a while and simply wipe off the remaining silicone. The remover breaks the bond between the silicone and glass. Obviously keep it away from any silicone ie tank joints as it will start debonding them. It is neutralised with water.

Wash tank thoroughly, I used bleach to clean mine, then washed and soaked in water with dechlorinator.

Oh, and obviously better to be done with tank empty, thought with cling film over surface or water, lots of kitchen towel might be OK.


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## aliclarke86 (2 May 2013)

DanMac said:


> Hi everyone i am new to this board and i dont mean to hijack this thread but I have a problem.
> 
> I ordered a custom tank and had a glass lip added to the inside front of the tank to stick a submersible LED light to.I quickly found out that they dont fill the tank well enough so i now have a t5 light above the tank.
> 
> ...


I would suggest a window scraper its just a plastic handle that allowed you to hold a trimming knife blade at a horizontal angle and works like a charm 
Toolstation

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2


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## DanMac (2 May 2013)

Thanks for the suggestions I'm going to try the sealant remover then use a window scraper afterwards.

Do you think I can get away with removing half the water and covering with clingfilm + kitchen paper again?. removing everything from my tank would be a nightmare.


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## ian_m (2 May 2013)

The safety data for the Screwfix sealant remover doesn't list if it is harmful to aquatic animals, I would suspect not. However, cling film on the water, some kitchen towel stuck to the glass with tape below the silicone to catch dirt & drips it would be perfectly possible to use the remover without getting any in the water.

You must remove as much silicone as possible, with a blade etc as the sealant remover only "soaks" through very very thin layers of silicone. Once done, the silicone should just wipe off, free from the glass. You need to clean the glass thoroughly, water meths maybe, and more water before refilling the tank.

I had to do it with my tank as previous owner had siliconed Juwel backgrounds to the tank as well as having a thermometer siliconed to front of tank.


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## DanMac (3 May 2013)

Cheers everyone, I'm going to try these suggestions on sunday. I will make a thread hopefully next week to show my setup and link it here also.


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