Adhesive suggestions requested

[swampdonkey]

Some months back I converted a 12"x48" tank into a sliding front vivarium. Lately I'm finding that all the plastic rails are starting to separate from the glass and from where they were adhered to themselves. Any thoughts on something w/ more holding power than your average Home Dumpo tube of silicone?

Thanks...

 

[Taliesin-DS]

Special aquarium sillicone, over here terarrium stores sell it.

 

[SirKristoff]

Scott, petco and petsmart sell the aquarium silicone.....
dont even bother trying to find it at walmart, we stopped carrying it there....
but i agree that it is your best bet...
btw how have you been man?

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Where is the seal breaking? Between the plastic rail and the silicone?
100% silicone vs aquarium silicone is just marketing. They are the same thing..

If the silicone is not sticking to the plastic well you can rough up the glue surface a bit with some sand paper. Also be sure to make sure all the glue surfaces are clean clean clean.. no finger prints or anything!

Another alternative is butyl rubber caulking. Very strong and sticky stuff

 

[swampdonkey]

Where is the seal breaking? Between the plastic rail and the silicone?

The silicone is parting both where it joins the plastic to plastic and plastic to glass. When I constructed it I tried to ensure no foreign substances were present on the glass and plastic, and used a cleaner for that purpose just prior to adding the silicone.

I'll check out the butyl rubber caulking. Perhaps between this and roughing up the surface a bit I can obtain a better seal so I'm not having to redo every 6-9 months.

 

[swords]

Swampy go to Home Depot's glass & plexi glass department and get "AMAZING GOOP" this stuff is excellent for gluing plastic and glass together. It bonds permanently rock hard and crystal clear, it comes in a tube like silicone but will bond ANYTHING to ANYTHING. It's what I put all the sliding fronts on my tanks with. Be warned it will not come off even with effort so be sure of placement before it dries! LOL

You can also buy E-6000, HOUSEHOLD GOOP and CRAFTER'S GOOP it's all the same stuff just marketed to different places under different names. Home Depot carries it As Amazing Goop, Walmart has the E-6000, Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics craft stores sell it as Household Goop and Crafter's Goop.

I suggest using masking tape to give you clean lines where you're gluing because Goop is slightly runnier than regular silicone. It also stinks a lot more so have ventilation or better work outside. It cures fully in 24 hours but will stink for a week.

If you haven't seen it, this tutorial of mine here shows Goop and how I use it: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123600

 

[swampdonkey]

Thanks swords. I'll check it out. If it adheres this well, it's what I need. Looking forward to the fumes too! Weeeeee....

 

[swords]

I first started using it when I was trying to glue an air hose into a bottlecap for a DIY CO2 reactor for my planted aquarium. Aquarium Silicone will not permanently adhere to a plastic drinking bottle lid but Goop will, and it's a lot cheaper than aquarium silicone which is nice.

 

[Taliesin-DS]

Goop doesnt seem to glue HDPE very well

 

[jafvortex93]

i will defenetely also recommend the using of the goop! its like less than 4 dollars for a pretty large sized tube.