Looking for Aquarium Safe Silicon

[Flex26]

Hi All,

I've been doing some research on aquarium-safe silicon. I've found that I can get some silicon made by GE at the Home Depot or Lowe's.

Does anyone else have some recommendations for aquarium safe silicon?

Are there any harmful ingredients that I need to look out for?

I'm probably gonna pick up some silicon this weekend.

Thanks for your help.

[bigfoot150]

I was actually looking myself and from what I saw most of it actually said not for aquarium use or it was the wrong color.

[TurbineSurgeon]

Home Depot and Lowe's both sell GE Silicone II. It is suitable for aquariums. I know Home Depot (and probably Lowe's) sells DAP Aquarium Sealant. The main difference between the two products seems to be price. The DAP stuff costs about 3 times the price of the GE stuff.

The main thing to look for is that it is 100% Silicone, and does not contain fungicides, latex, or anything else.

[Flex26]

Originally posted by TurbineSurgeon
Home Depot and Lowe's both sell GE Silicone II. It is suitable for aquariums. I know Home Depot (and probably Lowe's) sells DAP Aquarium Sealant. The main difference between the two products seems to be price. The DAP stuff costs about 3 times the price of the GE stuff.

The main thing to look for is that it is 100% Silicone, and does not contain fungicides, latex, or anything else.

Thanks, TS. This is exactly what I was looking for.

[JWright]

If all else fails, your local petco (or other big-name pet store) should have some expensive "Aquarium Sealant" made by All-glass. Around here though, it's a lot more expensive than silicone from the hardware store.

[Clown_Loach_Kid]

Originally posted by Flex26
Hi All,

I've been doing some research on aquarium-safe silicon. I've found that I can get some silicon made by GE at the Home Depot or Lowe's.

Does anyone else have some recommendations for aquarium safe silicon?

Are there any harmful ingredients that I need to look out for?

I'm probably gonna pick up some silicon this weekend.

Thanks for your help.

If you go to Petco or Petsmart they always have aquarium silicon there. I have used it and nothing bad has happened.

[CoNMaN]

Yeah, just like those guys said, if it doesnt specifically say on it "aquarium safe" then it really isnt safe to use on your aquarium, I used to work in menards, and we dont (didn't) carry a single sillicon product that we should sell for use on an aquarium.

[bevans76]

I have had the worst time trying to find aquarium safe silicone. I've looked at the GE Silicone II that TurbineSurgeon suggested but it said "not for: aquariums" right on the back. GE Silicone I states it is not suitable for "surfaces that will exceed 400 degrees F, and food contact surfaces" but does not say anything about aquarium usage. Is the fact that it neglects to say if it is aquaruim safe good enough or does it specifically need to say "aquarium safe" like Conman says?

[TurbineSurgeon]

I repaired my 75 gallon tank (not just re-sealed; I took an end off and re-did the whole joint) with stuff I bought at Home Depot about 17 or 18 years ago. I don't remember the exact product I used, but I do remember that it came in a caulk gun type tube (I'm sure that vital piece of information was squeezed out when I had to remember where I parked my car, or some other inane thing like that).

If you don't feel safe using an unknown product, then by all means, don't use it. After all, the difference in price is only like $3 a tube (and a tube goes a long way).

[Lotus]

I read something somewhere about GE Silicone that used to say it was usable in aquariums, but people used it to build large ones, which then collapsed, as its tensile strenghth wasn't designed for that much pressure. After some lawsuits, GE took the wording off the silicone.

We use the All Glass brand for repairing tanks etc. We got a much better deal on it at Big Als than locally.