Jasonanatal's 60 gallon Custom Low Iron Glass Rimless Aquarium.

[Jasonanatal]

Hello everyone, I have ran into some limitation with my current Nano Aquarium and have pondered back and forth with the idea of construction my own personal Low Iron Glass Rimless Aquarium. However, there is one hurdle which must be overcome first and that is locating a "Aquarium Safe" Silicone. I have been searching online and getting information that is either conflicting or vague at best as to what Silicone is "Aquarium Safe" and can it be purchased in larger size to reduce overall cost. I have come across the AGA "Aquarium Safe" Silicone but the largest tube it come in is 10.3 ounces for an average of $10.00. I peronsally believe that I'm going to require a large amount of "Aquarium Safe" Silicone since I'm planning on constructing a Cube Aquarium with the dimensions of 24" Height x 24" Width x 24" Depth. I'll also be using 0.25" Thick Low Iron aka Starphire Glass. Allowing me to create a nearly 60 gallon Cube Rimless Aquarium. I'm going to be taking a trip to some local Aquariums and Home Improvement store so that I can compare the ingrediants of the AGA "Aquarium Safe" Silicone to that of what Home Depot stocks. Something that I should look out for are Silicone with Any anti-mildew chemicals. Any suggestions or information on this would be greatly appreciated. Personally I'm hoping to located the Black Silicone for asthestics.

 

[tosiek]

Jason, with your dimensions i would go 3/8" glass for a rimless. 1/4" is pushing it for a rimless. If you went 5/16" would be better than 1/4". Thicker the better for Rimless tanks and the corner looks alot better when you go thicker (overbuilding is always better than underbuilding). Less of a corner bead as the silicone between the glass becomes more than enough. Also i have some tubes of the aquarium safe GE stuff in clear and i think a tube of the black or two. Save you the headaches of the aquarium safe brands like AGA or perfecto who have crappy quality coming out of the tube. If its not a bunch of oil coming out of the tank its curdled. I know for a fact home depot does not carry the old batches of the GE silicone which were aquarium same And most of the stores around don't carry the large tubes of AGA/perfecto stuff if they even have any thats not far past expired.

And remember starfire has a front and back. When made they overbake the glass to bring more of the iron/impurities to the surface which is scraped off/caked then removed. It still leaves a metallic surface on one side which if put on the inside when siliconing will sometimes give you bubbles on the metallic side when the glass bows/bends due to water pressure. Won't really matter unless you go over 3 foot spans but still a good thing to know.

 

[pecan2phat]

As per tosiek mentioned, make sure you distinguish the "wet side" vs the "dry side" on the LI glass.
Both my glass cages tank are assembled incorrectly and after about 1 to 1.5 yrs, the glass starts to show pitting.

 

[tosiek]

yeah its sad that places like GlassCages mess that up. but then again their tanks are sloppy for what your paying.

 

[Jasonanatal]

Jason, with your dimensions i would go 3/8" glass for a rimless. 1/4" is pushing it for a rimless. If you went 5/16" would be better than 1/4". Thicker the better for Rimless tanks and the corner looks alot better when you go thicker (overbuilding is always better than underbuilding). Less of a corner bead as the silicone between the glass becomes more than enough. Also i have some tubes of the aquarium safe GE stuff in clear and i think a tube of the black or two. Save you the headaches of the aquarium safe brands like AGA or perfecto who have crappy quality coming out of the tube. If its not a bunch of oil coming out of the tank its curdled. I know for a fact home depot does not carry the old batches of the GE silicone which were aquarium same And most of the stores around don't carry the large tubes of AGA/perfecto stuff if they even have any thats not far past expired.

And remember starfire has a front and back. When made they overbake the glass to bring more of the iron/impurities to the surface which is scraped off/caked then removed. It still leaves a metallic surface on one side which if put on the inside when siliconing will sometimes give you bubbles on the metallic side when the glass bows/bends due to water pressure. Won't really matter unless you go over 3 foot spans but still a good thing to know.

Tosiek, that is great information to know! Is their a particular distinguishing number on the GE Silicone? Can it be purchased from GE directly or are their online retailers that this can be purchased from? If not is their a particular brand that can act as a substitution without sacrificing quality or having chemicals leach into the Aquarium water? As for the glass thickness I'm going to go with the thicker. I was assuming that 0.25" thickness would be sufficient but I'm goind to go with your recomendation of 3/8" thickness but since more is better in this situation I'm going to consider 0.5" thickness. Thank you for the informative information.

 

[OctaviousMonk]

"GE Silicone I" and only number "I" is aquarium safe. You can get it by the case at Home Depot. All the other GE silicones have antimildew ingredients that are not reef safe.

 

[tosiek]

home depot only sells the batches with the stuff in it. =0) don;t buy it from home depot.

 

[Jasonanatal]

"GE Silicone I" and only number "I" is aquarium safe. You can get it by the case at Home Depot. All the other GE silicones have antimildew ingredients that are not reef safe.

OctaviousMonk, thank you for the information. I will check home depot this weekend to see what their prices are.

 

[Wes]

if it has an asterisk by the one don't use it...

also FYI. AGA sells aquarium silicone in bigger sizes than u mentioned. I have AGA aquarium silicone that fits into a standard caulking gun.

 

[Sean]

I have 4 of the AGA 10.3oz aquarium silicone if you're interested

$10 each 2 for $15
they fit into standard caulking guns

 

[OctaviousMonk]

Yeah make sure it doesn't have the * because that coincides to the message that it has the antimildew formula

 

[Jasonanatal]

Reply to Wes.

if it has an asterisk by the one don't use it...

also FYI. AGA sells aquarium silicone in bigger sizes than u mentioned. I have AGA aquarium silicone that fits into a standard caulking gun.

Wes, thank you for the information.

 

[Jasonanatal]

Reply to Sean.

I have 4 of the AGA 10.3oz aquarium silicone if you're interested

$10 each 2 for $15
they fit into standard caulking guns

I'm not sure yet if I'm going through with the project until I can verify all the information and the associated cost of the supplies. But I will let you know if AGA Silicone is the way I will go. Thank you for the pricing.

 

[Jasonanatal]

Reply to Octaviousmonk.

Yeah make sure it doesn't have the * because that coincides to the message that it has the antimildew formula

Octaviousmonk, thank you for the information. I will be sure to keep an eye out for it.

 

[cali_reef]

I would not bother with low iron for a 3/8" thick glass tank, it does not make that much difference.