# easy and very fast way to remove silicone



## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

went to the store and got a small wire brush to put on my dremel and was so amazed at how fast and easy it worked! It took all the silicone off and left no scratches because the glass is more abrasive than the wire brush i think! This makes everything go so much faster and saves your fingers from having to work the razor blade to death to still have a little silicone still left over!!!! Sorry about the camera footage, its hard to hold the dremel still and hold the camera at the same time. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA7zA32aRCs

Here are the before picture and after picture big difference!!


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## Dead2fall (Jun 4, 2014)

Brass brush?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Carbon steel brush =)


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## Clear Water (Sep 20, 2014)

treyLcham said:


> Carbon steel brush =)


Thanks so much for sharing this, getting ready to reseal a tank and this will help.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

No problem 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## TankFreak420 (May 31, 2014)

Would find this out after resealing my 120g, just like the plastic spoon trick to make the silicone look cleaner.


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## Jcstank (Jan 3, 2015)

I used a green scrubbing sponge with denatured alcohol after removing most silicone with a razor blade. I sprayed water on the glass where I removed the silicone until the water tension was the same as the glass in the field. Make sure you use silicone that is made specifically for aquarium use. Silicone bought from hardware stores has algicide in it that will wreak havoc with your beneficial bacteria. Most of these hardware store silicone like GE will specifically say not for aquarium use.


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

Jcstank said:


> Most of these hardware store silicone like GE will specifically say not for aquarium use.


And yet many here use the GE brand to seal tanks all the time without problems:confused1:


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## TankFreak420 (May 31, 2014)

FatherLandDescendant said:


> And yet many here use the GE brand to seal tanks all the time without problems:confused1:


What I think every time someone claims the hardware stuff will degrade after a few days. I personally resealed 3 tanks now with GE#1 including my 120g and never had problems.


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## mighties_keeper (Oct 30, 2013)

100% silicone is key with no micro bacteria destroyer. If you want to spend more money on silicone, Grainger sells dow-corning brand. I prefer Dap but it is getting harder to find in my area. Reseal jobs are easy.


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

TankFreak420 said:


> What I think every time someone claims the hardware stuff will degrade after a few days. I personally resealed 3 tanks now with GE#1 including my 120g and never had problems.


If it'll degrade that quick in a tank what good would it be on windows, doors, ect where the sun hits it.

I think it's mostly operator error, I've seen guys in garages as well as factory maintenance guys half arse clean parts, or clean parts then get oil or grease on the mating surface with their hands, and wonder why the silicone leaked. Inevitability they try to claim it was a bad product:icon_roll


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## Dead2fall (Jun 4, 2014)

I think it degrades when the tank is filled too soon. I was impatient once and only waited 24 hrs. The seams held, but definitely degraded some.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

mighties_keeper said:


> 100% silicone is key with no micro bacteria destroyer. If you want to spend more money on silicone, Grainger sells dow-corning brand. I prefer Dap but it is getting harder to find in my area. Reseal jobs are easy.


I just bought 4 tubes of Dow 795 for about $30 including tax. The Dow won't break the bank and is actually better than the GE stuff.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

yea i am still trying to figure out what type of silicone i want to use this time around. I have heard good things about most of the products. I am down to 4 and its the rtv 103 or 108 not sure what the difference is though, the GE window and door or the dow 795


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