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Neutral silicone good for aquarium?

parotet

parotet

Member
Joined
12 Oct 2013
Messages
1,693
Location
Valencia, Spain
Hi all

I just bought a neutral silicone (Quilosa Orbasil N16) which is translucide and apparently has no fungicides and solvents. Its says " contains: Aminopropiltrimetoxisilane and Butanona 2 Oxima". I've checked that both substances are not fungicides although seem quite dangerous if you swallow them 🙁 ... On the one hand, I have found no information about the degree of toxicity for fish (very confusing the information on the internet in that sense) and on the other hand some folks say that if the silicone has no fungicides and is well cured you won't have any problem. The tank is not really for fish but a vivarium for plants

Any idea?
Thanks
Jordi
 
Last edited:
Some/most neutral cure silicone is not recommended for bonding glass. Need to check.

Nothing wrong with acetoxy silicone, gives off acetic acid (vinegar) as it cures.

Aquarium silicone is generally acetoxy based.
 
NC10 said:
When in doubt, throw it out
Click to expand...

Yeah, that,s what I decided to do. Some lessons learnt just in case someone in the future has this problem:

1. Neutral and acetic silicones are both ok, the only difference comes in the curing process
2. Most brands say clearly that the stuff has fungicides, but not finding this do not mean that they don't have
3. Toxicity for aquatic animals do not come only from fungicides but from other chemical substances... See technical details of the product and REACH directive comments on it for environmental risks
4. Silicones that are not specific for aquarium may include fungicides as well as these chemical substances... But there are plenty of brands that can be used and do not say 'specific for aquarium'
5. Plenty of folk report on the internet using regular silicon without consequences. This can be due to chance (using a good one) or curing well or having low sensitive species or lack of disasters' reporting.

In conclusion, email someone from the company and check all this 🙂. You will learn a lot and you won't kill your fish

Jordi
 
parotet said:
I found this:
http://prolinehardware.ie/interface/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/N-16.pdf
Click to expand...
This doesn't mention being suitable for glass, this (based on figures eg elongation at break, this 400, glazing silicone 600 odd) is a building silicone meant for sealing gaps and is more solid than glazing silicone and therefore probably not suitable for aquarium glass use. Could use it to stick rocks etc in hardscape.

30 years or more ago (in a galaxy far far away....) people started replacing glaziers putty in steel framed tanks with this "new fangled" silicone thing. This of course had fungicide in and fish didn't appear to suffer.

I notice that some of the "sanitary" sealants which do have fungicide in state "not harmful to aquatic environment once cured" in their COSSH data sheets.

However, I would suggest just buy proper aquatic stuff and do it right first time.
 
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