I am in DIRE need of guidance here. I was conducting normal weekly maintenance of my tank, and noticed a rather large crack forming in the upper plastic support of my tempered glass tank. I did not want the support to split and run the risk of bowing the front of my tank and causing the corners to come unsealed, so I attempted to epoxy the split back together. (Not a very wise decision in hindsight) I did not realize the crack went straight through to the underside of the lip on the tank, and JB Weld leaked into the water. Before I could get everything shut down to prevent the power heads, and skimmer from circulating it throughout the water column, it was too late. The skimmer almost immediately began to spew micro bubbles, indicating that the tensile strength in the water was shot. There is now an oily film all over the top of the water and it wreaks of petroleum! I do not have anything "Live" in my setup yet, as it is currently in the middle of cycle, but I do have about 75 lbs of crushed coral substrate, 100 lbs of base rock and about 10 lbs of live rock in the tank. Is there ANY hope of getting this crap back out of my water, or am I just going to have to suck it up and start over. I am extremely concerned if I DO start over, I will never get it out of my base rock and substrate. PLEASE offer any guidance you can...other than the obvious fact I was an idiot to attempt to epoxy this in the first place. Thank you.
HELP!!!!!!!!!! JB Kwik Weld in My Water!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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Epoxies are fairly hydrophobic and will bind to stuff like GAC. The hardened stuff will mostly just sit where it is, assuming both parts were mixed in.
The best bet is to use extra GAC and keep the skimmer running. Make it wet skim if you can. Don't worry excessively about solid chunks that may be in hard to remove places.
An organic binder such as Purigen may also help.
Epoxies are fairly hydrophobic and will bind to stuff like GAC. The hardened stuff will mostly just sit where it is, assuming both parts were mixed in.
The best bet is to use extra GAC and keep the skimmer running. Make it wet skim if you can. Don't worry excessively about solid chunks that may be in hard to remove places.
An organic binder such as Purigen may also help.
saltyphish
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For future use. JB waterweld is reef safe! I used it for my live rock as many others have as well with success.
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Interestingly enough, nitrifiers will degrade oil slicks and various hydrocarbons so after a few wc's and bacterial metabolism I bet you are ok
there are neat online published reviews about massive tanker oil spills in africa being treated with nitrifers like what is in our tanks, thought that was neat. and for the unprounounceable ingredients in jb w i dont know lol but its not the strangest thing Ive heard being used in association w tanks. that would be bug poison.
there are neat online published reviews about massive tanker oil spills in africa being treated with nitrifers like what is in our tanks, thought that was neat. and for the unprounounceable ingredients in jb w i dont know lol but its not the strangest thing Ive heard being used in association w tanks. that would be bug poison.
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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:thumb:
Good luck and let us know if anything unexpected happens.
Good luck and let us know if anything unexpected happens.
