how long does silicone need to cure

[jejton]

I need to silicone the drain piping on my skimmer. How long do I have to let it dry or cure before I can hook it up to the tank?

 

[NYreefNoob]

a good 3 days or more for it to fully cure

 

[fritz]

Read the package, some take up to four weeks some take 24-48 hours.

 

[autoponicz]

jejton.....all you need is a small bead of silicone on the piping and put the silicone near the end of the pipe and press the plumbing together...after that smooth out the silicone around the connections....you can pretty much use it the next day because even without silicone...the joints will barely leak so your good to go....

 

[jejton]

thanks. Im still confused as to using the skimmer. how high should the water be in it and do I use the ball valve before or after teh skimmer to do the adjustments?

 

[masterswimmer]

Ball valve always goes behind the skimmer. Never in front.

swimmer

 

[jejton]

the skimmer comes with its own ball valve on the output but I'm gravity feeding it off of my drain so there is a ball valve earlier in that line as well.

 

[autoponicz]

yes a 1/2" ball valve,,,,but they are hard to use but a canister filter valve will work better....the ones i like are the ones that comes with the phosban reactors

the valve feeding the skimmer determines how much flow goes into it...the output of the skimmer is for water level adjustment.....once you get the system running and play with the adjustments...you'll learn what to do...