My tank started to leak. Now what?

[fazer]

The corner of my 50 gallon glass, planted, tank started leaking last night about half way down. I heard a drip, drip, drip, went to check it out and saw water. Nightmare time.

Jury rigged a water catch and then lowered the water level to below the leak before bed. Tonight I moved the fish to a spare 20 gallon (thank God I don't listen to the wife about being a pack rat!)

So now I get to fix my tank. Got some aquarium silicone seal from my LFS. Anyone used it? Any advice?

Also I get to resetup my planted tank. I've been fighting cyanobacteria for over a year with moderate success, including using Maracyn a couple of times. It always comes back. How do I clean everything (including plants) to get a fresh start? How would you clean the rocks, bogwood, sponges in the Aquaclear, etc. without affecting everything?

 

[mattz]

I have bought aquarium silicon at my local Ace Hardware if that helps.

 

[OldMan1947]

What I've read is that once cleaned out, the tank can be repaired by cleaning thoroughly around the seam that's leaking by using vinegar. Remove all the sealant from the inside of the tank but not the part that's actually holding the glass together. Run a full new bead and smooth it out. Let it set until you don't smell it anymore, then do a leak test. My only experience with this was replacing a broken panel. I bought a piece of glass to make the new front, cleaned all the surfaces that it needed to seal up to, and put in the new front with sealant. That was over 10 years ago and still no leaks.