silicone turning yellow

That silicone is not marine safe and is deteriating and leaching god knows what into your tank. (not trying to sound like an arse)

 

Well I guess that'll be my next project, redoing my fuge. I see that CRL has aquarium silicone, is that what you would recommend? Also I know regular silicone takes about 24 to 48 hours to cure, is this so when building a refugium?

 

buy aquarium silicone thats made by an aquarium company so there is no doubt. I use all glass silicone, its marine safe and cures in 48hrs. Its good for like 30 yrs too.

 

There is all kinds of stuff thats not fish related that will work with aquariums, but always read the instructions and warnings.

 

My silicone on my sump also has a yellow buildup on it but i dont think its the silicone because it was made by specialized LFS who build sumps in house.

 

100% silicone is just that 100% silicone and there is nothing much different from the 3.99 caulk gun tube at a Lowe's then a 20.00 tube from a LFS.. Yellowing can be caused from different minerals in water to dies i food and also chlorophyll from refugium plants. Also U/V can effect it.. I never used the aquarium stuff myself and I have had some to get a opeaque color to it many times..Also blue to green from different meds and treatments .

 

Its not 100% silicone though and there is a difference between caulking and silicone. You can't just use any kind of silicone to build aquarium stuff with. You risk killing everything in there.

 

Thats why I said 100% silicone and if it is then its safe .. I have used every name I can think of since G.E came out with the stuff Dow DAP Hercules Co. Dupont and ones I can't recall . 100% silicone is just that.. Its not a latex Caulk.. Some Co's have found that if they say Aquarium safe then they can increase the profit . Aquarium people are a strange breed But I have never had any issues with using any that said 100% silicone..

 

I know people that use the G.E. kind and there is another kind that comes from home depot I cant think of the name. But I'd rather be safe then sorry, and its not like I am building an aquarium or anything. I just buy one of the 6oz tubes of it and that lasts a little while.

 

Well I agree with tangster that you dont have to buy the aquarium silicone because you can use other types of 100% silicone. When i was building my refugium/sump i did a lot of reading and one of the things that people said is not to buy the more expensive silicone from homedepot (GE II with mold inhibitor) because they added chemicals to protect against mildew and mold. But I also read that you can use the cheap GE I silicone just fine as long as it doesnt have mildew resistant chemicals.