[hrutan]

Original thread starts here.

Moved it over to Journals, since I want to document my progress.

 

[hrutan]

I've brought the whole tank inside and set it on its stand. The new sealant should arrive later today, so to kill time I decided to do a more detailed cleaning than the bleach-and-water disinfectant scrub I gave it earlier.



Found a couple small chips in the glass. Nothing that I think will affect the integrity of the tank.

Anyone know how to clean this glass panel? I went over it with baking soda and water, no dice. Afraid to push down too hard, and there's no way to remove it from the tank.

 

[Bikeridinguckgirl14]

Soak in white vinegar for 12 hours then scrub (since you can't remove it you can soak it by wrapping it in vinegar soaked paper towels)

 

[hrutan]

Hmm. I suppose I could try soaking a cloth in it, then resting the cloth on the glass...that'd stink up the whole house, though. The problem is I can't remove it to soak it properly.

 

[Bikeridinguckgirl14]

Hmmm... It'll be a while before you add a fish right? I hate to say it but try CLR followed by bleach then rinse it a million times

 

[hrutan]

CLR? I'm afraid I'm kind of clueless when it comes to acronyms. Commercial cleaner? That makes me so nervous :-(

 

[hrutan]

The new sealant came! Using this stuff. Got the big bottle, so I can use it for other projects as well.

 

[Bikeridinguckgirl14]

It's a calcium lime and rust cleaner, usually sold in a green spray bottle to clean kitchens. Gets rid of hard water, soap scum, calcium, lime, rust, and most other grime. When I think industrial I think like goop-off, that's toxic.
Oh you can also get a little thing of pure acetone from cvs (or a high concentrate acetone nail polish remover) since the acetone will evaporate into the air within half an hour. It's amazing for stripping paint and grime, even takes off glue, not very toxic just smelly for half an hour.

 

[hrutan]

Oh, I have acetone in SPADES. That's a great idea! I'll try it out right away!

 

[hrutan]

Acetone didn't budge the marks; I'm trying to decide if I care enough to pop out the panel. It appears the previous owner stuck it in place with gobs of sealant. It's in a useful place, and I'm not sure I have the dexterity to replace it if I take it out.

Meanwhile, I'm removing the old sealant from the sides and bottom. The scraper I'm using was labeled a "handy scraper" at the Rite-aid, and boy, is it handy. Even so, it's a difficult job.

There's almost no sealant along the side seams of the tank. I'll probably be a bit more generous. There's no need to be messy, but stinginess might've created that suspected leak.

 

[hrutan]

I'm an idiot. Ha! I was trying to get that rubbery old sealant out, and it sticks to the glass but not to my fingers or towels or ANYTHING other than the stupid tank. So my husband says, "Hey, maybe it floats."

So I pour a bunch of water in the tank. It helps wipe the stuff up, yay. And then I realize...I've poured a BUNCH OF WATER IN THE TANK... which I've just peeled the sealant off of.

*Scrambles for a towel!*

 

[Jonthefish]

That couldn't sound anymore like somthing I would do ! lol .

I lost my underwater camera in the ocean because genius me I supposed that if it is an underwater camera that it would float too ... Nope . xD

Subscribed I would like to hear more :3

 

[hrutan]

After I got all the big bits of sealant out, and I couldn't scrape out any more, I followed the package directions and cleaned the seams with rubbing alcohol. Turns out, that dissolved all but the biggest remaining chunks, so if you ever have to do this, don't panic...it'll come out with a bit of work.

Use those round cotton pads used to remove nail polish, instead of cotton balls. PERFECT for the purpose!

 

[Veloran]

I'm an idiot. Ha! I was trying to get that rubbery old sealant out, and it sticks to the glass but not to my fingers or towels or ANYTHING other than the stupid tank. So my husband says, "Hey, maybe it floats."

So I pour a bunch of water in the tank. It helps wipe the stuff up, yay. And then I realize...I've poured a BUNCH OF WATER IN THE TANK... which I've just peeled the sealant off of.

*Scrambles for a towel!*

Sounds like a couple of friends of mine who did an oil change on one of their cars. After wondering why the car was taking so much oil, they both asked each other "You did replace the drain plug, didn't you?".

 

[myexplodingcat]

I'm an idiot. Ha! I was trying to get that rubbery old sealant out, and it sticks to the glass but not to my fingers or towels or ANYTHING other than the stupid tank. So my husband says, "Hey, maybe it floats."

So I pour a bunch of water in the tank. It helps wipe the stuff up, yay. And then I realize...I've poured a BUNCH OF WATER IN THE TANK... which I've just peeled the sealant off of.

*Scrambles for a towel!*

That... that... sounds like something I would do. XD

 

[hrutan]

Sounds like a couple of friends of mine who did an oil change on one of their cars. After wondering why the car was taking so much oil, they both asked each other "You did replace the drain plug, didn't you?".

Haha. We all have our derp moments!

The tank should be nice and dry by now. I'm going to seal it today, since I'm still stuck at home. Hubby should be able to get up and move around by himself tomorrow, so I'm taking the chance to do some work at home while I can. :-D

 

[hrutan]

Re-checked everything before I open the sealant, and discovered I'd missed a corner. Removed that stuff, cleaned everything with alcohol, and now I'm all set.

I'm not going to redo the top of the tank. It would be smart, but I have two things working against me: T-Rex arms (no leverage), and the tank is too heavy for me to turn on my own. The seal does look pretty good, though. There's one iffy spot, which I'll keep an eye on. I suspect that IF there was a leak, it was due to the previous owner trimming away too much along the sides. There was almost nothing for me to remove on the side edges, but gobs of sealant at the bottom ones.

 

[hrutan]

I managed to seal the tank. It wasn't a neat or pretty job, but it's done. The bottle said uncured sealant smells "a lot like vinegar." Well, yeah. Definitely. But it's also a godawful nauseating stench cloud that is so foul that I might've thrown up if I had eaten breakfast. And the smell is following me. Seriously. After I'm done with this post, I've gotta go change clothes!

Do this outside or in a garage, people. BARF. "Product cures in 5 minutes. Smell dissipates shortly after." Define shortly? Please?

Anyway - here's a couple of photos. My job ranged from neat to downright sloppy depending on how well I could reach, and I'll have to do a bunch of work with a razor tomorrow to clean things up. A caulking gun is difficult to use when 8 year olds have bigger hands than me. I'm confident everything's sealed up, though.

Best:



Worst:

 

[hrutan]

I'm having a hell of a time scraping off the excess sealant. Either too much comes off, or the sealant merges back together as though I'd never made a cut. It's been plenty of time for everything to dry, so... I think it's just me.

Pondering: Should I just scrape everything I did off, buy smaller tubes of sealant that I can squeeze with my hands, and redo it? That's about where I am, at this point. It's so frustrating!

Alternately, I give it another couple of days until the stuff is REALLY hardened, and have another go at trimming it down.

 

[cmwong27]

I'll admit that I laughed super hard when I read about this tank's former life. I got my tank new, but even in Humboldt County I haven't heard of using a fish tank...

All the fuss with the sealant will be totally worth it when you have a beautiful huge tank!