Silicone Dilema

[Oddomatic]

So here's a question for you guys. I have a small 22 gallon nano that I had to replace an acrylic back piece on because it was cracked. The tank has never been used and I am cutting and replacing the acrylic work myself. So in cleaning the old silicone off the glass where the acrylic was sitting, I had to scrape away some of the inner seal to clean up the unsightly leftovers of the factory silicone on the bottom of the tank. the tank is now prepped and ready for the new plexiglass background I constructed. Would you say from the pictures, that I should re apply silicone only in the small area cleaned to replace the removed part of the seal, or re-do the whole tank with silicone? That would be difficult considering Id have to take apart the glass rear chamber to do so, and i would like to avoid it if at all possible. Gimme your input. Pics are below and as a side note, the main seal between the glass has not been compromised. Thanks

 

[skene]

with what you have stripped the glass is already compromised. its best to clean up all the silicone and redo it completely.

 

[Oddomatic]

The glass is compromised? You mean the primary seal, right?

 

[tosiek]

Just touch it up. Your tank will be fine. I can't tell if skene is serious or pulling your chain.

By the way, don't go messing with those seals if you don't know how to fix them. The beading in the corners is just extra holding and waterproofing while the silicone between the panes of glass matter. You don't want to be cutting away and cleaning factory defects in their silicone if your going to be posting a thread about fixing it.

 

[Oddomatic]

I hear ya Tosiek. When it comes to engineering I definitely don't like to take short cuts and rarely do. The purpose of my thread really was just to get some opinions. I know the correct way to fix it in a perfect world, but time is never easy to come by, so i was hoping to just get some insight on quick fix from the rest of you guys. But to clarify, part of the reason I had to scrape that part of the factory seal off was because the new acrylic is a 1/16 of an inch thicker and without trimming it wouldn't seat flush against the glass when I installed the new piece. I just ended up cutting it back a bit more ensure a clean area. Thanks for the input though, your insight from many other threads has always been on target.

 

[Flushtown Reefer]

with what you have stripped the glass is already compromised. its best to clean up all the silicone and redo it completely.

+1
it won't seal where the new silicone meets the old... silicone doesn't adhere to itself at all

 

[fishman1069]

+1
it won't seal where the new silicone meets the old... Silicone doesn't adhere to itself at all

+2

 

[Oddomatic]

I appreciate the input guys. I thought about it a lot, and tend to agree with Tosiek on this one. 22 gallons give or take, minus volume for sand and rock isn't going to generate enough pressure to blow a seal. (BTW I'd never do this on a 200 gallon tank) but since I can clearly see from the bottom side of the tank that there is still plenty of sealant between the glass and sidewall, Touch up will be plenty fine. As for silicone adhering to old silicone, cleaning the silicone with spirits make it stick just enough,to stay in place. It may not replace the factory seal or be 100% water proof, but all i really need it to do is to keep the acrylic back price anchored and that will be sufficient enough. Thanks again guys.