Keeping Tank Silicone Sealant In Good Condition...

[N0body Of The Goat]

I've got "Nelly"'s old 5x2x2 tank in the garage, currently "dry", which hopefully will not be required to setup until we move from our first floor maisonette, but may need to be used in the garage by my growing Rio240 "youngsters" (especially the denisonii; canarensis; bakeri; each of which will reach close to 15cm... currently ~6cm). However, it has been brought to my attention that the seals may deteriorate badly if they are kept dry...

It has been suggested that I smear petroleum jelly (vaseline) over all the joints, inside and out, to keep the seals good. This sounds easy enough, but are there any toxic chemicals for fish in Vaseline?

Would I be better off partially filling the tank with water, draping some moist towel over the top of the tank?

Or perhaps a combination of both of the above?

Or something else you reccomend?

Many thanks for your eagerly awaited input

 

[Defiance]

Hiya,

Can't see any problem with petroleum jelly myself, use it on filter sealing joints and impeller parts etc

But if you want to, you can get some silicon grease from maplins etc and use that instead

(one of my external filters says use petroleum jelly on the seal so it must be safe)

Tony

 

[Tolak]

Left dry in the sun for months;

No leaks. No reason to make life more difficult for yourself. I have tanks that have sat dry for months to years, some indoor, some in the garage, and as mentioned, outdoors. It takes quite a while for silicone to deteriorate to the point of leaking from what I've found.

I imagine a couple of years in the sun would do it, the worst thing I've found for silicone seals on tanks is gravel. Keep grinding that gravel against the silicone with a vac, it will loosen it up and cause a leak.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Thanks for the input so far.

Does the fact that its a home-made tank make any difference?

I've got a horrible feeling that impatience will result in me setting up the 540l tank in the garage before the summer is up, giving my current Rio fish more room and giving me the chance to buy some Nanochromis parilus (supposed to be nudiceps, but I think they all have the barred top-half caudial fin) and Microctenopoma congicum before they sell out for this year...

 

[OldMan47]

A home made tank may respond a bit differently to a commercially made tank. If the person who made your tank thought that nice thick layers of silicone were a good thing, you may have a tank with weak joints because they are not laid up tight enough to start with. You do not want an especially thick layer of silicone sealant between the various sheets of glass, because they will not hold their shape as well as well fitted glass with relatively thin coatings of silicone. If, on the other hand, the person who made your tank realized that a good tight fit was important and just laid in enough silicone sealant to properly seal joints on a tight fitting tank, it will do great over the long term.
No matter what, do not become impatient when it comes to evaluating the tank that you have. If you come to the conclusion that your tank is not up to par, by all means take corrective actions. Impatience is never an excuse that our dry fish will really understand.