Sealing starboard to glass bottom

[crvz]

I'm interested in sealing the starboard to the glass bottom of the tank. Who's done this, and who has pictures/suggestions (what to use, how much space to leave on the sides, etc)? I'd love the help!

Thanks!!

[Fly Guy]

The hdpe wont really seal with anything that i know of. What some people do with success is use silicone and make a "gasket" that the starboard sits on. The wieght of the starboard and rock makes the seal.

I dont use anything and i have no problem with anything getting underneath. But i use a pretty thick piece that sits pretty much flat, and its a acrylic tank so i also have it cut nearly flush.....i.e. no silicone holding the tank together to get in the way

[crvz]

The one I've currently got works great except right near the edge. It sits flat, but some gunk does get underneath it. It's not enough for me to worry about in general, but the only place algae grows in my tank is at the edge of the starboard... and I manually remove it about once a week (during water changes), and I don't want to have to do this anymore.

I am planning on using cutting board for the bottom (one large piece), and I think I may try to use silicone around the edge of it and make a gasket like you suggested. I'm open to other ideas still, but that sounds like a great place to start.

[Geoff]

i created a gasket around the edges of my HDPE with sillycone. this works quite well. the sillycone does not stick to the HDPE at all, but the sillycone molds around it creating a perfect seal.

i placed the HDPE in the tank than put a sizeable bead of sillycone around the edge of the HDPE. make sure the sillycone squeezes out above and below the HDPE. let the sillycone cure for a day. you can then pull the HDPE out if you want. the sillycone will retain its molded shape. the HDPE will snap back into the mold when you want to put it back.

G~