Reef Discussion

[suta42]

good morning all,

As per title, which adhesive can I use in an empty tank that will permanently fix LR to glass, without risk of toppling once the tank has water.

Thanks for your input,
Angie

 

[Wrangy]

Morning Angie,
The main thing is having something that will bond with the glass so silicone is the thing that jumps to mind for me, as for a glue or gel based adhesive I would have no idea. I'm not sure how much you'd be able to trust their bond with glass long term. From a quick search it seems that others go the silicone route though.
HTH

 

[Azfish]

One problem with using silocone on rocks is the bond isnt all that great. If the rock had a bit of weight in it, i think the rock/silo will peel from the glass...I guess it depends on the weight of the rock. Rubble probably wouldnt have this concern.

I would look at putting glass shelves in, then put the rock on the shelves. Another method I looked into when I was wanting to do this very same thing was neo magnets coated in epoxy; drill a hole in the rock, place magnet, seal it up and attach to the glass...hmmm I may look into this again ... should be simple enough to use a belt sander to make one side of the rock pretty flat, pop the mags in and see if it works

 

[suta42]

Morning Angie,
....silicone is the thing that jumps to mind for me, as for a glue or gel based adhesive I would have no idea. I'm not sure how much you'd be able to trust their bond with glass long term.
HTH

Yeah that's what I thought, too, Dom. :rolleyes

One problem with using silocone on rocks is the bond isnt all that great. If the rock had a bit of weight in it, i think the rock/silo will peel from the glass...I guess it depends on the weight of the rock.

It'd weigh at least a few kilos. I'm concerned that over time the rock / silicone seam could be undermined. The resulting cascade could crack the bottom of the tank. Worst case scenario but Murphy's Law seems to work overtime in reefing.

I would look at putting glass shelves in, then put the rock on the shelves. Another method I looked into when I was wanting to do this very same thing was neo magnets coated in epoxy; drill a hole in the rock, place magnet, seal it up and attach to the glass...hmmm I may look into this again ... should be simple enough to use a belt sander to make one side of the rock pretty flat, pop the mags in and see if it works

I'd like to cement a narrow wedge of LR to the bottom of the tank, without touching the tank walls. The magnet idea is good for the walls, but not viable in this situation. The actual piece originated from a dead flat tabling acro that has a trunk like bottom. Guessing a few square inches of contact are needed but, if it gives way, it will definitely fall to one side. Can the trunk be drilled so that a thick piece of glass rod or similar be placed in there? That way what I've really got is glass to glass bond, and finally some glass to LR.

Hope that makes sense!!!

Angie

 

[Wrangy]

I'd like to cement a narrow wedge of LR to the bottom of the tank, without touching the tank walls. The magnet idea is good for the walls, but not viable in this situation. The actual piece originated from a dead flat tabling acro that has a trunk like bottom. Guessing a few square inches of contact are needed but, if it gives way, it will definitely fall to one side. Can the trunk be drilled so that a thick piece of glass rod or similar be placed in there? That way what I've really got is glass to glass bond, and finally some glass to LR.

Hope that makes sense!!!

Angie

Could you drill and make a small acrylic/pvc support rather than attach it directly to the glass? That'll give to you the most stability at least and you could attach the base of the entire structure down. Also is there going to be sand as you could create a small H-shape for the base to add support and hide it under the sand. Does that make sense? lol
I don't think a single rod of glass will offer enough surface area to allow for a strong bond, a glass rod would also snap easily enough if someone in the tank tried hard enough lol

 

[suta42]

Thanks Dom. Yeah, not sure about sand so I think I'll shelve the idea for now.


Angie