120 acrylic tank issue

SynDen

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#2
Ya, that looks like the silicon is steadily separating, and is pretty serious. Luckily it has given you ample warning but looks like that seam will suffer a catastrophic failure in the very near future. When it happens the whole side will open up like a zipper and dump the whole tank on the floor.

It is possible to fix it, but not with stuff in it. To fix you would need to take the tank down and disassemble the glass panels, remove 100% of all the old silicon, and then reassemble.

So comes down to whether you want to go through that hassle, or just get a new tank. Either way it looks like you might want to decide fairly soon. If the patch is growing in size, then you have a limited short window to come up with a solution before it dumps everything on the floor.

You can alleviate the pressure on the seam a bit by lowering the water line as much as possible. That will buy you a bit more time, but still needs to be replaced asap.
 

jda123

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#4
If that is acrylic, you can put a patch block over it on the inside. Like 3/4x3/4 and an inch longer than the area (on each side) usually will work. You will have drain far enough for weld-on to adhere. It will be ugly, but works. I have done it in the past a lot with tanks that others have gotten rid of.

Most stuff can live overnight with a powerhead and heater in the tank if it is half full while some weld-on cures.

A good acrylic shop should be able to help you with this. Do you know who made the tank? Some acrylic tanks have lifetime warranties.
 
#5
If that is acrylic, you can put a patch block over it on the inside. Like 3/4x3/4 and an inch longer than the area (on each side) usually will work. You will have drain far enough for weld-on to adhere. It will be ugly, but works. I have done it in the past a lot with tanks that others have gotten rid of.

Most stuff can live overnight with a powerhead and heater in the tank if it is half full while some weld-on cures.

A good acrylic shop should be able to help you with this. Do you know who made the tank? Some acrylic tanks have lifetime warranties.
Was Tenecor and I think they are out of business. :confused:
 

jda123

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#6
Tenecor is out of business. :(

Got to reef2reef and see if more of those folks know anything. I don't even know for sure if that is a problem, or not. It looks bad, but it might be OK. They have a bit more volume for an emergency.

My guess is that somebody will say to see if Weld-On 4 will go into that seam from the outside. It is like water, so a tiny bit and some rags are a good idea. I don't know if this is a good idea with the tank filled, but it is super easy and safe when empty.
 

scchase

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#7
Ive done the wrldon 4 from the outsidr and then a clamp, still working years later, the eekdon badically just adds the missing plastic
 

SynDen

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#8
Ya if this is an acrylic tank then make a run to Plasticare, or other acrylic shop near you and get some weldon 4 along with an applicator. Although if its glass then it a different story as glass can't be repaired like that and would need to be completely broken down and reassembled to fix it
 
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