Aquarium sealant before silicone

Yup, first joined in the mid-80's when i really got into natives in grad school, then lapsed for several years, re-joined and maintained membership for about the past decade. Been a fish keeper since B.S. days (Before Silicone); i still have 2 steel-frame tanks in use (resealed of course). Gerald

Gerald,

Would you remind me again what that grey stuff really was that they used to seal tanks before the days of silicone? I only know about it because I've read about it in the Innes books. Is it still around (i.e., purchaseable) in some form? And what was the deal with slate bottomed tanks, anyway?

Travis

Some kind of tar-epoxy goo; i dont really know what it was. But you could buy it in a can, had to heat it up then pour it into the seams quickly befoer it cooled, so i'm told. Silicone was around by the time i was old enough to fix a tank, so i never used the tar sealant. Silicone doesnt hold well on slate, so if a steel-frame tank leaked i either broke out the slate and replaced it with glass, or just laid glass ontop of the slate and siliconed it in.

Here's another bit of fish hobby history: Bob Goldstein says when he was a kid in NYC pet stores didnt use plastic bags. He took fish home in wax-lined paper boxes, the kind used for chinese food.

Gerald,

Would you remind me again what that grey stuff really was that they used to seal tanks before the days of silicone? I only know about it because I've read about it in the Innes books. Is it still around (i.e., purchaseable) in some form? And what was the deal with slate bottomed tanks, anyway?

Travis

There were various recipes containg things like linseed oil, varnish, asphalt, red lead.

I also remember the paper cartons from the LFS.

Yes, I seem to recall reading that "asphaltum" was a popular name for the stuff. Looking through some old books, I've found a few recipies for various concoctions which all sound perfectly awful, most of the ingredients having names so long out of use I can't guess what they meant. It's a wonder to me that we were able to do as well as we did before silicone, but I suppose the more objectionable chemicals leached out over time, eventually leaving the remainder relatively inert.