300 g holocaust, Huge Mistake

[Ras Bubbles]

Ahoy!! My fellow reef people, I made a 300 gallon mistake. Well after finally filling up and cycling all that water and fully seeding with all the necessary pods and such. I ended up having to change my plans of securing my scape and ended up using GE Silicone 1 to cure under water. Gigantic mistake! Now everything is dead. My only ? Can the water still be salvaged ?

 

[fishguy242]

hi sorry don't think so.
possibly filtering through carbon, metazorb a few times ??
not sure,
others will chime in ,good luck.

 

[131696]

Yep that silicone has to dry for no less then 24 hrs before using in tank ,time to start over and get some reef safe mortar that you can use immediatel.water contamination don't use it Even if you use carbon just start over to make sure

 

[Lowkey reefing]

That's odd,

Oh yeah you have to let it cure for 24hrs. I dont know how long itlls leach out if not cured.

If you dont want to start over id run 400 gallons worth of chemipure amazon to jars treat 75gals worth for under 40$ for a week and and a 50% water change maybe two. But then again thats a risk because you'll never know if the toxic crap is gone fully.

Might be better to drain it, take the rocks out, clean em and start over. At least the tank wasnt fully stocked.

To help with cost go with the reef crystals buckets you'll need two for like 75$ wont get you exactly 300 gals worth but close.

 

[Ras Bubbles]

hi sorry don't think so.
possibly filtering through carbon, metazorb a few times ??
not sure,
others will chime in ,good luck.

Yep that silicone has to dry for no less then 24 hrs before using in tank ,time to start over and get some reef safe mortar that you can use immediatel.water contamination don't use it Even if you use carbon just start over to make sure

I also thought of carbon but I’m also thinking of trace elements left behind so unfortunately I would have to agree on a restart. Thanks @fishguy242 , @125

 

[nereefpat]

That's a tough and complicated question. I think GE1 is a acetoxy cure silicone. So as it cures, it releases vinegar-type compounds. It will be safe, once it cures. I would give it a week for thin beads, and longer for thicker beads.

The neutral cure silicones release really nasty stuff, like acetone etc, as they cure. I would make darn sure those are fully cured on those, but that's not we're talking about here.

Anyway...whether you can just wait a while and use the water...I don't know for sure. I have seen a system crash from using a not-fully-cured acetoxy cure silicone and then be safe later on. To be safest, I might wait a week or so, then change all the water. But you might not have to do that.

 

[Ras Bubbles]

Might be better to drain it, take the rocks out, clean em and start over. At least the tank wasnt fully stocked.

So thankful for that, that tank was fully seeded and ready for my mandarins. When I saw the amount of amphipods copapods even possum shrimps all dead, I thought what a waste.

 

[Ras Bubbles]

That's a tough and complicated question. I think GE1 is a acetoxy cure silicone. So as it cures, it releases vinegar-type compounds. It will be safe, once it cures. I would give it a week for thin beads, and longer for thicker beads.

The neutral cure silicones release really nasty stuff, like acetone etc, as they cure. I would make darn sure those are fully cured on those, but that's not we're talking about here.

Anyway...whether you can just wait a while and use the water...I don't know for sure. I have seen a system crash from using a not-fully-cured acetoxy cure silicone and then be safe later on. To be safest, I might wait a week or so, then change all the water. But you might not have to do that.

Hey @ nereefpat. Thats what I was thinking due to it being a acid cure. Currently the tank is not running through its sump; it’s only being aerated by two submersibles right now. My plan was to allow the tank to properly propagate and transfer everything and everyone from my 90g when ready.