Silicone curing time?

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Jspigs

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I am just wondering why do you all think the instructions are wrong?
 

RodInCALIFORNIA

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i always wait 4 days there is no need to rush just let it sit and cure.
 

TechAquaria

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I definitely am not going to wait 5 days longer than the instructions say. But I still don't know what acetic acid is and whether or not it will harm my fish.
Yeah, 5 days is way overkill, 2 is sufficient, between 2 and 5, you would gain you virtually NOTHING!

When silicone cures, you smell the "vinegar smell", acetic acid, it is far below enough to influence PH after 24 hours. I just said 48 hours to error on the safe side, 24 hours is enough.

However, you may choose to "go that route"; good luck!

Regards,
TA
 
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Jspigs

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I re-read the instructions and it says the silicone fully cures in five minutes and that the 48 hour wait it to insure a leak proof seal.

Any thoughts?
 

TechAquaria

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I re-read the instructions and it says the silicone fully cures in five minutes and that the 48 hour wait it to insure a leak proof seal.

Any thoughts?
Better safe than sorry? I am just always in need of using it sooner, or just am impatient!

Regards,
TA
 

Jspigs

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I have decided to put the filter in at around 2-3 pm.
 

glenngreen

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Acetic acid is vinegar. It is safe to use vinegar to clean aquarium stuff and put right back into the water. A little bit of acetic acid is no danger to the fish. If you cannot smell the sealant, it is safe to put into the water.
 

Jspigs

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I can still smell a tiny bit of vinegar odor coming from inside of the bottle.

It is just the tiniest bit of smell coming from deep inside of the bottle.

The smell is probably coming from a seal buried deep under layers of filter media so it might tank a looong time for the smell to completely dissipate.

Is this safe or do I need to wait until the smell is gone completely?

EDIT: since the odor is so faint I am going to wait until 2:30 and then put the filter into the tank.
 
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Jspigs

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Okay it is time to put the filter in. If this will kill my fish PLEASE TELL ME NOW.


EDIT: I am putting in the filter now.
 
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blue2fyre

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I had a bunch of plastic plants that I siliconed to some rocks. I waited 48 hours without any problems. One of them came off so I resealed and I waited 24 hours since the bottle didn't tell me different. I had no problems with my fish at all. I will note that this was aquarium silicone, and my tank is a 55 gallon.
 
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