a little advice for cracked glass

[arielgasca420]

Hello everyone,
I have been battling with these zoo med heat pads and one recently malfunctioned and overheated (started smoking and melting when I took it off the tank). It was on the side of the tank and I heard a noise when I sprayed the cage down with lukewarm water before I noticed the malfunction. when I checked the bottom I noticed it has a 7 inch crack on the corner of the cage (hot glass plus the cold water). I will be returning the heat pad, but right now I need to fix the tank before it gets worse. It is a very heavy 18X18X24 exo terra
would silicone fix the crack problem or will I need something better than that?
any opinions on the situation or products would really help.
thanks for reading

[arielgasca420]

[deranged chipmunk]

Is that the side or bottom panel? What's the bottom structure? Hydroton or false bottom? Just smearing silicone won't fix it. You can get a piece of glass a couple inches larger than the crack and silicone it on top of the crack. If it is a false bottom, i would sandwich it between 2 pieces. The larger the piece of glass you use will help distribute the weight better, making the repair more effective..

[arielgasca420]

the bottom is cracked and the substrate is just coco fiber. I dont have any hydro balls or a false bottom.

[deranged chipmunk]

Then i would silicone a 12x12 piece of glass on top. That should be a standard size at the hardware store. Just for extra strength, i would cut a piece of stryofoam or better yet, yoga mat the size of the bottom of the tank and set the tank on top of it.

[arielgasca420]

ok I will go ahead and do that. I dont really need the mat because the bottom of the tank is raised because there is a plastic stand attached to it. thank for the help