help

so i finaly got a back to go on the back of the tank today and noticed a line on the backside of the tank... it took me a while to figure out what it was but finaly i figured it out it was a line from the level of water in between the two panels of glass... its just on the backside of the tank right now its about 4 inches from the level of the water in the tank. If it keeps increasing when it reaches the level of the water inside the tank will it stay stable there or will the water in between the glass keep increasing and overflow everywhere i'm at a loss as to what to do here and i really can't afford any costly repairs plus i have nowhere else to keep my fish except in a little ten gallon tank if something is seriously messed up in the ninety gallon tank... please help

OUCH.... seems like your good deal has gone bad. I believe that means you have a leak somewhere. Looking up online seems like you only have a few options.

This is what one guys experience with double pane glass aquarium had to say.

"First one is not for the faint of heart. Break the interior glass out, and seal the leak.
Second is to remove the window assembly, and take it apart, clean it out as much as possible, drain it, and put it back together, then reinstall. Very repair-intensive, and may well result in a broken window.
Third is to find another window sans water, and remove the old one, and install the new one. They are not cheap.
I have chosen a fourth option, which is to leave it alone. Seal the original leak so no more water enters."

If you go with the last option i believe that will give you water etching but may be your cheapest option.


So all i can say is "sorry about your 100 dollar purchase. sounds like a costly and time consumeing repair."

I forget what fish you have put in there right now? You can use the 10 gallon as a backup if u really need to. Just put as much oxygenating stuff in there as possible and do the proper test and water changes twice a day.

Or if you really, really need to, I have a Cheaper solution for you... Go buy a heavy duty 35 gallon trash can. It's about 10 to 20 bucks for that. Start the cycle on it as soon as possible. Use the gravel from the 90 gall and buy a filter and or bubblers for it. That should beable to house your fish without cramping them in a 10 gall which they might die in.

Well hope this helps you out.

by reseal you mean drain the whole tank and then reseal the top, bottom, and sides of the back panel? and is there a special kind of sealant i should use?


Also if i just left it alone wouldn't the water in between the panes stay the same level as the water once it reaches the water level?

The water level should not rise above the level in the aquarium. I would be more concerned about the stress of water pressure on the outside panel. Somewhere on ask.com there is an entry about aquarium building, and it has a table showing how thick the glass needs to be for certain capacities and heights. For a permanent fix, you may want to replace the entire panel with the proper type of glass. To do that you need to remove the bad panels, scrape off all of the old sealer and put on new silicone rubber sealer sold specifically for aquarium use. Since the height of the water is important in calculating stress, you may want to think about filling the aquarium half way, adding some plants that live with their roots in water but their tops in the air, and add some amphibians. Once i had a 55 gallon aquarium that got a stress crack and emptied itself, with a loud bang, all over the floor.

There's one more alternative for those of us who are on a limited budget: yard sales. If you look around enough, you can find free or almost free aquariums. You can save even more money by building your own aquarium stand. Just make sure the aquarium was built as an aquarium rather than a reptile or rodent cage.

brett wrote:

by reseal you mean drain the whole tank and then reseal the top, bottom, and sides of the back panel? and is there a special kind of sealant i should use?


Also if i just left it alone wouldn't the water in between the panes stay the same level as the water once it reaches the water level?

well u got to take care of the leak or else it will just get worse. You just going to have to drain it and find out where the leak is at. From the sounds of it u are limited on funds. If you have the time you can try to take the pane out get the water out and reseal it. BUt if you do it that way, you have a good chance of breaking one panel of glass. If you break it, then your probally better off getting a new aquarium.

Your best bet would be option 4 the one guy listed. empty the tank and try to get as much water out between the glass. THen reseal it. From the sounds of it that in time will mark the glass up and not give that crystal clear look people like with the double pane glass. Sealant stuff just go to the fish store and get it there. All you do is remove the old stuff and clean the glass and it all depends on how nice you want to do the sealant. If you dont care just smear it on or go to lowes or home depot and get the tool that straightens the glue up.

well good luck. From the sounds of it you are still going to need like 30 to 50 bucks to keep your fish allive and repair the tank.