silcone sealant

[fhqwhgads]

so i got a bottle of silcone sealant, and it says 100% silicone sealant clear. the brand is GE and its the silicone II window & door type. i found out it said not for use in aquariums on the label, i thought it would be safe because its 100%. is it?

[Sponsors]

[DarkCobra]

It is not. The reason it says that is because it contains a toxic mildewcide that will leach out into your aquarium water. Most silicones contain it.

I've heard that certain silicones made for use around food preparation areas won't have the mildewcide, but can't remember names. Maybe someone here knows or you can find it with a forum/web search. Otherwise, it's best to stick to a silicone expressly made for aquariums.

[Oqsy]

i'm pretty sure that GE Silicon I Window & Door is used by aquarists all the time, even though that label also advises against it. I think that silicone I uses acetic acid for curing, and silicon II uses acetone maybe? I've read all about it a while back when I was considering something similar to Scolley's Big Clear Kahuna. From what I gather, 100% Silicone with acetic acid *not* acetone is aquarium safe, but it seems to me that even the acetone would be fine once the silicone cured, because it would evaporate out just like acetic acid... the more I think and type, the less sure I am of anything. You should really pull up scolley's thread and do a search for silicone within the thread and read about his experience. he found that all 100% silicone are NOT equal, and that they are graded for certain applications, and that a line of GE silicone called "RTV" something was many many times stronger than any silicone you will find in wal-mart/home depot/lowe's/ace/etc., and even the "aquarium" silicone found in the lfs (although some are repackaged GE "RTV") hope this gets you headed down the path to information, even though I'm not quite offering enough tonight

Oqsy

[DarkCobra]

Found some solid info. Here's links to the original sites with relevant quotes.

From http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...921215031.html:

"G.E. Silicone I (not II) is aquarium safe. It used to be marked aquarium safe a while back,but has since been removed due to a contract with one of the name brands that is sold in Pet Stores for 5 times more. It is also marked "Windows and Doors ,100% Silicone, Clear."

From http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/mo.../msg00045.html:

"If you want to experiment with an inexpensive silicone sealant, try the
GE "Window & Door" sealer. There are *TWO* kinds, both GE brand: One
says "Silicone" on top - that's the good guy, the other says "Silicone
II" - stay away from it... One can not overemphasize YoHoHo's warning about "mildew resistant"
formulations. Years ago, GE used an arsenic compound for this purpose
(no wonder it killed fish!). Now they (and other manufacturers) are
hiding behind "trade secret" and give only a chemical registry number."

From http://www.wetwebmedia.com/aqrepfaq3.htm:

"Use only the silicon that specifically says on the package for aquarium use!!!! All the others have midewcides that will kill fish... GE Silicone I has been aquarium safe to date, but II is not."

And finally http://www.gpasi.org/mar02.pdf. In this link, someone actually e-mailed GE and asked them what's up:

The email response I got was:
“We always tell customers the same thing in regards to aquariums. What we tell them is that
we don't recommend any of our products for underwater submersion, but some aquarium
manufacturers choose to use our products anyway. The products they use most often are
RTV108 or IS808. These are industrial grade products. Our consumer grade (this means
they would be found at Home Depot or a local hardware store) offset to these industrial
grade products is GE012A (Window and Door Silicone I).
"Not for aquarium use" is on our cartridges for legal purposes. Silicone bonds can fail
underwater, especially on porous substrates (aquarium manufacturers use our products on
glass aquariums, glass is not porous).”
Another GE representative added:
“If you do use a silicone, make sure that you let the silicone cure for a full 7 days before you
introduce fish into your tank. I would not use the Silicone II in your aquarium.”

[Raphael]

I suggest stay on the safe side and use safe ones such as aqua mate.

[jamesbrokman10]

I can get aquarium grade silicone for $4.00 a tube or $635 for a 55 gallon drum, wholesale of course

[glass-gardens.com]

I've always used plain ol silicone of varying brands, just make sure it's 100% silicone with no additives to prevent mildew etc. If you look at the warranties on the supposedly "aquairum safe" stuff and compare it to the warranty on say GE's product, they're essentially the same as far as what they'll do in case of failure.

In other words, my GE tank fell apart, GE says silly wabbit, didn't you read the disclaimer about aquarium use, the "aquarium safe" stuff says sure we'll cover your loss, you paid $10.00 for the silicone, here's a check for $10.00.

Of course there's always that "you may have other legal rights not listed....." which basically means there's a lawyer smiling somewhere.

What I really want to find is the black adhesive Oceanic uses, I love the look.

[DarkCobra]

I have seen black silicone in only one place, it's sold in automotive stores for windshield replacement. I have no idea if it's safe or the same thing Oceanic sells though!

[DiabloCanine]

Black silicone:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/...tegory_id=2291

[fhqwhgads]

alright i guess ill have to get the other kind to be on the safe side