# Trick to accelerating silicone cure time?



## Demasoni17 (Mar 11, 2010)

I siliconed in a background on one of my 75 gallon tanks over 2 weeks ago. From what I've read on here you should generally wait at least a week before adding water or until the smell of acetic acid is gone.

Well, 2 weeks went by and the tank still smelled of acetic. I tried putting a box fan on top of the tank to get air flow going through the tank but that didn't seem to help. After doing some online research I learned that silicone cures faster in a warmer, humid environment. Thus the fan was most likely being counterproductive.

Last night I decided to boil some water and then set the pot in the tank with the toppers on so the whole tank would steam up. I repeated this process about 3 times last night and this morning I couldn't smell any acetic. I think I will do repeat the same process again tonight just to be sure.

Has anyone else tried this?


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## josmoloco (Aug 23, 2008)

Bah.... 24hours its safe, I have always waited 48 though...it will still smell a little, but is fine...fill it up and relax... opcorn:


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## SoDakJeep (Mar 21, 2009)

Totally agree I filled mine up within 24hrs. Glued it one afternoon and filled it the next. No ill effects and also have a few fry that are .5-1in and they are doing fine. Better to wait and be safe I guess but I really dont think it matters. The tube says its cure in 24hrs if that helps with a piece of mind.


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## johncl (Mar 10, 2010)

I wait 48hrs just to be sure but have never had a problem fill it up and stop worrying.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

The stuff I use says 5 to 7 days for aquarium use. how long it takes to cure really depends on the size of the bead. Thicker beads will need longer cure times. regardless, after 2 weeks you should be safe.


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## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

Background jobs can be very hard to cure apparently.
If you want more speed then add a heat lamp. from the back of the tank to heat up the silicone directly. I did that when i used ~2cm thick of silicone on a corner of a tank. With that heat lamp for 2 days, the smell of acetic acid was gone. I filled it up in 48 hrs and... I thought i was saving time by speeding it up and filling it up in 48 hours. Ended up i didn't dare put my intended fishes in that tank. I tested the water out with some fish which were going to the LFS for 3 days. After I felt comfortable that it is safe, i realized i have spent 2 days for it to cure and 3 days to test for the safety of the water. If i had let it cure for 5 days with heat lamp it would have taken just as long and i didn't have to risk any fish.


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## Demasoni17 (Mar 11, 2010)

One of the problems that I have encountered was when I started to piece together the background, I didn't make sure that they were flush against the back of the aquarium. Thus i have about 1/4" of space on the lower parts. In order to get the silicone to reach the back of the tank and the background I had to lay it on thick in some places. I'm thinking that the outer parts around the edges have cured, but the inner part is taking forever.

I was under the impression that if you could smell any traces of acetic acid do not add water. . .


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## arKat17 (Apr 9, 2010)

Heat lamps and heaters really speed up the drying process and the smell just fades away with it. Without direct heat, the smells kind of lingers. Weird eh?


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## ksk_che_che (Sep 26, 2007)

I resealed one little corner section in a 55, took 4 days for the smell to completely disappear. If you smell anything dont add water. I know of some people that moved their tank outside on warm sunny days and it cured in only a couple days... with thick beads. Granted these were only small tanks, nothing over 55gal.


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