meg1220

I love auctions! I went to an aquarium society auction yesterday and got a 20 gallon tank with hood and fluorescent light fixture for $20. Of course it is very dirty and looks old, so it's going to take some intense cleaning and resealing. I've never resealed a tank- I've read some directions online, but if anyone has some advice for a total noob, I'm all ears. Also, I want to paint the hood and trim of the tank (they're a terrible faux-wood plastic now)- would spray paint work best? I'm thinking of painting the back, too- any pros/cons?

agabr123

i'm not sure about the paint, but as far as the re-sealing you'll want to take a razor blade and scrape off ALL of the silicone on the tank. it's a lot easier to re-do the whole thing than try to add new silicone on top of old, it won't stick very well. for silicone, you can use silicone made specifically for aquariums which is pretty easily found at petsmart, all pet, etc. or you can use GE window and door silicone (there's I and II, one of them has a fungicide and you DON'T want to use that one) and use painters tape to mark out the area that you're going to be using the silicone in. as far as the cleaning, i'd use a 1 part bleach 19 part water mixture and rinse it very thoroughly, and make sure you add lots of dechlorinator when you fill it up after rinsing.

Steve420

I think Alex has ya covered as far as re-sealing. My only piece of advice is that Aquarium silicone smell TERRIBLE. Its the most intense vinegar smell you could imagine. I remember feeling like I was going to pass out when I re-sealed my 55g.

I did mine in my garage and it smelled in there for days. I suggest doing it in a well ventilated area.

Shawnie

and remember to not remove ALL the silicone at once...do each area let it dry for 24 hours then do another...

make sure you post some pics along the way!

edlab03

not to contradict you but on a 20 gallon i would suggest doing the bottom first then the sides all in one shot.

i just got done with my 29 gallon from 1989

i would first scrape off all the old "surface" silicone(not the actual silicone that holds the glass together keep that in there). i used my shop vac to suck up all the old silicone then wiped it down with rubbing alchohol to get up all the little stuff. i then let it dry and once again wiped it down with alchohol to make sure i got everything.

i then taped off about 1/4" to 1/2" from each side and bottom to get a nice clean silicone line. after applying the silicone make sure to pull of the tape before it dries. again i would silicone the bottom first then do the sides.

make sure to let it cure for some time(it's hard ot say how long since i dont know how or what your temp and humidity is where you are).

i also painted the trim(it was that ugly faux wood just like yours) and the back as well. i used blue painters tape and newspaper to mask everything off.

materials i used were:

GE Silicone I(DO NOT use Silicone II)
Krylon Fusion for Plastics (Flat Black)
Rubbing Alchohol
A ton of Razor Blades
Old credit card with corner cut off at a 45 degree angle(to help clean up silicone beads)
Tons of paper towels
Vinegar and Water Mix(to clean glass and lubricant for the razor blades)

I wish i wouldve documented with photos when i did mine but unfortunately i didnt.

if you have any questions feel free to ask.

meg1220

Thanks so much for all the advice! Edlab- thank you for the materials list, that's really helpful. I didn't think of taking pictures, but that's a great idea. Hopefully, if all goes well, the before/after shots should be very, very different.