Purchase a tank with a crack in it?

elituma84 · Post by **elituma84** » 07 Jun 2007, 14:17

Hello people.

There is a wickedly cheap 125 gallon tank with stand and light that is going for 75. The person said i would just need some silicone to make the tank hold water again.

My question is, has anybody done this before? and what was the outcome (good/bad?)

any stories from anyones friends about these kinds of situations?
Quick responses would be great, this setup is cheap and would allow me to purchase a powerful filter since i would save on the setup.

thanks in advance guys

Post by **Shane** » 07 Jun 2007, 14:36

Is the tank a "leaker," in which case it be repaired or is the glass physically cracked? If the glass is actually cracked the tank is not worth anything as repairing modern all glass tanks is not worth the trouble.
-Shane

elituma84 · Post by **elituma84** » 07 Jun 2007, 14:43

Oh yeah i forgot to mention that.

from the picture and what the owner tells me it is just a leaker, there is no apparent crack.

Post by **Shane** » 07 Jun 2007, 14:52

Leakers are not too bad to fix. Re-silicone the entire tank first. Then place the tank outside and fill with water after the silicone has dried for 3 days. Place 5-6 drops of Meth blue in the tank. Check every hour. If there is a leak, the dye (Meth blue) will slowly swirl towards the leaking point due to the micro current. You can do this first to locate the leak, but I would just start by re-siliconing as there may be other places that are weak andcould fail in the future. Silicone home jobs are rarely factory pretty, but hey, you will have a 125 gallon tank.
-Shane

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 07 Jun 2007, 14:56

The question is of course how much of the silicon you need to replace. I haven't done it, but I've heard of people who "dismantle" and "reassemble" tanks completely, but I wouldn't want to do that with a big tank like a 125g - each piece of glass will be very heavy and hard to handle, at least on your own.

On the other hand, if it's just one strip of silicon that either was poorly applied in the first place or had some "accident", then it's probably just a case of "cutting it clean" and applying some new silicon (aquarium variety).

Also add to the equation whether you need filters and other additional equipment, and if so, how much you're REALLY saving on the whole purchase. I've bought used tanks (non-leaking) for next to nothing, and ended up with a total price with "other bits" pretty close to the price of a "tank-kit" of similar size and standard. Yes, you get the TANK at a very good price, but you're paying more for the individual bits than you do when you buy a complete packaged set. [That of course assumes that you are happy with the set components - not all "sets" have the same qulity bits in them, and if you end up "throwing out" most of the additional bits in the set, then you're obviously better of buying just the tank and the bits you want to add to it].

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Mats

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Mats

Bas Pels · Post by **Bas Pels** » 07 Jun 2007, 16:06

The only repairing I do on tanks is mending broken glass.

I just glue another piece of glass on the place, and woait. This waiting will require a lot of tima, as silicon glue only hardens 1 mm a day / 5/16 th of an inch a week.

However, I never saw leeakage return, and the repair pieces were fairly small (15 * 20 cm or so)

elituma84 · Post by **elituma84** » 07 Jun 2007, 16:28

Hello.

All your information was real helpful.

After thinking about it, yes...the money i save might end up costing me more in the long run. what i am going to do is wait and see if i come across a kit that comes with a filter and everything else ready for a quick setup.

Patience is key and i will wait for a better offer to pop up.

thanks guys.

Purchase a tank with a crack in it?

Purchase a tank with a crack in it?

thanks for the responses guys