Repair of IM 38 tank

[MisterTang]

After another overseas stint, I'm back in the USA and ready to start up the third iteration of my reef tank. 

 

Unfortunately, when I was draining my Innovative Marine 38 during takedown, I noticed parts of the rear portion of the tank (where filtering etc occurs) came "unglued". This may have occurred because I drained the larger "display" portion first and not the rear portion first, causing excessive stress on these joints. 

 

Basically, I'm looking for suggestions for repair. I believe the dark portion is acrylic and the baffles are glass, but am not 100% sure on that. My understanding is that stuff like RTV102 is only for glass-to-glass joints and wouldn't necessarily work for this sort of joint. Any recommendations for reef-safe glue or silicone would be most appreciated.

 

Lastly, here are some photos to help explain what I'm talking about.

 

 

 

 

 

[Origami]

Aqueon / AGA AAG65010 aquarium sealant reported is what Oceanic was using years ago to seal acrylic to glass in some of their aquariums. Both surfaces have to be really, really clean to get a good bond. Let the silicone cure for 48 hours before doing anything with it.

 

GE SCS1200 is another that was used with success some years ago.

[L8 2 RISE]

Good to see you around again!  Where were you overseas?

 

Is this a baffle with space for water to flow underneath it, or does water flow over it?

 

If underneath, I would just use a silicon to seal around the edge.  Waterproofing it isn't that important and it won't be under that much pressure.

 

If it's an over and you really care about doing it right, I would use a razor blade to cut the baffle out, being careful at the bottom corners, make sure all the old silicone is gone, then reseal it back in.

 

 

 

I replaced the back glass on my IM 30 a year and a half ago.  You might find some pics and advice in that thread useful: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/76795-woops-smashed-my-tank/page-2 

 

If it's the same as mine, that black piece will be acrylic and about 2-3 inches below the black piece, a glass support piece will run the rest of the way.

[MisterTang]

I do prefer the back to be "mostly-ish" watertight from the front display because otherwise it might make the skimmer/UV/filtration flow screwy. I am uncertain at this point if I've lost that seal because I haven't put any water in it yet.

 

After your explanation and looking at some of your photos in your thread, I understood what you're talking about: there's actually a separate glass box back there that contains all the baffles and holds the filtration. None of the seals there look bad; it appears that just the top inch where the glass baffles meet the acrylic.

 

Thanks both for the suggestions! Looking forward to being back in again.