Tips for siliconing glass panels?

[ZenMastr1968]

I was reading through smcnally's build thread and saw the idea of taping the glass to limit silicone cleanup. The question is, I'm going to be siliconing in 1/4" panels into a 29 gal aquarium to make a sump and was wondering if it would be better to mask the areas inside the tank, run a bead of silicone in those areas (between the tape), slide the panel in, then reshape or touch-up the fillets. The other option is to put the panels in place and then run a bead around on each side. Thoughts? It seems like it might squish into the gap better if the silicone is already in place when the panel goes in, but having not done it before I just don't know. Any advice you can give would be appreciated. Also do the panels need to be supported vertically to keep them straight while the silicone is curing??

Thanks

 

[Mini4x]

I made "feet" to keep it all square..

 

[JohnK]

Take a look at this thread, I posted a couple of pics of almost exactly what you described. Works great, smooth out with an ice cube, peel up tape, done.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=58856

 

[Miller]

Take a look at this thread, I posted a couple of pics of almost exactly what you described. Works great, smooth out with an ice cube, peel up tape, done.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=58856

Never heard of the ice cube trick before with silicone. I have always just used wet finger method, but I guess that is similar to and ice cube.

 

[ZenMastr1968]

Take a look at this thread, I posted a couple of pics of almost exactly what you described. Works great, smooth out with an ice cube, peel up tape, done.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=58856

Thanks, I knew I had seen it somewhere else as well....