How Long ?

[PhishPhreek]

I just siliconed 2 1/4" glass deviders in a 15g tank
Now I have 3 5g tanks
How long should I let the silicone cure before putting water back in ?

back to the fish room, I have 3 to put in a 20g long.

[fishboyt]

I let mine sit about 18-24 hours.

[jughead]

a week

[danielp]

I just siliconed 2 1/4" glass deviders in a 15g tank
Now I have 3 5g tanks
How long should I let the silicone cure before putting water back in ?

back to the fish room, I have 3 to put in a 20g long.

Hopefully you used an aquarium grade silicone. It can be found at Lowe's. Read the instructions it should spell out cure times.

You also need to let the vapors burn off.

[imagirlgeek]

We usually let ours sit between 24 and 48 hours.

[fshfrk]

I always wait 5 days.

[PhishPhreek]

if all else fails, read the directions

I have been using Star Brite marine silicone sealant and the mfr data claims it will cure in 24 hours. Still haven't found out if it will kill my fish but it meets fed spec TT-S-001543A & TT-S-00230C
same as GE Silicone 1


for other brand specs & cure times see

http://www.crlaurence.com/datasheets/pdfs/sealant.pdf

[CichlidFan]

I have always waited at least 72 hours before exposing any new reseal job to water.

CF

[Fire_chair]

I say if the fish can't get stuck, let 'er rip.

[billansor]

Hi and uh oh...

I looked up the Star Brite marine silicone sealant and wondered if its the type that was used in our boat that had a fungicide in it... The data on this does not indicate that this is the case.................. I think your going to be alright...

The reason we used this sealant in our boat was that it was so good not to rot under sun and water type conditions...

24 hours was the ideal curing time...

But

As was said Lowes has aquarium sealant but its not allowed under Dow Corning to sell it as such... But as long as its 100 proof silicone without any fungicide.. then its good to go....

Soooo any non bathroom or kitchen silicone glue sealant will work.....

I suppose Dow Corning (just my opinion) can make more money by selling aquarium sealant than advertising the other as okay for aquarium too..

Bill

[cichlid1409]

if its not a load bearing seal 24 hours is plenty of time.

[mark razmandi]

ive literally sealed things and used them within 2 hours and never had problems

[PhishPhreek]

I filled the center 5g partition of the 15g tripple tank and had no leaks so I filled up all 3 sections and put a dozen test fish in each section.

some of them looked bad off in only 15 minutes so I was really worried about the silicone but today, 20hrs later I have a 100% survival rate so I'm pretty sure the STAR BRITE silicone is fish friendly.

[Zebvance]

a week to be sure

[Jose]

It has been a little over 60 hours since I put silicone in my tank and it still stinks. Does that mean that it hasn't finished curing? I did use a thick coat because it was in a tight spot and I couldn't smooth it out good.