Reef Safe Caulking

[Oscar]

I have to make a minor repair on one of my pumps. Is all water proof caulking, say for bath tubs, safe for use in a reef tank?

[tim the toolman]

Definitely not. Most bathroom silicones will have a mold and mildew resistance and therefore leech chemicals into the water for quite a long time. Many on here swear by GE II silicone available in black and clear. I personally have used the home hardware clear silicone which is quite fairly priced and actually says safe for aquariums right on the front in large letters. I'm sure others on here will chime in with alternatives as well. Good luck

[intarsiabox]

No, a lot have anti-bacterial agents in them as well as mold/mildew inhibators.

[mseepman]

Grant,

Unfortunately, where you live you are going to struggle to find what you want. You should head to Kelowna and try either Pet City or (UGH) Total Pet. The latter being total rip off artists who spend more time killing all the fish they have than caring for them. I don't recommend you look at the fish while there, you may get sick (at heart at least).

[Mrfish55]

GE rtv103 (black) or rtv108 (clear) available at Grainger. Any product listed as kitchen or bath usually has mould inhibitors and will cause issues in aquarium applications.

[Oscar]

Thanks for the quick responses. I will see if the local home hardware has a small tube of the aquarium safe product.

[monocus]

i use silicone 1.i think silicone 2 has antibacterial in it

[bkelly]

dont use GE 11, i lost all my SPS last fall from it some have others the new formula has inhibitors thats told to me from the GE rep.

[Realshow]

ge 1 & 11 both state on the back of the tubes in the disclaimer not to be used under the water line or in aquariums . i have bee looking myself but will be googling it in a minute as everything I've seen at home depot is not compatible.

[tim the toolman]

I can state definitely that the home hardware product is safe as I have made 2 separate aquariums with it and had no issues with die off or leaking. This is also nice because most small towns have a HH. My current sump is also built with this product as well as a sump I made with a friend. His has been running for a year and a half and mine has been about 8 mnths.

[Realshow]

sweet i will be checking out H H tomorrow.
sorry for jumping in on your thread

[toxic111]

Again the HH stuff is fine. Got a sump I made with it going on 2+ years

[monocus]

i've made a 40 gal,2 sumps,3 banger breeders,and a 30 gal breeder with silicone 1 and no problems.it's when i mistakenly used silicone 2 that i lost most of my aptasia