Hey all, was wondering if some one can help me out or may be know some one who help me out with my problem... I was in the process of setting up my 150 gal acrylic tank and ran into a pretty serious SNAFU. I put the sand in the tank and filled it with about 100 gal of already made salt water and then one of the internal overflow seams popped off the back of my tank and the water went into the overflow thru the crack. Anyone has any experience with this or know how to remedy the situation? I drained almost all the water and will take out sand tomorrow night. I think the tank needs to be completely empty for the repair? Appreciate any input! Thanks!
Looking for help with acrylic tank repair
- Thread starter ValG
- Start date
thanks for the input guys! i'd definitely want to do a perm fix. would it help if i took the tank of the stand and set it on the back wall on the floor? trying to figure out the "easiest" way of fixing it. also how much #16 should i use? i am thinking of "injecting" it from inside the overflow. is that a good idea? or should i do the opposite? it prolly doesn't even matter. thanks again!
it will not take much to seal the overflow. if you can prop the opposite end of the tank up about 4 inches that will be easiest and then you can just apply the weld-on from the bottom to the top and dont squeeze the tube much or a lot will come out. it will be a thick gel that will harden in about 30 min but isnt water tight until 24 hours
Happy to help! I can probably swing by on Satuday afternoon. I'm going scuba diving in Aurora Reservoir, so not sure what time I'll be done, but probably early afternoon. I'm booked up Sunday-Tuesday, but could also do an evening late next week. I just tracked down my can of Weld-On 3 (basically the same stuff as 4, but thinner and quicker drying) and needle applicator, so I've got that. You may want to get a tube of 16. The best way to repair it will depend on how badly detached the overflow is. If it has completely detached, pin-gapping it (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169326) and using 3 or 4 will be the ticket. Seam filling with 16 will work fine, but won't be as strong and won't look as tidy. You'll need some heavy weights as well (I've used big soup cans with some success-weight lifting or scuba weights work too).
Saturday afternoon will definitely work. So just let me know when you can swing by. The overflow is not completely detached, it's just a larger part of one side. The side that is closer to the center of the back of the tank. I should have #16, but will double check and buy a tube if i don't find it. Thanks again