Removing silicone from glass

[Tiber]

My tank has a spongey 3d background. It looks quite nice, but since bringing the tank home I have had a nagging thought in the back of my head that it might be better just to remove this and reclaim the space.

However it's attached to the tank with what I will charitably describe as a generous amount of what I assume is silicon.

I have read online that you can scrape this off with a crafting knife or razor blade. But am I likely to end up just giving myself a difficult job which ends up with scratched glass?

 

[Gkat66]

My tank has a spongey 3d background. It looks quite nice, but since bringing the tank home I have had a nagging thought in the back of my head that it might be better just to remove this and reclaim the space.

However it's attached to the tank with what I will charitably describe as a generous amount of what I assume is silicon.

I have read online that you can scrape this off with a crafting knife or razor blade. But am I likely to end up just giving myself a difficult job which ends up with scratched glass?

The short answer is yes to the difficult job and scratches.
I have resealed tanks and made my own custom sumps, removing silicon can be a nightmare . If you decide to go ahead with the job remove as much as possible by pulling it off with your fingernails before you use a razor blade . Sometimes there is a very thin film of silicon left behind and this can be the most problematic to remove, I used a green scotch pad and lots of elbow grease. Good Luck

 

[Tiber]

The short answer is yes to the difficult job and scratches.
I have resealed tanks and made my own custom sumps, removing silicon can be a nightmare . If you decide to go ahead with the job remove as much as possible by pulling it off with your fingernails before you use a razor blade . Sometimes there is a very thin film of silicon left behind and this can be the most problematic to remove, I used a green scotch pad and lots of elbow grease. Good Luck

I was afraid you might say that. Makes the backgrounds annoyingly pernament, don't think I would ever use one In future

 

[Tiber]

The short answer is yes to the difficult job and scratches.
I have resealed tanks and made my own custom sumps, removing silicon can be a nightmare . If you decide to go ahead with the job remove as much as possible by pulling it off with your fingernails before you use a razor blade . Sometimes there is a very thin film of silicon left behind and this can be the most problematic to remove, I used a green scotch pad and lots of elbow grease. Good Luck

Just decided to try it in the end. This is the tank now, their is a layer of residue leftover but I'm hoping vinegar, a sponge and a lot of scrubbing will get that off


I know that it isn't ideal, but this is what it looked like 2 hours ago!




Managed to pull it off with our fingers

 

[Tiber]

Previous owner really went all in on the silicone

 

[Tiber]

The short answer is yes to the difficult job and scratches.
I have resealed tanks and made my own custom sumps, removing silicon can be a nightmare . If you decide to go ahead with the job remove as much as possible by pulling it off with your fingernails before you use a razor blade . Sometimes there is a very thin film of silicon left behind and this can be the most problematic to remove, I used a green scotch pad and lots of elbow grease. Good Luck

Well I can't say you didn't warn me. Can't get the residue off at all. Vinegar didn't even touch it, applied loads and scrubbed it and it didn't change one bit. I'm certain goo gone or something similar would remove it in seconds, but that can't be safe for fish.

Might end up having to sort some sort of new internal background. Though the old background was stinking when we got it out, so I don't regret removing it. Just cant believe the previous owner used so much silicone

 

[Gkat66]

Well I can't say you didn't warn me. Can't get the residue off at all. Vinegar didn't even touch it, applied loads and scrubbed it and it didn't change one bit. I'm certain goo gone or something similar would remove it in seconds, but that can't be safe for fish.

Might end up having to sort some sort of new internal background. Though the old background was stinking when we got it out, so I don't regret removing it. Just cant believe the previous owner used so much silicone

Yes Goo gone does work ,but it's very risky . The problem is it seems to migrate to where you don't want it to go . If even a little goo gone gets on the seals it can weaken the bond.

 

[Tiber]

Its a long way from where it started, but it can't be left like this either

 

[Rocky998]

Its a long way from where it started, but it can't be left like this either

View attachment 155580View attachment 155581

Looks Like you got a bunch of it off! Good work! There are aquarium scrapers they sell but idk if it'll help... Looking better though!

 

[Tiber]

Looks Like you got a bunch of it off! Good work! There are aquarium scrapers they sell but idk if it'll help... Looking better though!

I can get the last few flakes of actual silicone off the left hand side when it dries out no problem. But this residue stuff has stumped me. I don't think scraping it off is really the solution, it's just a very thin layer of the sticky bit - you can hardly even feel it when you run your hand over it.

B&Q have an aisle full of products which would remove it instantly, but I don't think any of it would be safe to use. I could put a towel down or something to protect the tank seals, but it could still end up in the water long term.

I hoped vinegar would work I mixed vinegar with hot water and sprayed a lot of it all over the tank, but it didn't seem to make any difference.

Its a shame you can't put a vinyl background on the inside of the tank instead of the back. Would save me a lot of hassle lol

 

[Gkat66]

Can get these where you live , they won't scratch the glass, it's what I use to get the film off.

 

[Rocky998]

I can get the last few flakes of actual silicone off the left hand side when it dries out no problem. But this residue stuff has stumped me. I don't think scraping it off is really the solution, it's just a very thin layer of the sticky bit you can hardly even feel it when you run your hand over it.

B&Q have an aisle full of products which would remove it instantly, but I don't think any of it would be safe to use. I could put a towel down or something to protect the tank seals, but it could still end up in the water long term.

I hoped vinegar would work I mixed vinegar with hot water and sprayed a lot of it all over the tank, but it didn't seem to make any difference.

Its a shame you can't put a vinyl background on the inside of the tank instead of the back. Would save me a lot of hassle lol

Yah, people go kinda crazy with the sealants when they do backgrounds as I've seen... I also wish there was a way to put the color backgrounds on the inside because there are a lot of grime on the glass or scratches... When I put the black background on my tank iwas like: "Wow, thats not black" ... Luckily it was as simple as wiping down the glass in my case...

That kinda sucks that that last bit of sticky sealant wont come off... Its gotta be very annoying to look at I'm sure...

 

[Rocky998]

Can get these where you live , they won't scratch the glass, it's what I use to get the film off. View attachment 155582

The scratchy side works really well I bet... I don't like to use those types of sponges cause I'm afraid it may have chemicals that leech out but thats probably me being over protective with my tank...

 

[Gkat66]

The scratchy side works really well I bet... I don't like to use those types of sponges cause I'm afraid it may have chemicals that leech out but thats probably me being over protective with my tank...

I've used these for years to clean up tanks , not while there are fish inside , for that I use cut up pieces of green filter pads.

 

[Tiber]

Yah, people go kinda crazy with the sealants when they do backgrounds as I've seen... I also wish there was a way to put the color backgrounds on the inside because there are a lot of grime on the glass or scratches... When I put the black background on my tank iwas like: "Wow, thats not black" ... Luckily it was as simple as wiping down the glass in my case...

That kinda sucks that that last bit of sticky sealant wont come off... Its gotta be very annoying to look at I'm sure...

Yea it's infuriating. I thought getting the absolute shed load of actual silicone off would be the hard bit, I was very pleased with my progress.

I have always liked 3d backgrounds, I only removed this one because it was filthy. A proper replacement seems to be around £149 which I am not willing to pay. But Juwel do seem to sell one called STR for around £20 per sheet which may be a solution if I can't get this off. Though I'd rather not have to resort to that.