Aquarium silicone

[eareyes]

Has any one used these silicone before in aquariums? Is it aquarium safe? I dont what to kill my fish! Its for my DIY sump!

[Mark Bianco]

Can't say for this paticular brand, but look to see if it is 100% silicone and if it is after a 24 hour cure time it is totaly reef safe...

Mark

[eareyes]

Yes it is 100% silicone but i dont know if its reef safe! That is what i want to find out!

[longdangler]

As long as it's 100% silicone, no mold inhibitors in it, it will be fine. Just give it a few days to cure before adding water. Otherwise it will release toxins while curing into your water.

[uncleof6]

Originally Posted by eareyes

Has any one used these silicone before in aquariums? Is it aquarium safe? I dont what to kill my fish! Its for my DIY sump!

Your photo, does not show the product type, so there is little that I can tell you about it, other than it is made by Dow Corning, the fine print towards the bottom of the tube says it is FDA approved. However, it is a general purpose (consumer grade) "sealant" and probably is not suitable for building tanks.

100% silicone is deceptive, what is needed is a silicone that does NOT contain co-polymers such as acrylic.

There is no such thing as aquarium silicone. No silicone is manufactured (by the original manufacturer,) to be "aquarium" silicone. That said:

We want to use a silicone that is:

1-part
100% silicone (no co-polymers)
Acetoxy cure--vinegar odor, not ammonia odor (neutral cure)
FDA approved for food contact.

Additionally, for "building stuff," you want to use an industrial grade "adhesive," rather than a consumer grade "sealant." The best are made by Momentive: RTV100 Series, and SCS1200 series. Dow Corning 795 falls in the category, but the Momentive products are better choices. Non of these products can be obtained from a big box type store.

Technically speaking, there is no silicone that is NOT "reef safe." The problem is the cure time. Uncured silicone will kill your tank. 24 hours is INSUFFICIENT cure time, due to the large amounts that are actually used in aquarium building/application. A couple days is insufficient cure time. A week or longer often, for the silicone to cure sufficiently to be considered safe. That goes for ALL silicone--including those with the mythical "mold inhibitor" that does not exist. (MSDS' show no constituents that could be considered "mold inhibitors") They are simply neutral cure silicones, that when sufficiently cured, are just as safe as acetoxy cure silicones.

[eareyes]

Ok here is a link with the silicone that i have maybe it will help you tell me if its ok for the sump baffles! http://www.americangranby.com/PDFs/S07P013.pdf

[uncleof6]

Originally Posted by eareyes

Ok here is a link with the silicone that i have maybe it will help you tell me if its ok for the sump baffles! http://www.americangranby.com/PDFs/S07P013.pdf

Did you notice the cure time --after 7 days... anyway, certainly it is safe, as any other silicone. However, it is a consumer grade sealant and not suitable for building a tank that will hold water. It even says "not suitable for structural glazing" which means it is pretty low end stuff. You need to use an adhesive silicone--as stated above, very different from a "sealant."

Sump baffles? (you said DIY sump,)

Dow Corning 999A
Dow Corning 735

if you like Dow Corning, should be ok. Otherwise get the products I mentioned above.

[eareyes]

Lotssss of help thank You!! )

[eagle9252]

this is what i use and they will ship to your door. it's Momentive and its food grade.

I was on a fish tank website and they said that this is what you need to use if you can't get ""aquarium labeled"" silicone. The squeeze tube at HD is like 2oz and 5.00 so there is a huge savings here. They also sell the squeeze tubes but the are larger that the ones in hdhttp://www.mcmaster.com/#rtv-sealants/=ho8qzs

GE108
10.1-oz. Cartridge
Translucent
7545A472


8.24

[uncleof6]

Originally Posted by eagle9252

this is what i use and they will ship to your door. it's Momentive and its food grade.

I was on a fish tank website and they said that this is what you need to use if you can't get ""aquarium labeled"" silicone. The squeeze tube at HD is like 2oz and 5.00 so there is a huge savings here. They also sell the squeeze tubes but the are larger that the ones in hdhttp://www.mcmaster.com/#rtv-sealants/=ho8qzs

GE108
10.1-oz. Cartridge
Translucent
7545A472


8.24

The "GE108" is RTV108, the translucent flavor of the Momentive RTV100 series. RTV103 is black........