covering the back of a 15g w/silicone then attatching rock frags..

[crafty_50mitchell]

Hey all Im kicking around the idea of buying some bulk silicone, covering the back of a 15g with it (in stages) and glueing on some rock frags/substrate. Anyone have any experience with this? Essentially I know what kind of silicone to buy and that the rock and sand will stick to it, but will this stuff lose its grip and fall off after a short period of time or will this bond be good in the long run?
thanks,
Brian

[kysmith]

No it will not, my friend tried it and the silicone was a bad decision. The rocks would move around because the silicone does not hold solid and eventually fell out. Instead look at some of the fake substrate people have made on this forum and maybe try their methods.

[kysmith]

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=447292&perpage=25&pagenumber=4

check out this option

[crafty_50mitchell]

Thanks for the heads up, not so sure I want to go that route untill I have heard some other options etc. Are you saying that over time the rock fell off due the sylicone not having a good hold on it? Also anyone else have any suggestions/experiences?
Cheers,
Brian

[kysmith]

yeah bits and pieces would fall off over time bc it didn't adhere to it well enough. The sand will also look stupid on there moving around with the current.

[wildcats]

I once saw a background made with silicone and rock but instead of putting it on the glass, they used a piece of corrugated fiberglass roofing material. Usually you see this stuff used on sheds. I think the silicone would adhere to this product a little stronger than glass.

Would this work?

[crafty_50mitchell]

Sounds like an idea, but from my understanding silicone will not have a problem bonding to the glass (its what holds glass tanks together....and the grace of god in some cases) but rather to the rock and sand. I used it to create a freshwater tunnel with some pvc and rock/sand glued onto it but over the past two years it has slowly (the rock/sand) fallen off. I could blame this on me not letting the stuff cure long enough in that instance however so Im back to the same idea but now applied to reef tanks. I might give it a shot still just as a diy project, but Ill wait to see if I can get any more imput on this.
Thanks
Brian