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Confused about Silicone for your DIY tank?


nano-paul

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I didn't see this one on the list. Its for plastic sheets and other plastics. The only numbers on it are ges10.

I have this as well,i believe the number is actually GE 510.

It states that its 100% silicone and is an excellent candidate for use on lexan sheet and most plastics and in addition it provides outstanding adhesion to most glass and metal surfaces.offers a water tight seal and is excellent for marine applications above the water line.

Uses-for bonding polycarbonate or glass substrates such as lexan,polycarbonate,glass,pc,pvc,aluminum,fiberglass,metals and abraded rubber.

I plan on using this to adhere my own made acylic overflow to the inside of the tank wall.

I hope its safe to use,otherwise back to the store i go :o

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Never received a reply to this one. Anyone know?

 

http://m.canadiantire.ca/mt/www.canadianti...nt%2C+Clear.jsp

since its 100% silicone.. just read the ingredients. As long as there is not germicides/anti fungus additives / anti mildew etc it should be safe to use depending on its purpose.

 

If you just putting an overflow in the back wall it will likely hold that up fine. If you assembling a tank it may not have the tensile strength to hold it together properly.

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Speaking of diy tanks. I know the purpose of black silicone on some of the higher end tanks is to hide the bubbles within the silicone. But are there any techniques to running a bead without trapping bubbles beneath it.

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Mask off your bead lines and then apply a really thin/small bead of Silicone. If you are assembling a tank from scratch usually the silicon within the joint will smoosh out and be enough for the inside seam. Use your pinky to work the bead and then immediately take off the making tape. Work quickly because as soon as silicone starts to tack over it starts looking like crap if you haven't finished.

 

Rule #1 -- Don't play in your silicone :o One decent swipe with your pinky is all it takes. Maybe 2 swipes but never 3 unless you just screwed up.

 

Most DIY'ers use way too much silicone. Look at the small amount used on high end tanks. If your using the right silicone it will adhere and hold properly.

Edited by c_k_kuehne
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I know the purpose of black silicone on some of the higher end tanks is to hide the bubbles within the silicone.

 

I thought that the purpose was to avoid the problem of green algae working it's way into the silicone over time resulting in unsightly green edges.

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Not sure about that it would be nice to get ahold of the MSDS sheets for it. I would imagine it would be find to use since its made tonot degrade in marine uses. Though the kitchen and bath stuff is made to be wet but then is not reef safe so really need more info.

 

but that type only comes in white.. cant say I have seen a white seamed aquarium yet..

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Ck that's basicly the method I used when building my exo. But I still end up with visable bubbles between the glass & silicone.

 

 

And yeah even with running the thinnest bead of silicone I could. After clamping, when I tooled the silicone I ended up wasting probably 2/3 of what I ran. Lol On the inside of the exo itself. The beads are double what you would find in an aga. Because I didn't want to just wast all that silicone.

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Ahh --- waste the silicone --- That's what I always do -- tool it and discard the excess into the trash along with an entire roll of paper towels. :haha:

 

And to think this was just to install that tiny false wall in Hawke's Pico Lamp :o

 

Paper%20Towels.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm thinking of building a small-ish tank (~25gal) and I'd like to use black silicone (because I think it looks better). What silicone would "the expert" recommend? RTV 103?

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The Expert has not been on this thread for quite sometime.

 

I think RTV 103 would work fine for a tank of that size though..

 

signed The Amateur...LOL

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I didn't mean to "dis'" The Expert. I'm sure he (and probably everybody else on nano-reef) knows more about silicone than I do (or care to, to tell the truth). But Degener8 (aka The Amateur), what did you mean by "...RTV 103 would work fine for a tank that size..."? It wouldn't work for a tank any larger? Is there a better black silicone that is reef-safe that one would use on a larger tank? I'd rather go for overkill than a product that would just be "fine."

 

Also, if there's anyone out there who could give me some insight on building a tank, for the 25-gallon tank (or maybe even smaller) I plan to build, would 10-12mm glass be too much overkill? I was thinking of using the 10mm for the sides and 12mm on the bottom. I was also going to go to a glazier and have her bevel the edges (bevelled edges and thicker glass=more surface area for the silicone to bond to).

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I only meant it should work fine for the size tank you mentioned. The extent of my knowledge is that the taller the tank the more tensilary strength the silicone neds to maintain the bond on your verticle edges. The tank you mentioned it should work well with no issues.

 

As for your glass thickness question.Google search Aquarium glass thickness calculator. There is several on the internet and it will tell you your minimum glass thickness based on your tank specs and a few variables. As long as your at or above the minimum you will be fine.

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If I remember correctly. The two dow listed at the top of the list are the strong ones. There's also one by ge something like GE1200 but not positive so don't hold me to that. Any way 999-a & 795 both rock. The 103 is ge so could be close to the 1200.

 

The amateur's assistant.

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If it was me I would use either Dow Corning 999-a in black or Dow Corning 795 in black. Both will work and be equally as strong in the size tank you are asking about. 999-a is a shorter cure time. 795 has a longer cure time but has better flexibility/joint movement properties -- although flexi9bility/joint movement doesn't really matter on a smaller (less then a few 100 gallons) tank.

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Nice Pics :D

 

 

Here is the false wall I installed with 795 -- Used 795 because this was a very non standard piece of black tubing (for the false wall) and I wanted to make sure it held.

 

FalseWall.JPG

 

Here is the False Wall installed. Note the hole in the bottom of the tank. It is securing a pice of CPVC along with some strange bottle glass and also rough construction, black, plastic pipe piece (for false wall). Three different types of materials that all needed to bond together which is why I used Dow Corning 795. The best of the best but it doesn't come in clear and it takes 14 days to cure.

 

BackConfig.JPG

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Ck sounds like you haved used the 999-A & the 795. How would you say they compare. So far I've only used the 999-A.

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Actually I have never used 999-a but I used the 795 for hawke's Pico Lamp.

 

After reviewing the specs 795 adhereses to more surfaces and has the best joint movement properties. The biggest issue is that 795 has a 14 day cure time and most people just don't have the patience for that.

 

Other then joint movement/adhesion 999-a and 795 is probably really similar (if you can beleive the marketing hype/this thread)

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

So between the two of us we should be able to give decent recommendations to both 999-a and 795

 

also DeepThief (my brother) has used 999-a so I basically had a 1st hand review of 999-a without any bull

 

999-a and 795 --- the only way to go :-)

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When I did my exo with 999-A. I was suprised by how thick & sticky it was compared to other silicone that I have used. Within 5 min it was able to support the smaller pieces by its self. Within an hour was able to lift the 29 by the exo.

 

Is this simular to the 795. For some reason I'm expecting the diffrence to be the viscosity.

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Yes the 795 was by far the most stickiest silicone I have ever used and it took longer to get a film coat so it gave you more working time. The 2 weeks cure time sort of sucked but since I was bonding some very different types of materials I figured better safe then sorry.

 

Not sure if it was really black looked more like a very very dark gray to me.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Found this while searching around.

Whats interesting is that its mold resistant and safe.

My store has 7 in stock :D

To be honest I would not use anything that DAP made. JMO.

 

So much to catch up on in this thread. If I were building a 100g rimless 795 would be my choice, period.

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