loadedsith
New member
I wanna start by saying, The more I learn the less I know. If you've found a problem with what I've done, I wanna know about it so much more then you could ever hurt my feelings. I'm new here but I'm even newer to keeping amphibians, heck any animal other then a single betta.
I've learned a lot doing this project, and I even innovated, so to not share it as flawed as it may be, seems a shame. I wanna start by saying that everything I've done right belongs to the intelligence of the internet, specifically FrogEyes (from caudata.org), a lone salesmen at Granger, and my father. Everything I've done wrong is my own err.
Thanks, Here we go!
The project was to attach some slate to the bottom of my aquarium.
The Slate
The slate was easy enough, Lowe's carries slate tiles, which are 12 x 12in, and they will cut 4 cuts for you for free.
My 10 gallon tank is 10 x 20in, outside dimensions, it is 12in tall but that’s not important. I had a Lowe’s employee cut the tile to 9.5in by 9.75in. and kept scraps.
This was a very good fit, much tighter then I had expected for 2 reasons: First, the glass has its own width, but also because the caulking which was already holding the structure together has its own width, and in my cheap-o tank, there is allot! For these reasons, I had the tile cut with a half inch of space in each dimension. The slate was actually about slightly too large, I masked with tape and cut the offending ¼ inch with a hack saw, ruining 2 blades (sorry dad, I’ll replacem’ I swear!). I even ground off the hacksaw markings on the concrete sidewalk by my house. You can see the seams here, in the still drying product.
The Caulk
Use gloves and in a well ventilated area.
I used GE RTV 108, Translucent Silicone. I bought white as well, but the clear worked so well I decided to not even test the white. I used this because it seemed to be highly rated, particularly in this thread, Aquarium safe silicone? - The Reef Tank .
The colors, white, clear, and black, are distinguished by a printed label on the tube.
In my discussions with FrogEyes he instructed me to buy kid safe Oil paints, which may still be the best bet, but I couldn’t find any. I bought some oil paints with the “AP” seal. After talking to the guy at Granger -- who was the only person, other then FrogEyes, who didn’t think I was crazy when I told him I was going to dye my own caulk-- I decided on one of two products: Dry Pigments added directly to the caulk, or Silicone paints which seem to be caulk with pigment already added.
After doing lots of research I stumbled upon a website selling “natural pigments” Slate Pigment | The Earth Pigments Company . They even sell slate!
Their slate pigment is “Ground Schist”. Sounds good right, but I decided I’d try my own hand at making pigment.
I made a smallish chunk of slate easily, broken off my extra slate pieces using a razor blade and a natural seam. I wrapped the chunk several times in a paper towel and beat it with hammer. Periodically I sifted the rock through a wire mesh designed for straining tea, sorting the large bits back in to the towel, the medium bits to one pile and the fine power to a third.
As you can see, my color is really good, sampled on a bit of slate to the right. The brown was made with the oil paint, but I decided to go with the custom slate pigment.
I used the plastic tool you see there, and a larger mixing type tool, both found in the oil paint department, to push the silicone down in to the groves, but did not apply silicone to the bottom of the tank, which is likely to remain a pocket of air, or spring a leak. I made no attempt to seal it because I assume cutting it out easier out weighs gluing them in more. I used clear caulk around the outside and the slate caulk down the middle, then I sprinkled in the small rocks.
It’s still drying. I’ll post more picks when its got water in it, but between now and then I need to clean it up the edges and rub some of the silicone off the floor, and an axolotl. I guess we can cross our fingers for the longevity of the custom silicone!
I've learned a lot doing this project, and I even innovated, so to not share it as flawed as it may be, seems a shame. I wanna start by saying that everything I've done right belongs to the intelligence of the internet, specifically FrogEyes (from caudata.org), a lone salesmen at Granger, and my father. Everything I've done wrong is my own err.
Thanks, Here we go!
The project was to attach some slate to the bottom of my aquarium.
The Slate
The slate was easy enough, Lowe's carries slate tiles, which are 12 x 12in, and they will cut 4 cuts for you for free.
My 10 gallon tank is 10 x 20in, outside dimensions, it is 12in tall but that’s not important. I had a Lowe’s employee cut the tile to 9.5in by 9.75in. and kept scraps.
This was a very good fit, much tighter then I had expected for 2 reasons: First, the glass has its own width, but also because the caulking which was already holding the structure together has its own width, and in my cheap-o tank, there is allot! For these reasons, I had the tile cut with a half inch of space in each dimension. The slate was actually about slightly too large, I masked with tape and cut the offending ¼ inch with a hack saw, ruining 2 blades (sorry dad, I’ll replacem’ I swear!). I even ground off the hacksaw markings on the concrete sidewalk by my house. You can see the seams here, in the still drying product.
The Caulk
Use gloves and in a well ventilated area.
I used GE RTV 108, Translucent Silicone. I bought white as well, but the clear worked so well I decided to not even test the white. I used this because it seemed to be highly rated, particularly in this thread, Aquarium safe silicone? - The Reef Tank .
The colors, white, clear, and black, are distinguished by a printed label on the tube.
In my discussions with FrogEyes he instructed me to buy kid safe Oil paints, which may still be the best bet, but I couldn’t find any. I bought some oil paints with the “AP” seal. After talking to the guy at Granger -- who was the only person, other then FrogEyes, who didn’t think I was crazy when I told him I was going to dye my own caulk-- I decided on one of two products: Dry Pigments added directly to the caulk, or Silicone paints which seem to be caulk with pigment already added.
After doing lots of research I stumbled upon a website selling “natural pigments” Slate Pigment | The Earth Pigments Company . They even sell slate!
Their slate pigment is “Ground Schist”. Sounds good right, but I decided I’d try my own hand at making pigment.
I made a smallish chunk of slate easily, broken off my extra slate pieces using a razor blade and a natural seam. I wrapped the chunk several times in a paper towel and beat it with hammer. Periodically I sifted the rock through a wire mesh designed for straining tea, sorting the large bits back in to the towel, the medium bits to one pile and the fine power to a third.
As you can see, my color is really good, sampled on a bit of slate to the right. The brown was made with the oil paint, but I decided to go with the custom slate pigment.
I used the plastic tool you see there, and a larger mixing type tool, both found in the oil paint department, to push the silicone down in to the groves, but did not apply silicone to the bottom of the tank, which is likely to remain a pocket of air, or spring a leak. I made no attempt to seal it because I assume cutting it out easier out weighs gluing them in more. I used clear caulk around the outside and the slate caulk down the middle, then I sprinkled in the small rocks.
It’s still drying. I’ll post more picks when its got water in it, but between now and then I need to clean it up the edges and rub some of the silicone off the floor, and an axolotl. I guess we can cross our fingers for the longevity of the custom silicone!
