Aquarium safe silicone

[Deadphish1965]

Is aquarium safe silicone still the best option to use in a grow box?

 

[Snook]

HomeDepot/Lowes : GOOP but not sure if its sillycone, its gluey but have been using it in my grows for years.

 

[queequeg152]

there is no universal sealant... pic sealants based on what you are trying to seal.

sillicone is for glass and ceramics.

urethanes/STPE for almost everything else imho. acrylic/latex caulks are a joke imo.
if you are trying to seal the living shit out of something get a 2 part urethane.

single part urethanes WILL outgas for a few weeks. it stinks, but its just solvent, nothing crazy like terepthalates. or what ever kills plants from what i know. might be worth looking into.

 

[Granger2]

I've used Silicone caulk for years in my sealed room. Label says it off gasses ammonia and methanol [methyl alcohol]. I don't think there's much of either, and after 48 hrs or less, that's it. Home Depot has it in black which I like for light proofing. Works pretty well also for glue. Good luck. -granger

 

[queequeg152]

I've used Silicone caulk for years in my sealed room. Label says it off gasses ammonia and methanol [methyl alcohol]. I don't think there's much of either, and after 48 hrs or less, that's it. Home Depot has it in black which I like for light proofing. Works pretty well also for glue. Good luck. -granger

try a real urethane sealant... tremco vulkem or sikaflex 1a next time.

silicone is not a good resiliant material... its elongation is poor, and its lifespan is very poor.

urethanes tend to be around 50% or more elongation before they fail, and tend to last 5-10 years in the worst conditions with lots of movement... provided you clean and prime properly and have a good debonder or backing rod...

trust me on this, ive fired like 50 tubes of caulk and a few tubs of mastic and like 4 28 ounce foam gun cans air sealing my home...

use enerfoam for for large gaps greater than 1/4" that do not move.

for all pvc gaps use a proper polyolefin tape like wigluv. foam will stick to pvc, not not that well. you can foam and tape, but im my experiance foams even enerfoam can let go of pvc.

for gaps larger than 1/4" that dont move( rigid pipe penetrations etc.) use a backing material like rockwool insulation or felt fabric, and foam onto that.

use urethanes for any gaps that moves that you can clean with a brush and rag or that you can apply selant primer to.

use latex/acrlic for anythign thats like... just a crack not a gap. put down a 1/4" bead and smash it into the crack with your finger or a bondo spreader. i always buy the black cheap acrylic/latex caulks because the black pigmentation usually shrinks less.

you can use fibered mastics too... ive done it, but its hard to reccomend unless you have a bulk/sausage gun like i do... because you would have to buy the tiny 10oz cartriges. these just cost way to much imo. 10 bucks a tube? seriously fuck off

 

[Granger2]

What I've been using works fine for the jobs I've got without worries about out gassing. -granger