15 year old tank seals

[FakeBedLinen]

Hi everyone, I have an 80 litre clear seal tank that's been sat in my work shop for must be 15 years now. It was the first tank I ever bought and ran it for probably 3 years but since then it's just been sat empty on a shelf it all temperatures.
I was thinking of starting it up as a purely shrimp tank, then started counting and realised it's 15 years old.

How long does silicone usually last? Especially when it's been subject to numerous minus degree winter temperatures?

 

[tam]

It's probably one of those how long is a piece of string questions. Just pulled a 25 yr old emergency tank out of the loft after a seal went on a 30 yr old one (you could visibly see the seal was compromised before it actually went). As a minimum I'd fill it up outside and leave it a few days to check for leaks.

 

[mort]

You should be able to tell if the silicon is in bad condition by feeling it with your finger first and just by how it looks. If it isn't pristine and smooth then chances are it's not in great condition and a real risk to use.
Most aquarium silicon have a temperature range printed on them and it's something like -20c to 50c off the top of my head so a few degrees under zero shouldn't be a problem if the tank was dry.

I would definitely follow Tam's advice and fill it up before use but also way up the risk of it failing later and whether it's worth a few pounds spent on a new tube of silicon.