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Sikaflex


Ghengis

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One for the tank builders... Will be setting up some new barracks, soon. They'll be a decent size, probably 300x300x300mm-ish in a row of four together.

Now, whilst CLEAR Aquarium Silicone is readily available, and I have a tube already, I want to know which brands are BLACK. Obviously, there is Sikaflex,

a product I am familiar with (it's great for all things automotive, from filling surplus holes to keeping passengers in place during high-speed traffic light duels),

but I'm not sure of it's Aquarium friendly-ness. I am quite keen for the black rimmed look; I just think it's classier than the clear and my other tanks have

this look, so it'd be good to keep the theme.

Thoughts?

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I'm glad you mentioned Mitre10. I sooooooooo don't want to have to ask some Bunnings gimp (apologies to the Bunnings gimps, no offence

intended) which product I should be using.... Who knows what I'd end up with.

Cheers for the response, anyway, I'll see what I can see...

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Went and had a look at that Bostik gear today. Not too sure if it'll do the job... Reading the label, I see it is not recommended for use "below the waterline", which,

one would have to assume, would include aquariums.

Nevermind, I'll keep looking around. If anyone is aware of any other possibilities, feel free to share :rolleyes:

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...so, I printed off that sheet and went 'round to Bunnings (yes, yes, I know, but it was the nearest...) at lunch.

Looks like the stuff I was looking at is the same stuff... At least as far as the matching barcodes can attest.

Picked up the glass for the new tank, today and I begin a weeks holiday tomorrow arvo. Yay! No prizes for

guessing what I'll be doing!! :rolleyes:

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I know this might sound odd, and it could just be the way it is done, but I've always found black silicone to be much weaker than the clear. Dalbarb uses it in all of its tanks and, although they do have some odd shapes and don't run it onto the glass, all of their tanks that I've had always needed repair work, and stripping that black stuff off seemed much easier than stripping off clear.

Just thought it might bear mentioning before you started in case you wanted to trial :rolleyes: I personally would have just cheated and gone for black capping pieces, though I'm not really sure where you'd get those either.

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Those black corner pieces are readily available at plastics outlets, they also sell the cappings and jointers... There's a tanks maker/LFS up

here who uses the corner pieces on his tanks. TBH, I really don't like the look of them, y'know, and it's actually one of the reasons I'm

making my own tank. Just couldn't find the right size and look anywhere.

I hear you on the bond strength, though, and I'm actually worried what will happen regardless of colour or brand of Silicone used. I'll be

putting the whole thing together with tape, using spacers so the silicone can get right into the joint. I'll then run a second bead inside the

tank-corners to provide (I hope) extra grip. I've read that anything up to about 30gal (120L) should be strong enough thru the joints with

regular (or black??) silicone, and no need for bracing. My proj will run out to about 24gal (90L), so I'm hoping for the best.

Stay tuned for a pictorial DIY thread!! :)

...oh, and thanks everyone for the input. :thumbs:

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Ok i might be to late but dont use stikaflex. You can use (stikasik) im not sure if ive spelt it right.

But you would have to flush the tank out very well.

Or there is stuff you can get from Bradfast thats made for tanks and it comes in clear white and black its not cheap.

I dont know if you have one in cairns?

Heres the townville number 47747688

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Michael, yeah, a little late mate, but not to worry, I didn't use Sikaflex (the one you were talking about, I think, is Silastic).

I ended up using the Bostik Glazing silicone, as recommended by Canfeleq. I haven't done a leak test, yet, but it seems like

the goods...although, I should say, if there were any leaks, it'd be more a testament to my (lack of) silicone skills, than the

quality of the product. I have the tank together, now, looks pretty sweet with the black rimming...I'll put up some progress

pics in my other thread tomorrow...

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