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If you are thinking about doing this don't lol

Danny

Member
Joined
29 Jul 2012
Messages
863
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!
 
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
 
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
 
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.
 
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!
 
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!
 
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.
 
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 ;)
 
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
 
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 :)
 
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.
 
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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