Glue for securing acrylic baffles in sump?

[bizzmoneyb]

Does anyone know of a good safe acrylic glue that I could purchase at say a local hardware store.. home depot, lowes etc? I see tons at Lowes but im not sure which would be safe in an aquarium (which chemicals to avoid).
Im building a sump out of a 20 gal glass tank with acrylic baffles. Id planned on just siliconing them in, but a friend of mine said he tried the same thing but the water pressure just pulled the baffles off, I guess because silicone doesnt really bond with acrylic. So i'd like to get a glue just to hold the baffles in place then silicone overtop of everything so its nice sturdy and water tight. Ive heard of using Weld On.. can this be found easily in a common hardware store or is a speciality hard to find item? And is that safe for water aquarium use?
Thanks for any help.

 

[unleashed]

well the plan is sound... unfortunately the tank wont be..
you cant combine acrylic baffles to a glass tank... because the acrylic bows and bends under stress and pressure.. but the glass doesn't..(i found this out the hard way).. due to the water shifting the baffles will not be secure and the stress is then pushed to the glass which could ( and did mine) crack the tank..now you can buy glass cut to your specifics then silicone them in yourself.saving money.or draw up a plan of what you want and have it built for you by a pro.. I have had this done.

 

[flyingfish81]

Originally Posted by BizzMoneyB
http:///forum/post/2832589
Does anyone know of a good safe acrylic glue that I could purchase at say a local hardware store.. home depot, lowes etc? I see tons at Lowes but im not sure which would be safe in an aquarium (which chemicals to avoid).
Im building a sump out of a 20 gal glass tank with acrylic baffles. Id planned on just siliconing them in, but a friend of mine said he tried the same thing but the water pressure just pulled the baffles off, I guess because silicone doesnt really bond with acrylic. So i'd like to get a glue just to hold the baffles in place then silicone overtop of everything so its nice sturdy and water tight. Ive heard of using Weld On.. can this be found easily in a common hardware store or is a speciality hard to find item? And is that safe for water aquarium use?
Thanks for any help.

I was looking around at the local hardware stores and couldnt find Weld On at all, But if you Google it. But you may have to pay alittle bit more for it depending on your state laws.

 

[stanlalee]

like stated there is really nothing to mate acrylic to glass but I have siliconed baffles to glass. the idea is to silicon THICK on each side of the baffle with emphasis on the glass. this way the actual baffle isn't bonded that great to the glass but with the thick silicon beading on each side of the baffle (including top and bottom if neccessary it cant move because the silicon is firmly bonded to the glass all around it. If you really force it you can work the baffle out but just normal water pressure wont do it.
If you try to silicon a neat pretty thin bead it wont work. I'm talking thick and ugly beads

 

[mustangcaleb]

i just moved to a new house, and wanted to change my setup alittle and get my new skimmer going. so i started my sump build before my internet at the new house was hooked up and i could read this. but i just siliconed some acrylic baffles into a 30g all glass tank i bought just for it. im hoping ill be alright bc ive already done all the work, but i went to the LFS and bought some all glass aquarium brand silicone. its made specifically for this use, but it doesnt mention anything about what kind of paneling is needed. im just hoping with the tank being so small, there wont be enough water to put out enough force to "bow" the acrylic. i got the acrylic from home depot, and they had it in .093" and .220" thickness so i got the .220". i dont forsee this acrylic bowing, but im by no means an expert. also, wouldnt it cut down on some of the "stress" if the water levels in all the sections stayed close to the same depth? my display is only 25g and the sump is 30g, so i was planning on only running a skimmer and a return section, no fuge at the moment.

 

[snakeblitz33]

my gosh, do you really have to have that much silicone to hold the baffles in place?!?!
I just put a small bead down it and then run my finger up it to smooth it out - works great. I usually put a little extra silicone on the backs of the baffles though.. extra strength because of the water flow.

 

[mustangcaleb]

Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33
http:///forum/post/2850043
my gosh, do you really have to have that much silicone to hold the baffles in place?!?!

lol i was thinking the same thing, that looks like it took like 3 tubes of silicone per divider. i did a clean, smaller bead on both sides, but since seeing this thread i went back and put 2 more layers on the back of the dividers. im hoping to test it tonight or tomorrow, cant wait to see what a mesh modded asm g2 with do to a nasty little 25g

 

[snakeblitz33]

uhh, well... Stanlalee, you know a 240 gallon aquarium, ... it's mainly held together by silicone. The thicker the silicone, the less able it is to dry properly while setting.
just my 0.02$

 

[snakeblitz33]

besides, all the silicone does is create a waterproof barrier for the water flow as well as actually holding the baffles in place.

 

[stanlalee]

leave me alone that was my first attempt at siliconing

its held for three years and counting besides thats a small neat bead, its the use of white silicon giving you the illusion of thick unsightly beads.

 

[rackmsukr]

I have a 55 gal glass aquarium that I use for my sump/fuge. It has a total of 4 .25" acrylic dividers. 3 are used as baffles and the other one is used to secton off the fuge. I used GE silicone I and have had no problems at all. I laid it on there pretty heavy on both sides of each baffle and so far everything is holding together just fine. Had this setup in place for 8 months now. I suppose if you wanted some added support you could add some thick super glue or epoxy but in my experience it wasn't necessary

 

[natclanwy]

There is no reason you can't use acrylic baffles in a glass tank, there isn't an adhesive that I know of that will bond acylic with glass but silicone does a pretty good job. Like was already said you need to have a good bead on each side of the baffle to hold it in place if you have a bead of 1/4"- 3/8" wide and thick on each side you won't have any issues. You also need to make sure your baffles are not too thin, if they are too thin they will bow in the center and pull the baffles away from the wall causing them to fail. 3/16" acrylic works well for baffles up to about 12" tall, taller than that you could put a support between the two baffles to strengthen the baffels.
Just be sure you use 100% silicone with no antifungal additives.

 

[mboswell1982]

ok, can someone walk me through building a sump? im gonna be making it outta a 20g long tank, when i put the baffles in place, do i put them up to the water line? or do i want water flowing over them, or what? LOL