# Great stuff ?



## armison89 (Nov 1, 2010)

can i put the great stuff right on the glass or do i have to put it on somthing then put it in the tank?


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## vugger#1 (Jul 20, 2009)

Right on the glass works fine. Not to thick or it will try to pull away. I like to do a couple of layers. Let the first one cure before putting on the second layer.


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## sktdvs (Nov 1, 2010)

like stated, right on the glass is perfectly fine. One note....Ive had stuff I tried to stick fall off before if you dont allow full curing process, so cant stress that enough.


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## armison89 (Nov 1, 2010)

i found some stuff at the hardware store that is cheaper then gs i cant remember the name i was wondering if i could use it.


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## saruchan (Jun 12, 2010)

Hey, Ive found that the pond GS works alot better then the regular GS its pretty pricey though like 10 bucks a bottle but works great and comes in both black or gray colors. Also when gluing the substrate of whatever you use for the background ,gorilla glue the one that is clear brownish works best i think its like the super gorilla glue or something. Well good luck man, have fun!


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## alex111683 (Sep 11, 2010)

I have seen some people complain on here that after about a year or less the GS that was sprayed directly on glass starts to come off and then they have the problem of their frogs getting behind it. Not too many have complained when putting a thin layer of 100% silicone on first. 

Another way to go is to mix brown or black acrylic paint inton gorilla glue. The stuff will expand like crazy.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

alex111683 said:


> I have seen some people complain on here that after about a year or less the GS that was sprayed directly on glass starts to come off and then they have the problem of their frogs getting behind it. Not too many have complained when putting a thin layer of 100% silicone on first.
> 
> Another way to go is to mix brown or black acrylic paint inton gorilla glue. The stuff will expand like crazy.


I've heard that too but I have a can of black pond/waterfall foam right here and it says.... "adheres to all surfaces except teflon, SILICONE, and polyethylene" ...I think GS says the same thing? It is basically the same stuff I think, just polyurethane foam. 

What you could do is silicone something on the glass that both GS and silicone sticks to well, then foam around that so it anchors it to the glass. Pieces of cork, gravel, all kinds of things would work as anchors for the foam.

Maybe when both have not setup they will bond to each other? Guess I'll have to do a test sometime.


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## DendroTerra (Mar 28, 2010)

I've seen several tanks last more than a year with GS straight on glass. I have a tank that's at least 3-4 years old with GS straight on glass. I have seen stuff peel off before, but I think that's on glass just not cleaned real well. I wipe down with alcohol real good before hand. I think finger oils make it want to not stick.

One thing I do now, even though I haven't had problems with it straight on glass(yet), is silicone caulk some egg crate onto the glass where the GS is going to go. It expands all around it, and has to be held on waaaay stronger.

Definitely do it a layer at a time. If you put too much on at once, the stuff deep inside may never dry all the way, so it's slowly leaking poisonous gas out, and you'll have to tear it all down to start again.

I, and others, have also just had bunk cans of GS every now & again, that just don't sure right.

Anyways, I haven't seen any clay tanks last as long as some GS tanks(yet), so I'm still sticking with GS. Takes longer, but until I see a 5 year old clay drip wall, I'll stick to what I know.


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## atombomb (Oct 26, 2010)

I'v seen here that a layer of silicon is spread on the glass, then gs is added to it. Do i have to wait until the silicone cures or can just sparay gs directly on the silicone while its syill 'wet'? And, how well does the gs stick to the silicne?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Ok I looked at a can of GS which wasn't particularly helpful and I went to Insulation Spray Foam Insulation | GREAT STUFF? Insulating Foam Seal and found this...

" What surfaces/substances will GREAT STUFF™ not bond to?
GREAT STUFF™ will not bond to nonstick-coated surfaces, paste wax and some polyethylene plastics."

So instead of silicone being listed like on total pond they list "paste wax" and there is no mention of silicone. 

If you look at the ingredients of "total pond" waterfall foam and GS, they are similar but appear slightly different. It could be that the slight difference in mix may help GS stick better to silicone if in fact they really are different, and if it actually does. I still haven't got around to testing it myself.

It could be the manufactures have different standards of "sticking"...maybe total pond doesn't think it sticks well enough to say it does, and GS says "aw hell it kinda sticks, we'll run with that" 

While many people have sprayed it over silicone, I wonder if it actually isn't the GS sticking to the glass on the sides that accounts for most of its ability to stay in place? Only a mass of GS not touching any raw glass would be a fair test, but don't most people foam the whole background right to the side glass?...sometimes the bottom, and maybe some of the top where they maybe didn't quite get silicone there? Maybe that accounts for it staying in place? Ya, I think this requires testing


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## DendroTerra (Mar 28, 2010)

atombomb said:


> I've seen here that a layer of silicon is spread on the glass, then gs is added to it. Do i have to wait until the silicone cures or can just spray gs directly on the silicone while its still 'wet'? And, how well does the gs stick to the silicone?


Let the silicone cure. I would have worries that it might not cure at all if covered before drying completes.

Although, the only reason I've seen people really do this is for the look; so they have the pretty color of the silicone they purchased showing on the outside of the tank instead of the ugly off-yellow of GS.

I also suspect that GS would stick to the silicone better than the glass mainly because the silicone doesn't have finger oils all over it, as the glass does. I believe finger juices is reason GS peels later. People, after cleaning their tank, start messing around with it, put a hand there, a hand here, all without realizing. Then two years later you have a background peeling away, and tears running down your face....

Another reason is probably because lack of fully curing. If you get a bad can of GS, or layer it too thick too fast, it might not cure all the way, thereby making it's fall from grace that much more likely.

As I mentioned before(I swear by this): Rub down the glass with rubbing alcohol before you apply the GS. I've yet to have any come off with this approach,... But even so, most tanks I'm making lately are with the egg crate method I mentioned before: Silicone caulk some plastic egg crate pieces against the glass where your GS background is going to be. As you put the GS on, and it expands over the siliconed-on egg crate, you get an awesome grip because the GS expands all around the egg crate. You can look at it from the backside, and just see how awesome it is. Heavy duty on there.


Or, you can always levitate and mold the GS *with your mind!!!


*


Dendro Dave said:


> While many people have sprayed it over silicone, I wonder if it actually isn't the GS sticking to the glass on the sides that accounts for most of its ability to stay in place? Only a mass of GS not touching any raw glass would be a fair test, but don't most people foam the whole background right to the side glass?...sometimes the bottom, and maybe some of the top where they maybe didn't quite get silicone there? Maybe that accounts for it staying in place? Ya, I think this requires testing


I think it requires testing too! I know what I do, and trust what I do, but it'd be nice to have some concrete answers for everybody. Every newcomer who hasn't found a way that works for them yet would then know exactly what to do for the best success rate possible....

I say cover a piece of wood, glass, or anything really,(Glass probably would be the top choice, as it would make the test more like what we actually are going to be working with) completely on one side with silicone. Do this several times. With some we could add the GS after the silicone cures, some, if we thought it should be tested, before. We'll add a good darn amount of GS too. One layer at a time, just like the making of a viv, and with the GS touching, completely and only, the silicone. We can then hang it upside down, and let the time tick by....

So then we'll at least be testing the gripping abilities of GS added on top of silicone, before it cures, and with it added after the silicone is definitely cured.....

Any other methods worth a test? I guess I could do a grip-of-GS-hanging-upside-down test(a GGSHUD test, if you like) with the set-up like I actually build mine most often, with the egg crate and what not.

Who wants to do a test? Who thinks a test is worth, or not worth doing??


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