Strong bond!

[thegrimreefer]

I don't know how many of you have seen my setup, with the 125 glass tank featuring external overflow boxes...

My re-design requires those overflow boxes be removed...

After all the care I took these past 16 months, careful not to bump them, that not too much weight was placed on them, everything, for fear that the method I used to bond the acrylic boxes to the glass tank might fail and the boxes would pop off...

I JUST now removed the first one... I tried smacking it off, prying it off, I finally had to chisel it off with a wood chisel and a mallet. Talk about nerve wracking! There is no way I could ever have knocked one loose by any "bumping into it" that wouldn't have required a trip to the hospital. Insane.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSC02245.jpg

[Soltaker]

Nice! Good to know that the method you used works THAT good! :biggthumpup:

Oh....I saw your new tank last week. :gay1: Can't wait to see it set up :bow:

[JnS]

good to hear you got them on there good :)

what size is the new tank?

[morty]

Yeah, even though silicone's glass/glass bond is a lot stronger than acrylic, I think people still underestimate how well it does glue acrylic to glass. I think if the acrylic has an unfinished edge it really helps. Part of the problem of acrylic/glass bonds sometimes being weak might be due to the acrylic expanding after exposure to water and this may put a shearing force on the bond. I think having the silicone thin but not too thin (<.5mm) sometimes helps with this.

[thegrimreefer]

There, got the other one off, too.

Now I'm just trying NOT to think about how long it took to plumb up all the stuff I just cut apart with my jigsaw!

The boxes weren't glued on with silicon rubber. That would not have worked this well. The were epoxied on and reinforced with Marine Goop. They are 1/2" acrylic.

The new display will be around 220 gallons, and the 125 is becoming the fuge/frag tank. Only two tanks and the sump this time, took out the 75 and the two 40BRs.

[morty]

Oh my bad -- but silicon seems to work ok too, esp for non critical things like acrylic baffles in a glass sump etc.

Good luck with the new setup! Sounds cool -