Will it SticK?

[TwoTankAmin]

I need to divide an 18 inch wide tank in half using a 2 inch thick piece of 10 ppi Poret foam. Just cutting it a bit too wide and using this to hold it in place will not work.

I have high strength clear plastic corner beads that are 1 inch. What I need to do is to 'glue" some of this to the front, back and bottom glass to hold it in place. I weed to be able to remove it at the end of summer. My first thought was to use silicone. I am not sure if this will work as I am not sure that the silicone will adhere to the plastic.

Can anybody tell me if it will or not. If not, it there anything else I might use? I have the tank safe 2 part epoxy used by salties for corals etc., but I am not sure if I would be able to detach it from the glass. I also have the glue some use for corals or for attaching rhizomes to things. Again, I am not sure it would detach easily later on.

Fortunately. I have 20 ppi, 2 inch Poret dividers for 20Ls. But the are 12 inch not 18 and only about 12 high. So the foam will stay in place on it's own.

Thanks in advance for any answers/suggestions.

p.s. What about using any of the Flex-Seal products we see advertised on TV all the time in the states?

[bekateen]

Hi TTA,

Why won't cutting the piece a bit too wide work? Are you concerned that the natural bowing which occurs would allow the sponge to lean over and shift too easily?

As far as glue support, silicone should hold, as I've seen plenty of examples of Mattens restrained by thin strips of glass glued to the tank (I've used silicone to bond glass to plastic before, but but I don't know how well it will hold if there's a lot of strain applied)

Conversely, what about using straight rods or bars of a rigid material, one on each side of the matten with a pin or other small long object perforating the sponge holding the bars on the two sides together, like a support sandwich? Do that at the top and maybe also at the bottom (shouldn't be as critical at bottom though). That would limit bowing and should allow the compression created by the oversized sponge to hold itself in place.

Or am I not understanding the problem?

Good luck,
Eric

[TwoTankAmin]

The problem is the size of the foam vs its thickness. The corner bead looks like this:



I can cut several strips and silicone them to the glass. The will hold the foam in place. One across the bottom glass and the a two one either side of the foam and it stays in place. At the end of the season I can use a blade to remove them and the silicone.

TY Eric

[Martin S]

I'm pretty sure you'll have no problem getting the plastic bead to stick, and as you say, with a blade, it will be easy to remove when needed. There is no pressure being exerted (unless you make the beads much narrower than the foam?) as it's only holding it in place if I understand your plan correctly?
Cheers
Martin