cycling new tank problems

[mkultra]

Well about a month ago I acquired a 60 gallon acrylic tank and have been owrking on it since then. It is for my Red Ear Sliders and various fish. It is filled up with about 40 gallons.

I built a background, turtle land and waterfall out of plexiglass, aquarium gravel, 100% silicone and epoxy.

I waited for everythingto dry for a week and then soaked it in the aquarium for 4 days. I then drained out all that water and refilled again. I turned on the canister filter added water conditioner and waited another 2 days to adjust to room temperature before I put feeder fish in to test out and break in the tank. I also transplated gravel from the tank that my fish and turtles are in now into the gravel of the new tank to get the bacteria growing faster in the new tank.

So I put the feeder fish in last night. I let the bag sit in the water for 30 min for the temperature to adjust, and I tested the pH of the aquarium and the water the fish were in. the pH was 7 for both and the temperature was 69 degrees F.

They were swimming around for a few hours last night but when I woke up this morning they were all dead.

 

[justrelax]

Was the silicone and epoxy you used aquarium safe? Dead fish that quick I'm guessing is due to poisoning...
Also, you will need to cycle the tank. Just adding seed material from the other tank will not do it alone. You will need an ammonia source, a test kit, and a few weeks of patience. There are great articles you can find linked from the home page here on fishless cycling, how to do it, and what to expect.

 

[mkultra]

The silicone I used was GE Silicone 1 clear which I've heard is aqaurium safe because its 100% silicone. The epoxy I used was devcon which I was under the impression that cured epoxy is aquarium safe

I also forgot to mention, I used novus 1, 2 and 3 along with a micro mesh polishing kit to get all the scratches out of the aquarium since it was used. Could that have poisoned the water? Even after I cleaned it off afterward and filled/flushed the tank 3 or more times?

 

[justrelax]

I'm not familiar with acrylic tanks so I can't comment on that part. I was just on the Devcon site and didn't see anything listed as non-toxic... Post exactly which of their products you used and someone may be able to tell you if it was indeed safe or not.

 

[mkultra]

Products Used:

Devcon 5 minute epoxy
GE Silicone 1
Novus Abrasive and Polisher #1, 2 and 3
Micro-Mesh Polishing Kit (various grades of very fine sandpapers and a bottle of polishing compound

Penn-Plax 700 Canister Filter with:

Ammo-Carb
Coarse Media Sponge
Polyfill

Aquarium Safe Rocks

 

[justrelax]

The GE silicone 1 is fine. I'm really sceptical about the Devcon stuff. Their website, while it does say the stuff is non-toxic, doesn't say anything about it being aquarium safe. Same with the Novus stuff.
You may want to re-post this as "Questions about acrylic tanks" to get it more attention from someone who could tell you for sure... Good luck!

 

[mkultra]

thanks!