Sealing acrylic to glass, and tinted glass?

Myka · #1 04-26-2008, 05:45 PM

Can you use tinted glass for tanks?

Is there any way to "seal" acrylic to glass? It doesn't have to be water proof, but will have to stay in place.

I want to put a divider in a tank that you can't see through. It will have a bulkhead in it so water can flow from on side to the other as the sump return will be in one side and the overflow will be in the other. Would I be best off using dark tinted glass, or black acrylic?

justinl · #2 04-26-2008, 05:52 PM

I think silicone would work well enough to stick acrylic to glass although it wouldn't be an ideal bond. Just make sure you dont put too much pressure on the piece, like leaning on it or something.

Myka · #3 04-26-2008, 06:16 PM

Ya, I know silicone won't work if you are holding a lot of pressure or need a waterproof seal, but I was thinking that it should do the trick in this case. I know I've seen a few acrylic internal overflow boxes attached to glass with silicone, and it worked well enough in that case from what I heard. Thanks for your input!

Brent F · #4 04-26-2008, 06:22 PM

I just bought a used tank that has a glass divider in it for strength and a sheet of black acrilic glued on the face of the glass (sandwiched). Gives both a water tight partition and a partition you can't see through.

Here's a picture

rocketlily · #5 04-27-2008, 02:10 AM

My new tank has come with black acrylic attached to the glass divider for the overflow box. Looks like there might be silicone around all the edges.

Myka · #6 04-27-2008, 02:14 AM

Brent, that's a different idea. There must be some air bubbles between the panes though, no?

I think I'm just going to silicone some black acrylic in there...even though I despise acrylic.

Alberta-newb · #7 04-27-2008, 02:22 AM

The 32 gal I bought used from my LFS (for my sump) had a divider in the center made of smoked glass so I'm guessing it wasn't a problem. He also had the dividers installed with aquarium safe black silicone..a very clean look.

Brent F · #8 04-27-2008, 02:25 AM

You should be able to push it tight against the glass so there are few air bubbles. Once the tank is filled any gap would fill with water. It looks like the entire back surface of the acrylic is coated with an adhesive.

I thought this was a great idea for how the tank was originally setup. I want to use it as a sump so now have to figure out how to attach glass baffles to the acrylic.

I'm putting a display refugium in the sump and will probably use the same technique to line it so that you can't see into the skimmer section.

Brent F · #9 04-27-2008, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alberta-newb

The 32 gal I bought used from my LFS (for my sump) had a divider in the center made of smoked glass so I'm guessing it wasn't a problem. He also had the dividers installed with aquarium safe black silicone..a very clean look.

That reminded me, my uncle is a window glazer and has used the tinted glass from office towers for the back and bottom glass on tanks he has built.