Can you silicone dry rock to glass?

Weasel1960

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Hi. I am still doing my homework, planning my tank, and probably asking some really dumb newbie questions but would rather ask now than regret not asking later.

Right now I am thinking of doing a 6 foot tank and dividing it with a glass panel. Main display on one side and sea horses on the other. From a front view I would like to make that divider disappear from view. I am considering matching my rock aquascape on both sides, possibly some sort of arch, so that it looks like all one aquascape from the front.

Can I silicone pieces of rock to the glass? I don’t think it would be an issue as long as it is well supported. I would likely use flat base rock so it sits on the glass flush and doesn’t rock. It may be a bit harder to keep clean around the structure. Any other Concerns about doing this?

Thanks for your thoughts.
 

John08007

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I really liked this idea till I thought about it. Almost daily my glass gets a film of algae on it and needs to be cleaned. Whats your plan to keep it clean?
 
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Weasel1960

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By any means necessary weather it be a scrubber on a stick, or rolling up my sleeve. I am thinking of 1/4 inch smoked or black glass with clear silicone for holding to the tank walls. The dark glass should help keep the animals safe and keep lighting from overlapping too much.

Adding a powerhead on each side directed on the dividing wall should help some.
 

John08007

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Oh ok, I assumed clear glass. Thinking that you wanted it to disappear in the water but still provide a partition between the 2 sides.

I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to silicone rock onto the glass. You may want to put the tank on the end so that gravity is not fighting you till it dries. Something I used that I think helped was 1/2" plexi rods, I cut them into 3-4" long pieces and used them as pins to hold the rock together. I used a 1/2 masonry bit to drill holes into the rock.
 

jasonsingh

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I would not recommend. It's for sealing glass and not used for cementing. Try the recommended live rock cement instead.
 

Hugh Mann

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I don't see why it wouldn't work, but there's likely better materials to use. My one suggestion would be using frosted glass, or scratch it up with sandpaper to roughen the surface to ensure a solid adhesion.
 
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Weasel1960

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Oh ok, I assumed clear glass. Thinking that you wanted it to disappear in the water but still provide a partition between the 2 sides.

I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to silicone rock onto the glass. You may want to put the tank on the end so that gravity is not fighting you till it dries. Something I used that I think helped was 1/2" plexi rods, I cut them into 3-4" long pieces and used them as pins to hold the rock together. I used a 1/2 masonry bit to drill holes into the rock.
Thanks for the info. I did think about clear glass but my concern was the fish swimming into it. It’s less of a see thru issue since the location of the tank is in a room corner anyway. Just thinking about trying to minimize seeing the line of glass and silicone by drawing your eye to something else. I want to use as few rods as possible but agree that probably a good idea in this application if I go with the arch.
 
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Weasel1960

Weasel1960

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I don't see why it wouldn't work, but there's likely better materials to use. My one suggestion would be using frosted glass, or scratch it up with sandpaper to roughen the surface to ensure a solid adhesion.
Thanks frosted glass would be another good idea for protecting the fish also
 
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Weasel1960

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I would not recommend. It's for sealing glass and not used for cementing. Try the recommended live rock cement instead.
Thanks for the suggestion. Is that like the super glue ? How difficult would it be to remove later
 

Udest

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Silicone sealant can be removed with alcohol so I'd be careful where you put it
 

Shanel

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Hi. I am still doing my homework, planning my tank, and probably asking some really dumb newbie questions but would rather ask now than regret not asking later.

Right now I am thinking of doing a 6 foot tank and dividing it with a glass panel. Main display on one side and sea horses on the other. From a front view I would like to make that divider disappear from view. I am considering matching my rock aquascape on both sides, possibly some sort of arch, so that it looks like all one aquascape from the front.

Can I silicone pieces of rock to the glass? I don’t think it would be an issue as long as it is well supported. I would likely use flat base rock so it sits on the glass flush and doesn’t rock. It may be a bit harder to keep clean around the structure. Any other Concerns about doing this?

Thanks for your thoughts.
I have done this many times. Just make sure to use flat rock and clean both surfaces really well. When you glue them it will take a lot of silicone. Just fill in all the holes and crevices with silicone before putting silicone on the flat part of the rock. Don't skimp out. It will take about 2 weeks to fully cure and you will need to support any rocks that are not supported on the bottom while the silicone dries. After that it will hang on its own. This is my back wall of the tank I just built.

20201016_104432.jpg
 

Tango99

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Very impressive. How many pounds of rock do you have in your tank?


I have done this many times. Just make sure to use flat rock and clean both surfaces really well. When you glue them it will take a lot of silicone. Just fill in all the holes and crevices with silicone before putting silicone on the flat part of the rock. Don't skimp out. It will take about 2 weeks to fully cure and you will need to support any rocks that are not supported on the bottom while the silicone dries. After that it will hang on its own. This is my back wall of the tank I just built.

20201016_104432.jpg
 

Shanel

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Very impressive. How many pounds of rock do you have in your tank?
I have 95lb of flat marco rock on the back wall and skimmer box. The two pieces in front are made with 160lb of natures ocean base rock cemented together with hydraulic concrete. Used 6 caulking guns of silicone and 8 tubes of instant ocean epoxy sticks. Epoxy to fill cracks between rocks and silicone to hold them in place. I put sand over the epoxy before it dried so it wouldn't stand out so much.
 
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Weasel1960

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Thanks for the info, very helpful. I won’t be doing something quite that massive so hopefully cure time will be shorter. I am not in any rush doing this build so will make sure it’s ready.
 

Shanel

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Just FYI. Going by the recommended amount of rock on the website for the area I was covering. The calculations came out to 50lbs. As you can see that wasn't nearly enough. LOL
 

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