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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

tank repairs

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06 Jul 2011 20:33 #1 by wylam (Stuart Sexton)
tank repairs was created by wylam (Stuart Sexton)
Hi guys, is there any way to repair cracks in fish tanks?

My tropical tank hope's were dashed because of baby and financial issues.But a friend of mine has a 120L tank that he will just give to me but!! it has a crack in the base of it :-(( .can it be repaired or is this a non starter.

Cheers Stuart.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.

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06 Jul 2011 20:55 #2 by Goldenguns (Darren pierce)
Replied by Goldenguns (Darren pierce) on topic Re: tank repairs
Take measurements of inside of thank
Go to ur local glazer get him to cut peace of glass that size
Silicone new piece of glass onto cracked base then seal all sides hay presto
Cheap and cheerful lol

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07 Jul 2011 09:31 #3 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
Replied by christyg (Chris Geraghty) on topic Re: tank repairs
That sounds genious. I'd be very interested to hear the opinions of some of the 'guru's' on this one :)

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07 Jul 2011 09:51 #4 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: tank repairs
This method of repair has been around since the invention of Silicone, you can even use it on a cracked window in a House or Greenhouse, it will prevent a crack from spreading, you must, however smear the base of the Glass you are putting on top of the cracked pane with Silicone, if there are big voids between both panes the new one can crack also, just smear with a Credit Card or such and you should be good to go.

Kev.

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07 Jul 2011 10:38 #5 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re: tank repairs

This method of repair has been around since the invention of Silicone, you can even use it on a cracked window in a House or Greenhouse, it will prevent a crack from spreading, you must, however smear the base of the Glass you are putting on top of the cracked pane with Silicone, if there are big voids between both panes the new one can crack also, just smear with a Credit Card or such and you should be good to go.

Kev.


I don't have a credit card - would a cheque do?
("in" joke).

Seriously though, it would be best to remove all silicone around the interior of the base to ensure your new sheet of glass sits firmly on the cracked base and not on the old sealant - a word of warning though - try not to disturb the silicone which is joining the glass, only that which is sealing the sides to the base.
Then do as suggested by Kev and guns but I would do it in two stages, silicone the 'inner' base in place first - using some heavy items (for example, containers full of water) to keep it down while the sealant cures and then run a bead all around the new base, making sure it is in contact with that and the other existing side sheets (plus the front and back - naturally).
Then leave it to fully cure - I suggest 48 hours - and take the tank outside and gingerly fill it up.
All being well, you should have no leaks...but just in case you do it's better done outdoors. Heaven forfend you do have any leak at all but, if you do note where the leak is then empty it, fully dry it out and reseal that section fully.
Hopefully this won't be necessary but it's best to be on the 'safe side'.
But all being well you can then bring the tank indoors and get cracking (awful pun - apologies) on setting it up...then comes the fun part.
John
ps make sure you diligently clean both the old and new glass of fingerprints etc as silicone will not adhere to 'greasy' glass - I use methylated spirits personally.
Perhaps others can add to these musings?
Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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07 Jul 2011 12:07 #6 by wylam (Stuart Sexton)
Replied by wylam (Stuart Sexton) on topic Re: tank repairs
Thanks for the replies guys, sounds like an easy fix and a cheap tank now.

Cheers Stuart.
Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.

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07 Jul 2011 14:13 #7 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
Replied by christyg (Chris Geraghty) on topic Re: tank repairs
They say you learn something every day, well I definitely did today :lol: I must have lived an awful sheltered life (maybe not) :whistle:

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07 Jul 2011 18:39 #8 by derek (Derek Doyle)
Replied by derek (Derek Doyle) on topic Re: tank repairs
the methods suggested by the lads will work perfectly well but will make the tank much heavier and will look awful. as the base is easier to replace than any other panel you could try this.
measure the dimensions of the broken base and acquire replacment of same size and thickness, then with a hammer break out old base and trim all old silicone away and clean as before with meths or alcohol. then run a bead of silicone around the perimeter of new pane of glass and carefully place tank accurately onto base. run finger all round to smooth silicone to glass and add an extra blob into 4 corners and smooth. a full silicone cure takes 72 hours (not to be moved) and then test, and tank will be good as new. if you were close enough to me i could do this repair for you and it would take less than half an hour, so if there are any experienced fellows nearby they could easily sort you out.
anyway just an alternative suggestion and if the aestethics dont matter, the patch will certainly do the job and the curing for this is as john says about 48hrs. new unpolished glass is very sharp so a quick rub with oilstone or sandpaper will make it safe for either type of repair.
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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