Repaired tank with toxic silicone.

[DigitalEmotion]

Hello,

Sad to report that my tank sprung a leak and in my haste I bought a silicone that is apparently toxic to my fish, 2 have died already and the other two i have put in an emergency hospital tank that I set up.

The silicone was supposed to have no additives or mould inhibiters and yet there is obviously something toxic as it has rapidly killed off two out of my 5 goldfish, I am not sure the others will make it but they are on constant attention. This is my fault as in my haste I rushed to repair the tank.

Heres my question.. Will i need to throw out all my filter media and gravel with the good bacteria and start from scratch? Will that too be contaminated? OR would it be safe to still use the filter media once the water has been drained from the tank. I have resided myself to setting up and cycling from scratch but want advice first!

Thanks for reading and I look forward to any help and advice!

 

[Goldguru]

silicone is inert once cured.
curing takes about 24hrs per 0.010 inches of thickness.
so 0.250 or 1/4 inch thick takes over 25 days to stop out gassing acetic acid.

although the outside has skinned over it will continue to outgass for that period,it will take alot longer if under water.

likely the fish died due to a very low PH drop.
lower the water level below the repair & wait a month or so to allow proper out gassing time then your good togo.
transfer as much filter/bio into hospital tank,depending on level of repair will tell you if the gravel is saveable, it only needs to stay wet to survive.
I believe nitrobacteria just goes dormant below ~5 PH so it should also recover ok.
msds for clear aqua safe silicone
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/a1/a12dd342-15df-4ca3-92fc-8204bdf74281.pdf

google what you used & compare.

 

[Fresh2o]

By chance, what is the name of the silicone sealer that you used (brand/product)?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[DigitalEmotion]

Thanks for the reply guys,

The brand i was using was Diall All Purpose, It was the only one that didn't say it had fungicide so I took the gamble.

Another fish on its way out this morning in the hospital tank so the off gassing must have been strong enough to poison them.

I have completely removed all the silicone and residue and will re set it tonight with proper silicone I purchased from the Aquarium supply store,

I do feel awful as those fish were in their prime of heath in my care and one stupid mistake has caused all this, talk about guilt! Lesson learned and I hope others think before making the same mistake i did.