Hey, its been a while since i posted on here. today i noticed my tank lost a lot of water between last night and this am. looked under the cabinet and its dripping water. 40gal tank. few concerns and questions.

1 should i try to seal it and can it be sealed from the outside around the bottom banding? or just stick everything in buckets and ide have to seal it from the inside.

2 is it even worth the time? or should i just buy a new 40 gal tank.

and

3 after having quite a bit of water leak on the pressed wood stand do you think it will hold up with the weight of a tank much longer?? or will it be ok once it drys

i have to work from 9am-7pm today so hopefully it doesn't completely drain on my floor by then.

any feedback is helpful!

btw. ive got about 25 2 inch neolamp dafodils for sale pm me for more info.

As far as I know tanks have to be sealed from the inside. As far as everything else goes I don't know. I would say unload your fish and filter media to a bucket until you can fix/replace the tank. Good luck.

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75 Gallon Planted

Yea I wouldnt leave it while you are at work....aside from the mess, your fish could be pretty dry by the time you get home...can you put them in a bucket or rubbermaid tote with an airstone or something?

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

Oh and in my experience the pressed wood doesnt do very well after being wet..

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

blahhhhhhh think i have a 20 gal laying around i can stick them in till next friday maybe petco will have the $1 per gal. tank sale again. as for the stand idk ill see how it is when it drys. may only be on the surface it isnt drenched.

if i was to re seal it my self. use regular Ge-silicone caulk?? and go along all the edges inside?

You can reseal it, but you cant do it from the outside. You need to detach that piece, clean up all the old sealant, and reseal. The stand is your call sort of. If it got really wet and it swells, it will be weakened.

Sorry for your luck.

Buy some "aquarium safe" (it will say that on the tube) silicone sealant from Home Depot or something, tear down the tank, save substrate in a bucket and filter media in a bucket, clean out the tank, pull the plate out, scrape off old sealant with a razor blade (as Ben mentioned), and reseal, then put everything back together again. As for the stand, it might be shot. Cruise the classafieds for another stand. Even an old TV stand or desk will do.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

id Say the wood is done for. I agree with everyone above. I would just buy a new tank.. Only way id try to reseal was if it was huge and expensive or was a custom tank. the Normal square ones seem to be to cheap to seal IMO!!!! lol.. please dont hate on me im just really lazy when it comes to stuff like that LOL. Also i would not go to work with this thing leaking LOL. id either call off or be late... id rather miss 100 bucks outta my pay check then stuff be destroyed from the water. Also the carpet will stink LOL

hard to call off when you own the business and its a one man shop. -_- i was late lol. im going to stick my fish in a 20gal strip down the 40gal i have and reseal it. as for a stand i guess they are staying in the 20gal till i find a new one. that sucks... know what i want for christmas now :P just hope my daffs lelupi and frontosa dont kill eachother, going to be a tight fit.

well glad they didnt die! and yea calling off at your own place is hard LOL

one problem is solved with someone elses problem 46 Gallon Hex Back Perfecto Fish Tank Setup or if i re seal my tank Black Wood Aquarium Stand 36X12 75bucks for a new stand.

I'd get a new tank. What if after all that work.... It leaks.....What I also find is a few drops on the outside can turn to a river quickly....but the advice was correct someone will buy it on Craig's list. But then again I simply don't trust my own handy work either....ask my wife.

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Hoopman
Sunny Orlando FL
55G W/Angel, loaches/cats, tetras, rasboras, Two Bio Wheel 350's (8 cartridges and 4 wheels) Dual T5 ATI bulbs which are blue & blue-plus (white), give a saltwater tank look/moons. - 37G w/Angel, Mystery snails, tetras/cherry barbs. Dual 24 inch T5 with same ATI bulbs/moons. Bio wheel filter (dual cartridges and one wheel) and Aqueon single filter Bio cage cartridge, both designed for larger tanks. n

blehhh the guy sold the one tank on me so i wasn't able to grab it off craigslist. i got home tossed the fish into the smaller tank ripped everything apart tossed the old stand and started taking the silicone off the tank. did some research, maybe someone else will see this down the road but.
Everyone was saying use Ge silicone I so i went to buy it and under step #5 it says "not for use under a water line or in aquarium" now i saw a bunch of forums saying they have used it still and haven't had any issues it was just placed on the new silicone bottles so GE isn't held responsible. The GE 1 sillicone is supposedly the same exact stuff in the All Glass Tubes.
All Glass buys their sillicone from GE. This is why the GE1 used to say "aquarium safe" but doesn't now.
with further reading it was noted that GE type I is a sealant not an adhesive. it has very little tensile strength. Momentive 103 or 108 is what most the tank manufacturers use. Momentive is an adhesive RTV silicone, and has about 2.5x's the tensile strength that type I does.
on another note
GE Advanced Materials makes all the GE brand Silicone.
That company is now known as Momentive Performance Materials.

so same 100%silicone only a stronger bond and adhesive.

so ill see how it works out let it dry for a few days then do a leak test for another day or so. see how it holds up before completely arranging the tank.

As for the stand. FishandTips.com: do it yourself aquarium stands found this site. my only problem is a 4x4post isn't 4x4, its 3.5x3.5 and a 2x4 is 1.5x3.5 so that throws these plans off for the frame.

Thickness sounds OK, but for weight don't know what you plan to build. More likely, your joints will be the weak spots...acrylic sheet is extremely strong. Something you should maybe research: would vho or halide deteriorate the acrylic (many plastics yellow, harden, decompose under certain lights--usually UV, but check anyway).
More importantly: if you're an avid aquarist esp. for corals, etc, check out PriceNetwork.ca especially the Aquarium Lounge which is a forum full of more information than you could ever digest.

I am not building a tank just re-sealing a glass one. probably building a stand. thx tho !

Got
to home depot or lowes, get a either a tube or a caulk gun sized cylinder of GE Clear Silicon II. It is the same stuff that they sell at petsmart as aquarium sealer at half the cost. Tear down your tank and put your fish in a plastic tote or bucket or tank with gravel. If you can rig the filter to run on the bucket or tote, go for it. Put your substrate in a bucket and keep it wet with tank water. Id rip out and reseal the entire tank while i had it apart to be safe. Use a razor to get the seams really clean, tape out with masking tape for straight caulk lines, caulk it, let it dry for a day or more. score the edge of the tape lines with a razor and peel the tape for straight lines. Refill tankto test for leaks.

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad

tanks resealed putting bottom banding back on atm. will let it dry till monday night then test for leaks. thanks guys.