# Cracked walmart 29 gallon tank, need to repair, advice?



## bobotech (Oct 2, 2012)

I have a 29 gallon tank that I bought over 5 years ago. I used it for 3 years and then all my fish died (gold fish) and I gave up and put the tankk in the basement.

Well my friend was renting her spare room to a guy who had a 20 gallon tank and goldfish setup. He moved out and never claimed the tank. It is now completely run over with algae and nastiness and she said that she was jsut going to flush the fish and use the tank for a reptile. Well I want to rescue the fish and see if I can save them.

Well I brought my tank upstairs and I apparently cracked the bottom. There is a single crack from front to back along the bottom of the tank. It is a very clean crack, no spidering or other cracks.

i really don't have a lot of money so I need to do this on the cheap. I know I could use the 20 gallon tank but I have a castle that fits my 29 gallon perfectly with like 1/4 inch to spare and I want to keep it. So I want to fix my tank.

I have read up that you can replace the bottom pane or get a piece of glass cut to fit inside the tank walls and use silicone to seal it in the inside and not remove the bottom pane.

Well since it is on the bottom, I have no problem leaving the existing pane and just laying a new piece of glass on top of it and sealing it with GE2 silicone sealant. That sounds like it woudl be much easier to do and in a sense, would make the bottom stronger since the bottom of the tank would then be 1/2 inch total thickness instead of the 1/4 inch thickness that it is now. I'm not worried about the extra weight of the new pane, its not a huge tank by any means.

The tank is 30x12x18. 

So is there any really good reasons why I should not just lay a new pane of glass and seal it up well on top of the existing glass? The gravel will hide the existing crack well.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

It can be done, make sure you silicone all edges and on bottom where the crack is. Don't use GE2 find and use GE1. The GE2 contains mold inhibitors that is harmful to fish.


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## bobotech (Oct 2, 2012)

Got it. 

Okay, so i will then proceed with my idea of cutting a piece of glass to fit inside the walls of the tank and use it as a patch for the existing bottom of the tank. I now have a few questions. 

Should I have the glass cut to fit inside the tank walls perfectly? Or should I have the glass cut say 1/8 of an inch less so there is a slight tiny gap? Should I still razor the whole bottom edges of the tank and bottoms of the corners and completely remove all traces of silicone before I lay the new glass down? 

Should I run a bead along the cleaned bottom edges of the tank and a bead along the crack and then lay the new glass on top of the wet silicone or should I just lay the new glass on top of the cleaned bottom and then put down new beads of silicone along the edges?

I can't find much info on how to repair a tank with a simple crack. All the sites I find seem to talk about repairing badly damaged tanks with much worse damage than a crack, pieces missing and R&Ring the old glass with new glass.


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## gar1948 (Jan 25, 2012)

I'm wondering between the glass and silicone, how much more would a new tank cost? There is always a chance of leaking from a repaired aquarium over 10 gallons. 
29 gallons-----That's a lot of pressure and lots of water if it leaks. Why not look for a good condition tank on craigs list.


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## bobotech (Oct 2, 2012)

I'm not so worried about the structural integrity, once the glass is in place, the new glass willl be holding the water back as well as the original pane that is still intact. 

I just don't want any seeping leaks which is why I am asking all these questions. If I am going to repair this, I want to repair it properly.

Went to walmart tonight, they had the tanks but they were 99 dollars. Way more money than the pane of glass. A 30x18x1/4" pane of glass is 23 dollars from one of the shops I called. How much is the silicone? 5 dollars? If I can do this for under 30, that woudl be a reasonable price to pay I figure.

CL has crap it seems like. Either huge tanks or little 5-10 gallon tanks.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

You can use GE1 or GE2. Use 100% pure silicone, not anything that has a mildew inhibitor. You must let stand to air out for a week though, that would be best.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Glass thickness comes into play, when your building your own. The silicone bonds the glass together, your not going to able to pull that apart.


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## Ayeaux (Aug 25, 2012)

I recently bought a 29g for $29 at a Pet Supplies Plus. Check around, several pet stores will put tanks on sale for $1 per gallon.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I would be hesitant myself. I have resealed my share of tanks but if there is ever an issue with the bottom, I replace. Petco or petsmart has the $1 per gallon sale periodically. Of course thats me. I would get the glass to fit well inside, silicon very well the crack and between the layers.


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## bobotech (Oct 2, 2012)

Well I am going to try to repair the tank. I went to a few petstores today and could not find a 29 gallon tank for under 69 dollars. Petco and Petsmart didn't have anything. Petco did have a 1 per gallon sale but only on their long 10-20-40 gallon tanks. I only want a tall tank. The 40 gallon is just too wide for my space plus it would be way too big to fit on my current dedicated aqurium stand. 

The glass and silicone will cost me under 30 dollars which is something I can afford right now.


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## baba57 (Oct 4, 2012)

I can't find much info on how to repair a tank with a simple crack .
:animated_fish_swimm


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## chipmunk1210 (Jul 3, 2012)

Definately use GE1 not GE2. The mold/mildew inhibitors really are toxic to fish. I killed 4 fish from that stuff one time when I made a divided tank.


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