Fixing Broken Tank Help

[Taridan]

Okay, I've recently gotten a used 2.5 gallon tank that has rather bad cracks in both of the narrow sides of the tank. I have the aquarium sealant, what I needed to know is do I need to remove all the old silicone if I wanted to re-seal the seams? How do I do this, as the tank has that black plastic rim thing around it... and, to make it even more fun, the bottom is black plastic too. ie: They made the base with a groove for the for the glass to slide in, and the plastic comes up on the outside of the tank probably about 1/4th of an inch.

Any ideas or helpful hints or things you think I could do with it will be apperciated.

 

[Ginge]

Can i just ask woulding it cost more for sealent than a new 2.5g???

 

[Taridan]

Actually no, the sealant was about 5 dollars, the cheapest 2.5 I could find was 9.99$ Plus, I already had the sealant from when I was thinking of making a DIY tank, but never got the glass for doing it, the 2.5 was free from my soon to be mother in laws attic. They never bothered with the cracks since they kept a reptile in there.

 

[SkiFletch]

Tough to say without pics. Do the cracks breech the seams?

 

[Taridan]

Sorry for the wait on a reply, I sort of lost track of this thread. Hmm, hard to tell... I'll try to get digital pics when I get home if the Digital Pic software is working.

Okay, looked and yes the two cracks g o down past the edge of the rim of outer plastic. I'm guessing this means I'd have to strip the whole thing down and reseal it all? and what would be the best way to get rid of the current sealent?