Big leak in tank

Question
Hi Karen,  I have a 150 gallon tank that sprung a big leak at the bottom of the tank in the seam. Leak seams to be in a 4 inch area. Tank is about 8 years old and is glass. Would appreciate any tips you can give me on repair. Thanx,,Jimmy

Answer
Hi Jimmy,
A few years ago I had the same joy of finding out my 105-gallon aquarium had sprung a decent leak from when an object fell from a top shelf near the tank and hit the corner of it at the joining seams and so began my experience with repairing a dripping leak.  ;)

Now, I can't guarantee anything at all that you can repair the tank and not have re-occurring problems in the future. Or that the repair itself will be successful at all in the first place. But its not impossible to repair leaks in aquariums. I'm not claiming to be a professional on the matter, but here's what I did. And it worked out with no problems at all.

With my big aquarium, I drained the aquarium down and dried it out thoroughly. Then, using a razor blade, carefully removing the silicone in the spot where the leak had started. After that, using aquarium silicone from the petstore, following the directions, I basically redid the seam all the way as well as I could until I thought it was covered enough and pretty much matched the other silicone seams at the other good corners of the tank. Letting it dry for a day or two at least. Then refill. Now, this part is a bit scary. But just keep checking the tank's repaired spot as you are filling and make sure there is not moisture coming through. The pressure of the water usually will push the silicone snug against the glass to further seal it. But if you experience more leaking from the same spot. Drain the tank again, let everything dry thoroughly and try going over it again with a bead of silicone. Hopefully that should do it.

I hope this helps and best of luck!!
Karen~