# When to redo aquarium silicone



## hi-revs (Nov 3, 2010)

I just plucked up a 180g tank from a friend. It has been sitting dry for about 2yrs, give or take a few months. Would the silicone holding the pieces of glass together still be good?

Anyone with experience win this?

Thanks


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Well first off the silicone is only there to seal the tank. Not hold it together. Each piece of glass is glued to each other with a speacial glue or epoxy. Cant remember exactly what type. My buddy whos a glazer told me tanks have a 10 year water life in his opinion. Me personally have never had a tank leak. So unless the silicone is all torn up Imo and my buddies is to leave it alone.

My buddy told me dont try to re silicone a tank. Its a lot of work and you might cause a leak that wasnt already there. I know people are re sealing them with success. So if your up for the task. Do your research and make sure its done properly.


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

jbyoung00008 said:


> Well first off the silicone is only there to seal the tank. Not hold it together. Each piece of glass is glued to each other with a speacial glue or epoxy. Cant remember exactly what type. My buddy whos a glazer told me tanks have a 10 year water life in his opinion. Me personally have never had a tank leak. So unless the silicone is all torn up Imo and my buddies is to leave it alone.
> 
> My buddy told me dont try to re silicone a tank. Its a lot of work and you might cause a leak that wasnt already there. I know people are re sealing them with success. So if your up for the task. Do your research and make sure its done properly.


Actually it is silicone that is holding the glass panes together, not a special glue or epoxy. I've redone the silicone on 4 tanks so far, as long as you do it properly, it doesn't leak. The only tank I've had leak on me... I didn't redo the silicone!

With that said, a large tank like a 180g something that I'd suggest getting 1-2 people that know what they are doing for redoing the silicone to help you, at least with the application of the new silicone as unless you're super fast you wont be able to do it by yourself as the silicone will start to skin over before you even begin to tool it into corners.

I would check to see if there is any damage, peel/disconnected edges/corners and so on, and if possible do a water test for a day or two prior to setting up to see if you should redo the silicone or not.


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## hi-revs (Nov 3, 2010)

This looks like a big job to do, and i dont want to take on this challenge if i dont really have to.
I mean, the silicone looks in good shape to the naked eye, but im scared because it has sat dry for so long. And to have 180g tank spring a leak with be horrendous!
I guess even a new tank can have that risk...
I just want to get some more opinion on this..


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

if you can, you could fill the tank outside/in a garage with a drain and leave it for a while to see if it holds


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## do-boy86 (Sep 3, 2013)

Cured silicone is non porous so I wouldn't be worried about it becoming dried out because there was no water in the tank. 

I might be worried if the tank sat outside in direct sunlight but even then, 2 years (in Vancouver sun especially) isn't quite that long. 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk


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