aussie8699 Posted November 1, 2015 Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 I am not sure if this has been discussed on here in the past but does anyone have much knowledge on sealing big tanks? I have done many tanks up to 4ft with 6mm glass the standard way with not too much difficulty. Now I have 12mm thick glass cut for a 7 x 2.5 x 2.5 and not sure of the best way to tackle it. I was thinking of Injection method of taping together at the corners and using zip ties as spacers to create a small gap between the glass panels, then applying spots of Silicone at various points and once dry removing the zip ties and injecting silicone into all the gaps. Does anyone know whether this is the best way to go with large heavy panels to put together? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eh man Posted November 2, 2015 Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 I'm not a expert in building tanks but the biggest Ive built was 2 9x2.5x2.5 and did it the same way I build 4ft tanks (glue each pannel up and stick it together),the only problem I had was the silicon starting to get a skin on it before I could wipe the excess off.next time I build a large tank I would try injecting it,should be a lot neater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussie8699 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 Well those are definitely in the serious size class as far as I'm concerned and if you did it on your own would have had some awkward moments. Problem is when the Silicon is applied you obviously don't have too much time to play around. I will also make sure the air cond is on as low temp as possible where I put it together in my lounge room. So you don't have any info links etc on injecting method to put this thing together? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eh man Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I had two mates helping hold and carry pannels.i done a few hrs prep work a couple of days before building them.i siliconed the front and back brace stap on,and extra glass around the edges of the base for reassurance. Check out YouTube it has a few clips on injecting silicon. If you have some spare off cuts of 12mm it might be worth while having a trial run with injecting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlidwife Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 mate just check out my old thread on 'how to rebuild your tank'... is pretty simple really thanks mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussie8699 Posted November 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Thanks Mike I appreciate it. Just a couple of questions please mate. Do you think it's necessary to have the strips around the edges of the inside base? I know it gives double the thickness to glue for strength but visually if you are going to have the bottom bare it's not really a neat clean look. Also putting it together in stages silicon would be dry and cured when continuing the next section. You don't have any concern about the bond of wet fresh silicon against dry? That's why i thought injecting would be a good way to go. You could have all the walls and base prepared and taped together with gaps set and just seal it all in one go. Thoughts? Thanks Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlidwife Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 a tank getting up that size i would add strips for own piece of mind and strength. doesn't look messy if your good with silicone work. putting a tank together in different stages has no weakness in build. it all dries the same at the end of the day. i have built many quality display tanks for good folks on this site. also have the tools and ability to pol arris glass for that real good look in display terms... thanks and mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litigator666 Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 mine has the strips along the bottom for extra support. it still looks good even with that extra strips as my garnets gets blown out exposing the base. Mike did my tank and he has some pics on that thread on how he did it from stripping it out to rebuild stage. Still going strong and i have not encountered any prob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussie8699 Posted November 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 Thanks for that I appreciate the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
