Help with building refuguium

T

thedocisin

Premium Member
[Finally started on my drop in refugium. Couple of questions. HD and Lowes don't carry any cement for bonding acrylic. Can I use silicone or if not, where can I buy the proper cement. Also, How do you keep the edges tight and lined up while the cement dries. I can't figure out how to line up all for sides and the bottom at once and keep them together long enough to bond. Clamps? Mark]
 
[I have built a few things from acrylic with decent results. Silicone will not work on acrylic as it will not bond. Weld-on is what I have used in the past and it is available locally from Regal Plastics on 820. I have used Weld-on #4 for the fabrication itself anf Weld-on #16 for added strength and touch up. Hope that helps.]
 
[Silicone is not an option whatsoever. It is only effective with glass.

Weld-On #4 and #16 can be purchased from Regal Plastics or Allied Plastics. #4 will need the "needletip applicator bottle", and you'll need a glass turkey baster to get the stuff out of the can and into that tiny bottle. #16 needs a fine nozzle to control the flow, available at most hobby shops. If you don't use the nozzle, it will run out in a thick glob, and weaken your project. It should not be used like caulk, but rather as a fine bead in a seam for patching when #4 didn't work out.

Go to Reef Central's "DIY forum" and look for a thread by Zephrant called "Pins Method". That will teach you how to align and bond pieces together. Tape is unnecessary and impractical in my opinion.

You will glue all the walls and baffles together first and once cured, then you glue on the base. And after that is cured, then you glue on the top. Finally you route all the edges to make a clean looking sump and/or refugium.

It only takes a minute or two for a piece to stay in place, and I use Speed Squares as spare hands to hold pieces up vertically while the glue takes hold.

There is more infomation on my site about construction and routing on this page:
http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html]
 
[Not to take thedocisin thread, but if I wanted to put acrylic baffles in a glass tank to make a sump/refuguium and a return section (in the middle) how would I go about doing this. Would I use weld-on #4 or #16? Or would I use something else?

Thank you for the help.

Kevin Veneman]



Edited By vman181 on 1084694195
 
[Same thing I did. Silicone does bond to acrylic, just not good enough to hold a tank together under pressure for any length of time.

After the silicone cured, you would need a truck to pull out the acrylic baffles in my sump (you couldn't do it by hand anyhow). Water tight and very sturdy. There isn't any significant water pressure on them, so they'll probably hold forever.]
 
[I hate to disagree with experience, but if you really want the glass sump to hold its baffles permanently, use glass baffles. Silicone bonds to glass, and merely acts as a wedge for acrylic. Acrylic absorbs liquid and swells and bends, where glass does not.

If you buy some glass at a glass shop, they can cut it to the exact size you need. Don't use windowpane glass, because it is too thin and brittle. Be sure to have them polish the edges, so it won't be sharp. After all, you will be reaching into your sump from time to time and you don't want to get hurt!

If you want to bond acrylic to glass, you'd need Weld-On #40 (2 part mixture). A guy on Reef Central did a test with a number of products, and let them cure. Then he did the "brick test" to see how many bricks he could stand on the acrylic piece before it pulled away from the glass. I think he ended up with 9 bricks on the Weld-On #40 piece. :)]
 
[I tried to use silicone to put acrylic baffles in a glass tank, didn't work very well most fell out or came out very easy with my hands. I've heard others have more success not sure what the differences are.]
 
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