You need to keep aquarium fish in certain conditions. But sometimes it happens that it is not possible to maintain them, for example, due to the fact that a leak has appeared or the compressor has broken. Such problems need to be addressed immediately after discovery, and it is not always possible to take the aquarium to a specialist. Therefore, every fish owner needs to know how to repair aquariums with their own hands at home.
Why is the aquarium leaking?
Aquarium leaks are the most common problem for fish owners. The reasons may be different:
- Loss of performance of the sealant that fills the seams. This problem can be prevented by periodically disassembling the aquarium and filling the seams with a new layer of silicone.
- Use of poor quality sealant during the manufacture of the aquarium. To avoidproblems, it is recommended to carefully study the documents for materials, including the available quality certificates.
- Violation of repair technology. Leakage may occur if water was poured into the aquarium before the silicone was completely dry, or if a small amount of material was used.
Preparing for repairs
When a leak is detected, you must immediately resettle all the inhabitants of the aquarium. This should be done so that the fish do not experience stress due to prolonged intervention. The capacity as temporary housing should be as spacious as possible. You can move the fish along with the algae so that they experience less stress.
Until the moment when the hands reached the repair, you need to add a little water to the aquarium that is leaking. This will prevent a sharp change in the parameters of the habitat of the fish, and maintain the bacterial balance at the desired level.
Now the aquarium needs to be washed, both inside and out. It is best to use a sponge for this. Next, the tank must be thoroughly dried. You can speed up the process with paper napkins or towels.
Leak test rules
After preliminary preparation, you need to check the tightness of all joints in order to know which places to pay special attention to. Most often, the problem occurs in the side joints between the panes.
Verification should be carried out as follows:
- Pour clean water into the aquariumwater.
- Apply a paper napkin to the outer surface of the glasses (corrugated paper can be used instead).
- On each site you need to hold it for a few minutes. After that, you can evaluate the condition of the napkin, which means that you can easily find the place of leakage, even if the crack is not visually visible.
If damage is found that goes through the entire glass, the latter must be completely replaced. The fact is that when filling the aquarium, additional pressure is created on the walls, so sooner or later the glass will still burst, even if the repair of aquariums with your own hands was of high quality.
Restoration rules
There are two ways to repair an aquarium:
- weld cracks;
- glue surfaces with silicone sealant.
The second option is preferable if the aquarium is being repaired on its own, since welding requires special skills and tools. The composition of the sealant contains silicon, which provides long-term gluing of surfaces. Often this is the method of gluing glass used in the manufacture of frameless aquariums.
You can buy a suitable sealant at any hardware store. And also it is in some points of pet supplies. When buying at a hardware store, be sure to choose one that has a mark on the packaging that it can be used for aquariums.
A special gun will help simplify the restoration work, thanks to which you can notonly save sealant, but also perform work in any conditions. Yes, and the quality of gluing will be much higher.
How to remove old sealant?
Before repairing cracks, remove old sealant, especially if it was applied during a previous restoration. This is easy to do as the material softens over time.
To remove sealant from large gaps, you can use a knife or nail file. For narrow openings, these tools will not cope, in this case a blade is better, but you should be extremely careful when working with it.
After all the old glue has been removed, the surface should be degreased. This can be done with acetone, rubbing alcohol or white spirit.
Ignore this step is not recommended. This is the most common cause of repeated leaks after do-it-yourself aquarium repairs. The preparation of surfaces should be given no less time than the direct sealing of cracks.
Step by step instructions for restoration
After careful preparation of the surfaces, you can proceed to the direct repair of cracks, including repairing the bottom of the aquarium with your own hands. The step-by-step instruction is as follows:
- Sealant must be applied to the seams. You can facilitate the process with a nail file or a knife. Glue should not be spared, because the result directly depends on it.
- Spread the silicone sealant over the seam with a damp sponge.
- Leave the aquarium overnight for the silicone to dry completely.
- Now we need to test the work. To do this, the aquarium must be filled with water, and left for several days. If a leak is detected, you need to do the repair of the aquarium with your own hands from glass again according to the described plan.
- If there are no leaks and the job was done well, then you can fill the tank with old water with fish and plants.
Recommendations from experts
The quality of do-it-yourself aquarium repair depends on many factors. It is impossible to take into account everything, therefore it is better to follow all the advice of specialists, namely:
- In order not to get dirty glasses during the repair of aquariums with your own hands, they can be protected with masking tape (it does not leave marks).
- You should carefully study the instructions for silicone sealant. Although they seem to be the same, there may be some nuances depending on the manufacturer.
- Within 2-3 days after the inhabitants return back to the aquarium, it is better to increase the compressor.
- In the future, it is recommended to periodically carry out preventive disassembly and sealing of joints with sealant, which will avoid sudden leaks.
- You also need to purchase a spare aquarium in advance, so that if something happens (for example, during diseases, spawning, or in the event of a sudden leak), you can safely relocate the fish along with their houses, plants and other attributes.
- Glass should be periodically cleaned of algae and fish residues, for which it is best to use a special scraper. At the same time, everythingthe action must be as careful as possible, as additional pressure can lead to a leak.
If glass cracked
If the glass is cracked in the middle, then in this case a replacement is required. You need to do it as follows:
- Prepare a replacement wall in advance. By the way, it does not have to be made of glass, plexiglass of the appropriate quality will do.
- Cleaned joints and ends should be carefully smeared with sealant.
- Install new glass in place of gluing.
- Fix it with a rope. Glass must be wrapped both vertically and horizontally.
- In an hour, repeat all actions.
DIY aquarium compressor repair
There may be several problems with this device. The most common is the increase in noise during operation. This happens due to clogging of the valves. Repair must be performed in the following sequence:
- Compressor needs to be unplugged and disassembled.
- Remove the compression chamber with tweezers, and then the valves themselves. If they are glued, then you need to carefully tear them off on one side.
- Now the cotton swab should be soaked in alcohol or cologne, other solvents are not suitable for this. With these sticks, wipe the valves themselves, their installation sites, as well as the air duct channels from accumulated dirt. If during the repair of the Aquael compressor for an aquarium with your own hands or any other company it was found that the valve was torn, then it can becut from a rubber bandage, which is sold at the pharmacy.
- Leave all parts to dry, after which the system can be reassembled.
Another common problem is a torn membrane. In this state, the compressor cannot work, so it must be replaced.
Cracking during operation can also occur due to damage to the surface of the plastic parts that hold the moving anchors with magnets. You can solve this problem as follows:
- The damaged part must be removed.
- Heat the soldering iron, then melt it flush with the surface of the wire trim piece (steel will do).
- Deburr with a needle file.
- Now the compressor can be assembled. Before installation, it is recommended to check its performance.
When repairing the compressor, you need to be extremely careful, in particular, you must not forget to turn off this device from the network.
You can disassemble and then assemble back any frame aquarium. Almost everyone can do this work, which means that you can do the repair of aquariums yourself without difficulties. The main thing is to perform all actions carefully, as well as to select high-quality materials.
