Repairing a 265 gallon aquarium!

[Monster Fish Rescue]

Monster Fish Rescue got this tank as a donation a few months back:
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/001.jpg

The back pane was cracked and is actually missing a chunk of glass!
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/002.jpg

We're going to repair it with a sheet of Hardi Panel coated with Drylok. The plan is to silicone the sheet right over the glass from the inside. I thought I'd start a thread here so if enyone was interested in an off the wall way to repair a tank they could pick up some tips from this thread.. If it works that is... After the tank holds water the plan is then to run it along with my 240 using one filter and connecting the two tanks with a water bridge made from this:
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/047-1.jpg

That's 6" clear pvc! Incidently the tank is 84"x30"x24" tall.

I like to take a lot of pictures and video so hopefully it'll be a fun thread. I hope to meet more of you all on this site as I don't get a chance to post much on here :)

[TomNS]

looks great mate,

Ahh free cracked tanks - is there anything sweeter ??!!!

My "free" cracked tank has now cost me $2K in parts, plants, fish, filters, lights - I love it :)

When I got my tank the bottom was cracked corner to corner - I have it repaired and rebuild for $150 by a local aquarium manufacturer - it was less than half the cost of what I could source the glass for

Hope your repair goes well

Tom

[Monster Fish Rescue]

Thanks Tom, I'll definately keep you posted :)

[Monster Fish Rescue]

Ok, I’ve got an Update:

As some of you may know I’ve started threads about this repair on a bunch of forums across the net. I decided to do this for a couple of reasons. The first is to possibly give people another way to repair tanks, large or small. The second reason is to hopefully meet a few more people that live in the fish world! On a lot of sites I’m known as “monsterfishrescue” or “TheFishGuy”. My real world name is Jonathan… Nice to meet you!
I’ve decided to make updates on all the sites the same to save me some time typing this up over and over again… Lazy, I know… LOL
Ok, I’ll get to the point. We got rained out this afternoon so I decided to take some time with this tank. I’ll take you all through what I did this afternoon step by step. Hopefully that’ll be the easiest and most clear way to get an idea of what’s involved and what exactly I did!

Ok, here’s the Drylok for those of you that don’t know what it is or what it looks like. This is the water based version of the product, it’s a basement water sealer that so far has proved to work great for aquarium projects:
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/001-1.jpg

This is the Hardie Panel, This IS NOT hardie backer board for behind ceramic tile. This is another product made by James Hardie to be used as soffits on houses sided with Hardie plank siding. It’s 5/16” thick and it’s a 4’x8’ sheet. It is concrete board and can be special ordered at any lumber yard, Lowes or Home Depot for about $30 a sheet:
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/002-1.jpg

1.) The first thing I did was measure how big the panel had to be. I measured the tanks back wall and took off ¼” for breathing room. Since the Drylok lays on quite thick you’ll need some extra room.

2.) Next I cut the Hardie panel to 23 3/8” x 82 ¼”
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/003-1.jpg

3.) Then I tried to put it in the tank laying flat but it didn’t fit, glitch number one in todays project. We’ve got a saying at work that goes something like this. “There are no problems, just opportunities” So now I had the opportunity to break some glass! Ye ha!
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/004.jpg

4.) It seems as if the top braces were made from tempered glass, which explodes when you break it or try to cut it! LOL I also had to drill out the rivets that held the aluminum braces in and pry it off. No big deal really…
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/005.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/006.jpg

5.) It’s a perfect fit! (measure twice cut 16 times LOL)
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/007.jpg

But not without some damage. As I was standing the Hardie panel up inside the tank my knuckle rubbed on the back pane of glass on the tank. The tank won LOL
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/009.jpg

Nothing a little piece of cloth and some electrical tape can’t handle LOL
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/010.jpg

6.) With the piece cut and ready to go I was able to get the first coat of drylok on it. I painted about a 4” swath on the back side around the edges and two stripes somewhere in the middle. Now that I think about it I’ll probably paint the entire back with the next three coats to ensure that the silicone will stick to the back .
I finished this first coat at 2:11 pm eastern standard time so the next coat will go on at 6:00 this evening. Then a third coat at 10:00. And if I can drag myself out of bed tomorrow morning I’ll get the fourth coat on.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/011.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/012.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/013.jpg


Since I’ll need the roller again in a couple hours I loaded the roller with drylok and rolled it into a plastic grocery bag to keep it from drying.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/014.jpg

7.) With the first coat on and drying it gave me an opportunity to clean the tanks back pane of glass and clear the edges or excess silicone. I also removed a few of the other loose pieces of glass from the back so they wouldn’t become an issue later. I did end up using a couple of razor blades to clean the entire back of the tank. When it comes time a week from now the entire back will be cleaned with glass cleaner and acetone to make sure the silicone sticks!
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/015.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/016.jpg


Total time invested so far:

1.5 hours

Total money involved: $142.00

Tank: $0.00
Two tubes of silicone and one gallon of Drylok: $30.00
Hardie panel: $0.00
Three tubes of silicone already in stock $12.00
Water bridge (clear pvc and 90* fittings) $100

Questions or comments are always welcome!

[Monster Fish Rescue]

Ok, I’ve got an Update:

The piece of hardie panel went in well, it fit good! I’m feeling rather confident about this one 


After cleaning the glass with acetone (which I feel is key to a great seal) I cut a bunch of prop sticks to hold the hardie in place.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/001-2.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/002-2.jpg

After that I siliconed the edges with a heavy bead and I also went over every crack in the glass. Beyond that I made circles out of the silicone to hold the hardie in place. Making circles is a trick I learned from mirror installers. It creates a vacuum and you actually hear the silicone “fart” as it’s pushed into place LOL

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/003-2.jpg

After the prop sticks were put in place pushing the hardie tight I ran a nice bead of silicone around the inside corners then smoothed it out with the back side of a spoon. That pushes any unwanted bubbles out of the silicone making for a tight seal.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/004-1.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/005-1.jpg

Tomorrow when I get home from work I’ll have the task of moving the tank next to my driveway to fill it with some green nasty pool water to see if it holds. Others will say 24 hours isn’t enough…. I disagree  (plus I’m impatient LOL)

Wish me luck!

Here’s more pics!

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/006-1.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/008.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/265%20gallon/009-1.jpg