120gal breakdown - will the silicon seams hold at 140 degrees???

DB9181

DB9181

New member
Well...it's a sad day - the 120gal is about to go lifeless as my entire house is being heated to ~140 degrees due to a pest problem.

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(before spraying the house)

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Typically they ask for aquariums to be removed but since it suck a pain to physically move this tank, they said emptying it half way would be fine. Crew got there this morning to begin the heat treatment and were concerned about the tank as they have never 'worked with this much water' and are afraid the seams might give out. I didn't even think about that, and had they told me that was their concern i would have drained it almost completely.

So...question is ... what is the likelihood of the seams giving out on this 120gal (60x18x26). These last few weeks have been literally a nightmare, hopefully I don't come home to 50-60 gallons of saltwater on the floor.
 
I doubt there will be an issue. Plenty of people down in the southwest store aquariums in their garages. They get to 140* easy in the summer. Best of luck dan!
 
i did a quick google search and found this

ASI Aquarium Silicone Sealant can be applied to surface temperatures from -18°C to +50°C (0°F to +120°F) and after curing, withstands constant operating temperatures from -57°C to +233°C (-70° F to 450°F).

So seems like you should be fine.
 
I would recommend draining it. Ive had a similar experience with this. I stored my old 125 (no water!) in my garage for a few months in the spring/summer with temps reaching easily 130 degrees in there and when i pulled it out the tank held water fine. Another case was my uncle had a 75 gallon discus tank we had a malfunction in, heater heated the water to 110 degrees and that blew one of the seams. Yours may hold up fine especially if its a newer tank but if you dont have to chance it, drain it to be safe. I feel like an empty tank heats different from a filled tank.
 
yeah I really think ur better off draining it. I think it's to late now but that's a lot of pressure on hot silicone lol
 
The difference is with the outward pressure of the water, and the heating (softening of sealant) will weaken the bond increasing the chance for a leak or worst, a pane flying. In a garage with no water, the silicone will heat, then cool again naturally. I also recommend a complete drain, or at least under 20%.
 
Well, the tank seemed to hold - It was emptied about 1/2 to 2/3 but I could not empty it any more as I was already at work when they told me it might be an issue. I had told them the tank size, weight, and even sent them a picture and they stated that emptying it 1/2 way would be fine but obviously were concerned once they saw the size of the tank/amount of water remaining.

Even 3 hrs after the heat treatment was complete, the air temperature in my house was ~105 degrees and the tank glass was extremely hot to the touch. Tonight I plan on starting to siphon out the sandbed and get new water prepped. I will be waiting until the glass/silicon (as well as my house) temperatures have reduced to acceptable levels. Hopefully the heat didn't affect the long-term condition of the silicon.

This tank entire tank will now become a colony holding tank as well as a grow-out tank for InsaneCoral.com to add to our quickly increasing number of tanks :)

We will rebuild her, we have the technology.
 
DB9181 said:
To be clear, these were pests in my house not in my tank - rest assured all coral purchased from me and/or Insane Coral was not affected.
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If the cure for a tank problem took heating an entire house to 140 and anyone had the dedication to rebuild, hats off to them. I wouldn't have the dedication.
 
jrpark22000 said:
If the cure for a tank problem took heating an entire house to 140 and anyone had the dedication to rebuild, hats off to them. I wouldn't have the dedication.
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The tank had nothing to do with the pests (my roommates/tenants brought bed bugs into the house)- to rid them of the house, I needed to heat the house...thus the tank needed to be shut down. We moved all the livestock (coral, fish, LR) to some of our other holding tanks and have rock/ceramic discs already seeded to re-starting this tank should go much quicker. It suck to have to shut it down, but there was no option.
 
My only concern Dan as Gary mention about the heat weakening the seems of the tank- not sure but over time it can maybe and hopefully not be an issue of leaking. I myself would be iffy about reusing that tank again, but it going to be one hell off a holding Tank :)
 
Tank2379 said:
My only concern Dan as Gary mention about the heat weakening the seems of the tank- not sure but over time it can maybe and hopefully not be an issue of leaking. I myself would be iffy about reusing that tank again, but it going to be one hell off a holding Tank :)
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Well..lets really hope the seams don't decide to give at some point.

The holding tank will be sand then 100+ lbs of LR, then either zoa colonies growing out on LR and/or eggcrate, then another level of eggcrate to hold colonies of everything else until they are ready to be fragged. Of course, a mixture of fish will be added as well.
 
My suggestion would be to drain the tank completely let it sit at room temp for 72 hours, then very closely inspect the silicon and look for inconsistencies and spreading or bubbling.

Anything out of the norm with the silicone. If it all looks good and grand, then while I personally would have a concern, it might not really be a big issue. I live in a condo and if I have a 50g tank break let alone bigger, i'd be looking at a 100k plus insurance claim do the the units below me and all the 110+ year old wood that may need treating. lol

Best of luck and sorry to hear about the breakdown, but it's always a chance to come back stronger!
 
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