thoughts on silicon wear

esoxlucius

Alligator Gar
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Dec 30, 2015
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I was cleaning my glass with one of those magnets that we all use and it got me thinking. When you try and clean where the panes meet you inevitably are touching the silicon with the cleaner, especially if you have a very thin layer or no substrate at all. Rubbing the cleaner over the glass at this point touching and rubbing the silicon will surely mean that I am unwittingly accelerating the silicon wearing process. First the silicon will start to peel and after that, well, we're into dangerous territory aren't we.

So what do you guys who have very minimal or zero substrate do to clean the glass thoroughly in the corner parts?
 

skjl47

Goliath Tigerfish
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May 16, 2011
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Hello; My all glass tanks have an outside plastic rim. This hides the edges well enough so I do not have to clean so close. No answer for you if your tank does not have such.

I guess you could eventually worry the silicone enough to create a leak. That said in my experience the exposed silicone surfaces in my tanks have been worked at in different ways for many years and I do not have leaks. At least not very often. I do not scrub the silicone but I do have gravel that gets shoved around on the silicone during a gravel vac.

Even if you do cause a leak it can be fixed. A pain to do but can be done. Why not just clean the glass and leave the silicone alone?
 

kno4te

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I have a soft sponge i found with which i barely rub on those contacts areas. Not any pressure or force at all. Been successful and keep it clean.
 
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RD.

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I avoid contact with silicone edges when using mag float. Over time they can certainly become worn when using aggressive cleaning pads etc. See above for a more ideal manner of cleaning those areas.
 
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esoxlucius

Alligator Gar
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I avoid contact with silicone edges when using mag float. Over time they can certainly become worn when using aggressive cleaning pads etc. See above for a more ideal manner of cleaning those areas.
Yeah that's the problem with the mag floats. The half that cleans the inside of the glass is coarse which is great if you have stubborn algae growth because the coarse pad gets rid of the algae pretty rapid. But in doing so the coarse pad inevitably is going to touch the silicone once in a while no matter how careful you are. That is a potential area for excess wear, over time, in a really critical area of the tank. I think the soft sponge is probably a better alternative for the corners.
 

appleton71

Exodon
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Mar 13, 2018
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I use a Flipper magnetic cleaner. One side has a metal blade which I use for most of the glass, the other side has a soft material like the fuzzy side of velcro which I use in the corners. I've seen no signs of silicone wear as of yet.
 
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