Calling all tank resealers Last miniute advice needed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey fishboxers . I am about to try my first reseal. The tank is stripped. Tomorrow will be the last cleaning and Saturday will be the silicone. I know a lot of you have done reseals lately. I was just looking through the taming the beast article today! Is rubbing alcohol ok to clean with or does it have to be acetone? And it seems like the factory puts a lot of silicone on the bottom seam ! I don't see how one bead could have been spread out that thick ? would you do the sides first and recut the tube for a huge bead along the bottom? Any last miniute silicone tips would be appreciated

oh neat, thanks for reading my topic! lol

If I remember correctly, I used Denatured Alcohol... I don't know if Rubbing Alcohol or Acetone is strong enough to get rid of any of the trace silicon that may be left behind... but I could be wrong. LOL... I figure acetone tends to leave a residue once it dries up, where as denatured alcohol evaporates 100% leaving no trace of chemicals whatsoever.

I'm not so sure about rubbing alcohol, since it's not 100% alcohol, so there may be some trace chemicals that may be left behind after it dries up.

I did add more silicone on the bottom seams, because mine had a LOT of silicon on the bottom (getting rid of that crap was a PAIN... I went through like..10 razors. LOL... I'm sure if someone else who knows what their doing, could probably do it with less razors, but man... that was just... my fingers were aching afterwards. LOL)

A little tip of advice, get the razors that have the plastic handles/grips on em, they give you more leverage when taking off the silicone. Work slow, because the last thing you need, is a razor snapping in half, and potentially cutting your hand open. (refer to picture bellow)

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I was really paranoid when it came to adding the silicone... I remember waiting for like 2 days, AFTER I took out all the old silicone, for the denatured alcohol to evaporate fully... some people just wait for several hours, maybe even a day... but I waited for 2 days. lol.

When applying the new silicone, you kinda have to move fast, if you're resealing a tank that's bigger than 55 gallons... Would be better to have two people working on a bigger tank, but if it's smaller than 55 gallons, you should be fine on your own.

Having nice clean looking seals is nice, especially on the sides, but... it's not all too important. Especially the bottom seams, since it'll be covered with substrate anyway, no one will know LOL.

Oh, I smoothed out my beads of silicone by using the corner of a credit card (or anything that resembles and has the same thickness as a credit card, that's how I got it to look clean... I tried with just using my fingers, and it was a messy experience, even if you DO wipe your fingers with a towel... haha)

After I finished, I put a little electric fan in the tank to help circulate the air better... I don't know if that really helped at all, but hey... whatever =P

I let the silicone cure for . . . . . I think 2 weeks. Some people wait 3 days. Others wait a week. More paranoia on my behalf, so yeah...2 weeks. =P

Good luck with resealing that tank of yours! It's not as hard as people think... just kinda nerve-racking at first, because its your first attempt (at least, that's how it was for me. haha)

Thanks the tank is clear of all silicone ! I was looking for tips on putting the new silicone on. The credit card one sounds pretty good! I know any time I've worked with it or dap in the past it's been messy. I just know it won't be as easy as it looks in the videos. My finger just won't run through it like in the video I'm knowing already!!!!!!!!1

Oh, if you haven't seen it in my taming the beast topic, I also did line the seams of the tank with some painters tape, it kinda gives me a nice guide so that when I take off the tape, it leaves a nice straight finish on the silicone.

I basically just leave enough space for the silicon to attach to the glass, and once everything has been smoothed out, I pull out the tape, leaving a nice clean finish.

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Hey, I have a resealing question. Is it imperative to remove the top rim of the tank to get a good seal?

well we will find out because I did not take mine off. I just cleared the old silicone up to the top. Yea poke I know about the painters tape I watched about 10 different resealing your aquarium videos. I thought I read some where if you put water on your finger it helps smooth out the silicone?

I think it's preferred to take them off, but I didn't take mine off, because it was just too difficult LOL...

Okay...Back to my razor blade then! Thanks guys.

A credit card sounds like a good idea. Cut the corner of the card at an angle, squeeze a fat bead out, and pull the card along the edge. Make sure the silicone is being pushed into the seem. You'll probably end up with a chunk at the corner but you should be able to manage to scoop some out.

Instead of a credit card I bought a corner edging tool. It was designed for sealing windows. The tools tip was made of rubber and had a 8 inch handle. I did modify it to leave a larger bead. Worked great pushing the silicone into the seems and made out with clean corners. I didn't use tape for an edge. Instead waited for the silicone to dry, then used a razor cutting a line, then just pulled up the excess along the edge of the seal by rubbing my thumb on the thin silicone edge.

I didn't take off the top rim either. Just took extra time oozing the silicon all the way up to the top on the corners.

If your project goes anything like mine your fingers will be involved so be ready with lots of paper towels

I didn't take my top rim off either. I marked the outside of the glass with a sharpie and had my wife help me align my painter's tape to those marks. Nitrile gloves to smooth with my finger and get a smooth finish.The thing I was most dissapointed in was my removal of the tape. The way I removed mine ended up leaving a small flap of silicone on the length of the seam. Good luck

anderson_p_r wrote:I didn't take my top rim off either.  I marked the outside of the glass with a sharpie and had my wife help me align my painter's tape to those marks.  Nitrile gloves to smooth with my finger and get a smooth finish.The thing I was most dissapointed in was my removal of the tape.  The way I removed mine ended up leaving a small flap of silicone on the length of the seam.  Good luck

I was concerned with that as well. Plus I had a hard time laying the tape. Using a razor in the end and pealing the excess off was tedious but left a nice line.

Well tomorrow morning is D-day. Thanks 4 all the advice. I think the hardest part so far was putting the tape down. It seems like it would have been easier on a 10 gallon. Just an Fyi the ge1 was only 5 bucks a tube and the gun was 3 dollars . there is no way buying the little tubes at the fish store would pay off. my whole cost for 2 silicone tubes,10 packs of razors with cheap disposable scraper, throwaway drop cloth, masking tape, caulking gun was $25.

Awesome! Yeah, the stuff being sold at pet stores is only meant for smaller tanks, no bigger than 20 gallons I think... way too overpriced too.

Good job on getting all those things at a fraction of the cost! Good luck, once again! Let us know how it turns out!