Everbuild Everflex Aqua Mate Aquarium Silicone Sealant – Fungicide-Free – Fast Curing – Clear – 295ml, Trans

This product is fantastic. I have built my own sumps, filters, aquariums and repaired a fair few also and never had a single issue. Very strong and durable, long lasting (some of these tanks and filters are over 10 years old now and show zero signs of fatigue) and surprisingly more than you think in the tube so great value for money. Follow the instructions and do your prep and you will have no issues and zero cleaning. (sometimes on a poor sealant job little flaps are left. I have seen this and when the tank is established they start to lift and algae grow underneath these. The seal will hold but you won't get rid of the algae. A good job is 'ALL' in the prep).

My original fish tank had been dry for over 10 years, so before using it again I decided I should err on the side of caution and re-seal it. I choose this particular brand of sealant on the strength of other reviews. First time I've tried to reseal a tank, and I suppose I made a bit of a mess of it (the gap between the glass and the tape I put down was too much, and I cut too much off the end of the nozzle so I squirted out way more than needed. I was so worried about it drying too fast that I hurried the job so in the end it wasn't as smooth as it could have been... all of which are faults of the operator, not the sealant!).While curing it had a extremely powerful vinegar like smell, almost overpowering if I stuck my head inside the tank.I left it for 48 hours and then I tried filling the tank a bit at a time - all went well, no leaks nor did the tank collapse. (A reminder, I resealed the tank by cutting out the existing silicon inside the tank, but I did not dismantle the panes and glue them together again... I'm not that brave!).As it is the tank has been running for about 3 weeks so far without issue, so I'm happy enough with this Everbuild product and would be perfectly happy to use it again should I need to reseal any more tanks.Edit: 18May2024. Here I am revisiting this review after a year. The tank I sealed is still going strong with no leaks or related incidents since sealing back in March 2023.

Brought for a hard scape project to cover pipes in the tank. Excellent aquarium silicone with good tooling time, excellent adhesion and quick cure time. Will definitely buy again. I would definitely recommend this product. Value for money and excellent performance

Good products

So over the last month I've used 8 tubes of this stuff while building a large DIY pond filtration system. The sealant once cured is very strong, and would never rip or tear by pulling or picking at it. It does however, adhere very poorly to smooth surfaces. If you use it on glass, shiny plastics etc, it sticks nicely but water can easily blow a passage way through it, or if you do pick at it it'll simply peal off with ease. To get around this, ANY surface you plan to use this stuff with needs to be roughed up with sand paper. Once roughed up, this stuff is a real sod to remove and will make a very permanent connection. Wish I had thought about this before having to tear the filter apart to re-do every single connection which had started to leak after a few days' running. Once prepped with some sandpaper - no more leaks and no issues.The smell of this stuff is very strong, and even got to a point where I had to use a proper mask to use it inside. I'd strongly suggest you use this outside, in a well ventilated area, or with a mask on.

I recently bought a second hand aquarium which had seen better days, on investigation the sealant had pretty much failed all across the back on the bottom of the tank, although the sides were still solid , so I removed the base and stripped off all of the silicone and used the Everbuild Aqua mate silicone to re-attach the bottom glass and reseal all of the edges. It worked brilliantly. It was very easy to use, had a reasonable time (about 10 mins) before it started going too hard. I left the tank for 48hrs to fully dry and filled the tank. The seals are great even where I've gone over the original sealant. Considering I've never repaired an aquarium before I wouldn't have any reservations doing the same again in future. In my opinion 10 out of 10

Although it says that it is good for pond-liner repairs, I found that it is probably not really designed (and therefore not ideal) for that. If the bead is a bit thick it does not fully set / cure, but remains flexible and comes away easily. It is not easy to spread on the patch / liner (probably not required for aquarium building) other sealants usually tell you how to spread /finish (e.g. spatula / stick & soapy water). Thus it is easy to apply it a bit too thickly.It is unsightly (shiny clear) on black pond-liner.It says wait 24 hrs before moving the aquarium and allow to fully cure before introducing water. But that 'full curing' time is not quoted anywhere, even on the Aquamate site or product data sheets. Most other sealants are fully cured after 24hrs. I waited 24hrs+ and filled to above the patch level but it still leaked.It does have a proviso to test pond-liner before using, but if it doesn't work on Butyl (which is probably the most used material historically) then it is not really suitable for pond-liner repairs in my view.Back to the drawing board and another form of sealant.

Brilliant thanks