hi,
My folks have a nice 55 gallon aquarium thats been sitting for like 10 years in the attic think if i clean it it will still be good didnt leak before?
thanks
P.S still has gravel in it. Was gonna toss that.
Push on the silicon with your finger nail. If it is still flexible it is probably fine. If it is brittle and flakes, then it probably will leak. You can easily re-seal the tank if it does.
Always test any used tank. Just take it out to the yard or in the tub and leak check it to be 100% sure before you get going.
If the silicon is brittle and not sticking, I wouldn’t even bother trying to check it and would scrape and re-seal, then check it.
Only one way to find out. Take it out to the porch or the bathtub or wherever it will be okay if it does leak, and fill it to the top with water. I’d wait 24 hours or so and look for any leaking. It could be fine, or the silicone could have dried out or loosened some.
References :
I’ve rehabbed a lot of old tanks, and in that situation (it’s been sitting empty for 10 years), I’d say there’s about a 50% chance it will leak at one of the seams (which, of course, is a 50% chance it won’t leak at all). Before setting it up indoors, test the tank for leaks. Place the tank somewhere outdoors, like on a driveway, balcony, picnic table, patio– on top of some dry paper (like yesterday’s newspaper). The paper is your leak detector. Then fill the tank to the top with water, being careful not to spill or drip any water on the paper. Come back after 12 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours, and look carefully for any wet spots on the paper. Also look to see if the water level in the tank has dropped. If you do notice any drop in water level, mark the water level so that next time you look, you can judge how fast it’s leaking. If you can see water trickling, or drops of water oozing out at any place on the seams, mark the spot where it’s leaking.
If no leaks can be detected after about 3 days, it’s probably not going to leak, so go ahead and set up your aquarium.
If it does leak, don’t give up. It’s fairly easy to re-seal the seams with aquarium-safe silicone cement. You can find directions online or in books, or post another question here about re-sealing the tank.
If the gravel is really nasty and dirty, you may want to discard it an start over, but probably all you need to do is wash the gravel and then replace it in the tank. Gravel, being rocks, doesn’t really wear out or go bad. But I would take out the gravel for the leak test, just because that makes it easier to see any cracks on the bottom of the tank or leaks at or near the bottom.
References :
Push on the silicon with your finger nail. If it is still flexible it is probably fine. If it is brittle and flakes, then it probably will leak. You can easily re-seal the tank if it does.
Always test any used tank. Just take it out to the yard or in the tub and leak check it to be 100% sure before you get going.
If the silicon is brittle and not sticking, I wouldn’t even bother trying to check it and would scrape and re-seal, then check it.
References :
Fish Store Owner