How to glue Plexiglas to Glass

[mikelush78]

I am going to take one side of my 10 gallon tank off and replace it with Plexiglas so I can drill a hole in it for it to be my refugium. I know it seems strange but its a lot cheaper than building a 10 gallon aquarium from Plexiglas since I already have the 10 gallon.

I cannot just have that 10 gallon drilled since the glass company thinks that it is tempered. So this is my cheapest and easiest shot.

So how do I glue the glass to the acrylic, just a 100% silicone clear caulk that would be used for the bathroom?

The good thing is the 10 gallon has a plastic protective boarder around the top and bottom of the tank and that will be good support that will provent the plexiglas piece from comming apart.

 

[jojo22]

If your tank is an ALL GLASS the side is NOT tempered. I have attached a usefull thread for trying to drill it yourself. I really think you should try this since if you break the glass you will just remove it like you would have anyways. One last note I would use lexan as a side instead of plexi it does not give as much which will make a muck stronger side, scuff the lexan really good use aquarium sealant and hope it holds ( I personally would not do this as silicone does not generally stick well to lexan and it requires weld-on #6 to properly seal)

http://www.captivereefing.com/showthread.php?t=1931

 

[WharfRat]

Just get a piece of standard plate glass from any glass shop and have them drill the hole you need. Silicone will not hold lexan pr plexi over any length of time the weight of the water will tear away the silicone after awhile leading to a mess on the floor and probably killing your tank inhabitants.

 

[Crown Royal]

GE Contractor's SCS 1200 series silicone. It's a special type of silicone designed for plastics that Oceanic uses for its sumps (glass to acrylic baffles). You won't find it at Home Depot though. Gotta go to a "real" contractor place or order online. usplastics.com sells it.