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GE Silicone II

4K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  Darkblade48 
#1 ·
My tank had leaked and i had to reseal it. A friend of mine convinced me to buy silicone from HD and return the aquarium silicone i bought. My baby fish are dying and my adults dont look too good. I guess Silicone II has anti mold agents in it that i didnt know about. Question is, will it kill plants too? Is my substrate and everything in the tank contaminated and un-reusable? Thanks
 
#2 ·
I guess you learned the hard way, but always use only aquarium safe silicone. The silicone like you used has those chemicals in it, that are designed to kill stuff like mold, algae, etc. It will take some work, but I think your tank is salvageable. It's hard to tell without waiting to see what happens, the plants may live but probably be badly affected with some melting, death, or severe wilting. The fish will probably slowly die, they may live but suffer a lot and be stressed which may lead to death on down the line.

I would first start by tearing down your tank and removing all décor, plants, etc. The fish could live in a large, clean, 5 gallon bucket for a few days. If you can install your filter on the bucket, great if not, may need to do daily water changes. Thoroughly clean and rinse all décor, plants, etc. and maybe soak in clean uncontaminated water for a day or so. While everything is out of the tank, I would remove any of the GE Silicone II that you used. A good utility knife will help cut and trim out any of that silicone. Once any of the possible bad silicone is removed, clean out the tank well, rinsing thoroughly. Then reseal what is needed with aquarium safe silicone. Let it cure and dry well. Then you should be able to set your tank up. You may want to do a water change daily for the first week, just to be sure any leftover residue or contaminates are gone.

Hope this helps and good luck.
 
#3 ·
Thank you for your reply. Is my eco complete contaminated aswell? Rinsing will help rid of the chemicals? Honestly, i feel like a failure and dont even really want to redo the silicone and trash the tank. I uprooted all the plants and placed them in a bucket with lots of liquid ferts and the light fixture on it. I think its too late for the fish but if i can save the plants, i may restart the tank. I spent well over 60$ in plants to make it the way i want it to look and its completely devastating knowing you did something completely preventable that did more harm than good. Id be a little uneasy redoing the silicone. How potent is the GE II? If i happend to accidently leave traces of the silicone somewhere in a crack, will it still leach out? Im just nervous. i dont know. Any help on what you think i should do to save the plants more? I rinsed them off and they were in the tank for around 7 hours.
 
#4 ·
The plants will probably be okay, as well as the substrate once it is rinsed thoroughly. Fish might be done for though, still worth a shot to try to save them. Your filters may need to be cycled again due to the antimicrobial properties of the GE 2. However, GE silicone 1 is safe for aquariums. Once you cut all the GE 2 out, and the GE 1 is cured, you shouldn't have to worry about any leeching from the previous silicone.

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#6 ·
Awesome. Thank you guys. Another issue though. im tearing the tank down right now. Im scooping out the substrate when i realized theres root tabs (osmocote) within the substrate. I know its bad getting that stuff in the water column. But i have to scoop everything out. If i rinse the substrate like i will do, will it remove the osmocote?
 
#8 ·
GE silicon 1 window and doors clear is safe... I used it for my 3d background in my 55, and it's been running over a year and is fine. no fish loss. Just make sure it is cured before adding water.. but it is the same as the stuff you buy at the LFS. it's 100% silicone. GE just can't say it is safe for aquariums due to potential lawsuit with the other company. But it does work.. Just make sure it is doesn't have mold or mildew protection.
 
#9 ·
As you are rinsing and stirring the substrate you will probably find most of the Osmocote. Set these aside and it is probably just fine to reuse them, but they are cheap enough simply to throw away, too.

If, when you set up the tank again, you see a few remnants of the Osmocote near the surface, I would just poke it down as deep as you can under the substrate.
 
#15 ·
I waited about 36 hours to fill the tank up. The stuff was potent. Like I felt the hairs in my nose being burned when a strong wiff came up. It was bad. I had to hold my breath when i was sealing it on the bottom. I knew that there was some silicone that wasnt good for aquariums but i went with my friend to home depot and he chose the kind that was cheaper. He convinced me because it still said 100% silicone on the bottle.
 
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