looky what i found...

hope its gonna be fine. Just need a sharp blade to clean the silicone off and then to reassemble. Is genkem marine silinone safe?

 

The glass should be fine.

I have personally used 3M and BOSTIK Marine Silicone and both was fine without any problems. I think as long as it's marine then it should be fine.

 

I also would use bostik marine. If you already have the genkem I'm sure it will be just as good

 

if you have the genkem use it, but i would prefer dow corning

 

Dow corning is the best but comes at a pretty price

 

yeah, i already had a tube of genkem, thats why i asked. but it was 12 rand, i could get something better if necessary?

 

Different types of silicon rubber differ dramatically with regard to their silane content which is the stuff which sticks the glass together. Dow Corning is best because they developed the stuff originally, but Bostik Marine is also OK, but for the rest, I would be careful with el cheapos. You do not want to have a disaster with a flood in your house!

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

lol... sad to say after all the effort of deconstructing it, i felt no want to repiece it, the glass was faded and the powdery edges didn't reassure me, also while separating the panels the edges chipped away in a glassy powder way too easily... the glass was eventually binned.

i'd rather have a new tank and the assurance that it wont leak or crack/burst at some unexpected point with fish a floppin.

 

Isn't that illegal?

 

If they're indigenous species then yes it is.... incedently you need a permit to pretty much do anything (including just having them) with indigenous cycads

@ferryman - atleast you've gained the experience to strip a tank now.

 

true. which might come in handy later i suppose. the main ingredient - leather gloves, so the measure tape wont cut into your hands, that was the secret to getting the job done for me, before using them i kept cutting myself with the measure tape, as you work it between the panels it becomes surprisingly sharp!

as you can see gareth, that plate to the right with half a corner missing, was the bottom plate with only 1cmx1cmx1cm triangle missing to start, but when it detached, it fell apart, and the edges chipped significantly as well, the edges were mostly sharp as a knife edge when i got done, that tank had apparently been lying out there dry for a good decade or so.

 

Damb that is a long time for a tank to stand empty. so what are you going to do now?

 

I told my parents they could add a 3ft to my collection for my birthday, they agreed though we havent gotten as far as buying it yet, i work on weekends when they are free, so i still need to figure a time to go buy the new 3ft. i am planning on putting the platies, sailfins and guppies in the tank then, orgy-breeders the lot of them

I also decommisioned the 2ft since the clear silicone is now opaque white and pulling apart with age, lol, in one corner the glas plates werent even touching anymore. But i am not planning on fixing it, since my dad used it before me, years ago, and the way he cleaned the tank (take out all the fish, scrub it down, redo the tank, add back the goldfish...) has resulted in the front plate being pretty scratched up, so i think it will be shelved as a quick emergency tank...