Aquarium silicone sealant comparisons

[Mastiffman]

If it says 24 hours then it's 24 hours. Waiting an extra day isn't going to kill anything....then again we just saw that putting fish in before it cures can do. That situation there was too much put on, but still. I usually wait a couple of days (for curing) then test with water and let it sit for a week somewhere. After that water test for a week, then it's all good for fish (drain tank!). Anything happening after that is just bad luck.

So you normally drain the tank and then refill it? Is that because you filled it for a leak test in a "safe" for leaks area when the perminant location was somewhere else... OR because of possible leaching?

Does leaching always happen?

Ya in this case I waited 4 days but the pockets just didn't cure. The sump never smelled like vinegar at all. The fish started getting sick within hours and the first fish died within 24 hours. I have a thread going in setup and filtration titled " New sump now fish are sick" if you want to check it out. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=382499. Not sure if this will work but I will try to give you the link to this thread. It has the whole story and pictures as well.

I wonder if it was a old tube of silicone or soemthing. When I got my 3D BG in the mail and started trimming it up and preping it for install, I tried securing the grates to the inside of the Rocks with a tube that I had (already opened and half way used) it was still tacky after 30hours. I ended up removing it all with PT and opening a new tube... That stuff was starting to cure after only 22-30minutes just as the specs say on the side of the tube...

Well I'll check out the thread completely being I didn't read the whole thing before... Hope that all goes well for you through this unfortunate mishap!

 

[packer43064]

So you normally drain the tank and then refill it? Is that because you filled it for a leak test in a "safe" for leaks area when the perminant location was somewhere else... OR because of possible leaching?

Does leaching always happen?

Both. When it's not cold out I would normally put it outside for a test. If inside try to place paper towels underneath the tank. If the seals of a tank were to go it would hopefully be small and trickle down to the paper towel. Water is easy to see on the paper towel thus the reasoning to use it.

There always seems to be a residue or film on the top of the water after filling the tank up and letting it sit for a week so I always take the water back out which isn't a problem since I never test on a stand or where I will actually put the tank.

 

[natethegreat1989]

Im buliding a 450G plywood with 3/4 cast acrylic viewing window and most on this here have suggested GE 1. but no one hase specified if its as affective on acrylic as it is on glass?

 

[markado]

Hey MFK

These are the 2 silicone i can find at my local hardware store like just outside my house. The shop keeper was telling ill be able to use the "All porpose" one. Ill be using it on my new DIY 269 GAL playwood Acrylic tank. Will it work out?

Cheers!

 

[randyblktl]

is this good to use? but it says its mildew resistance
http://www.lowes.com/pd_47970-72643...rrentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=ge+silicone&facetInfo=

 

[natethegreat1989]

3m 5200 marine !!! all the way i used it to build two 400 + gallon tank last year and i recently tried to make some mods on the acrylic window and that stuff is never coming off !! and algea is covering every bit of it so it shouldnt have any anti mold chemicals.

 

[Smertrios]

http://www.industrialproducts.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=silicone+sealant

Found the above product called sil-bond that is 100% silicone acetoxy cure. Have to buy several tubes but the cost is $3.23 per 10.3 oz tube... I know there are alot of GE or DOW only people here when it comes to silicone but how different could it be? Its obviously not a backyard chemists version of a silicone adhesive =>

Anyone tempted to buy a case and then offer individual tubes for sale using the cheapest shipping possible?

 

[coyote6183]

my question is which of these adhere to liquid rubber the best? i will be building a 220 in a couple months and ive heard some stories that the silicone is hard to atach to it. any special prep's or silicones for this? i also saw in one spot of this thread solvents that prime the adhesive area for hard to stick area's. are these primer solvents aquarium safe? and could i/would i liquid rubber over the silicone?

 

[12 Volt Man]

as a lover of black silicone tanks, I was curious to know the REAL truth behind the strength of black silicone vs clear.

some people say black is stronger

some say the strength is weaker.

most say the strength is the same.

I was on the Deep Sea Aquatics website (the former Oceanic tank makers) and was surprised to find this comment on their FAQ page:

Black silicone is like clear silicone with extra stuff in it... Some people will tell you that it is as strong as clear, but we really don't think so... that's why we will not use it on large aquariums... We will use black corner covers on large aquariums if the customers wants black.

I was quite surprised. many tank manufacturers like Marineland, Miracles Aquarium (very popular over on reefcentral, and close to were I live lol), Elos, AGE, Leemar etc. have been using black silicone on large custom tanks and stock tanks for many many years now.

I have never heard of any problems. My Aqueon 150g was custom done with black silicone and its 3 years and counting (touches wood) lol

do the folks over at DSA have their wires crossed?

or is it simply a matter of opinion, verified or not, that leads them to state this?

 

[12 Volt Man]

something else I forgot to mention is that I have heard it said that some companies won't use black silicone on the bottom panel because it is not as strong.

if you look at Marineland stock tanks, many of them do this. I asked my LFS about it and their response was "its because its cheaper" for them to do this.

ie since that silicone is not seen anyway, use the cheaper clear silicone to save costs.

thoughts?