resealing an aquarium w/ a corner overflow?

[Marie]

I bought a 75gal RR from a person on here. The silicon on the corners looks jagged, and I think it needs to be re-sealed.
BUT I have never resealed an aquarium. I have watched youtube videos, and it looks pretty straightforward on your average rectangle aquarium, but what about the overflow? Do I remove the overflow? Reseal the whole thing and then resilicone the overflow into place?
resell it to someone else who has experience sealing??

Any advice???? please?

 

[JohnK]

It all depends on how damaged the seal is and what you are concerned about.

FWIW the silicone you can see inside the tank is actually just there to protect the structural silicone from contact with water. The silicone in between the panes of glass is what actually holds the tank together.

If the tank really does need to be resealed, you need to carefully cut out all that visable silcone with razors and then clean the surface very well, then apply new silicone. More often than not when you hear of people "resealing" tanks they are actually just applying some new silicone over the old silicone wich is rather pointless since the new silicone won't adhere to the old silicone well.

Got any pics of the damage you're concerned about?

 

[Turbosnail]

+1 to what John said.

 

[Marie]

corner silicone looks scraped up- probably from removing coraline.
Concerned that even if it holds water now will water be able to get in there and comprimise the seams?




bottom seal looks fine

 

[JohnK]

The bottom looks good, but the corner kind of looks like someone already went over old silicone and it didn't adhere well making it more easily damaged. IMO it does look like it might be worth it to re-seal, but understand that it's a lot more work than it might seem. Expect to spend a few hours cleaning the old silicone off (while being extremely careful not to damage the structural seam in between the glass. Lots of razor blades, acetone, and steel wool.... Careful of your fingers too.

 

[dz6t]

It is a lot of work, if this is the first time you do this, may be better to ask someone who did it before to help.

 

[Marie]

I think it will be a bit too much for a beginner like me. I can sell it cheap.. maybe someone who likes to rehab will like a bargain.

 

[P-Nut]

It is a lot of work, if this is the first time you do this, may be better to ask someone who did it before to help.

^ this. it is not as simple as it looks. the cleaning is a major PITA. You don't want to scratch the glass, but it is very hard to remove all the silicone.

 

[P-Nut]

I think it will be a bit too much for a beginner like me. I can sell it cheap.. maybe someone who likes to rehab will like a bargain.

You can always take all the silicone out, and have the glass recut to what you want, and then silicone it back together. The only tanks that are hard to silicone are the ones with a raised bottom. Those are a major PITA.