Help!! LFS used wrong silicone in sump build.

IDLegend · Mar 16, 2015

So about 6 months ago i went to a LFS to have them add baffles to a new 55 gal tank i bought... the owner told me he contracts it out and they build a bunch of sumps so i trusted them... the sump looked good and i installed it. fastforward to last week and i lost a fish, then yesterday i lost a acro ... so i called another lfs who ive been going to to come check out my tank... as soon as i opened the cabinet he looked at the silicone and it was yellow with red and chunky algae stuck all over it... instantly he says thats the problem... they used the wrong silicone... so i tested water perameters and they are all good... emptied the sump and having it rebuilt with the right silicone... only have one fish in the main display and a clean up crew with a few corals(sps,lps,zoas) running carbon in the main display and did a large water change... do you think this has leached in the rock and sand or am i ok with just doing the water changes and running carbon?? Tank is a 120 oceanic tech and i have two mp40s for flow... Super ****** about this situation and the original lfs i went to is now under new ownership... grrrrrrr!!! so no warrenty on the sump...

Mike in CT · Mar 16, 2015

I'm pretty sure it is pretty common for new silicone to get that yellow/orange type algae or whatever it is growing on it in the beginning. I had the same thing and I used silicone right from all-glass so I know it was the correct kind. I have heard this from other people as well. I think your going to be ok.

IDLegend · Mar 17, 2015

I've had a few glass sumps with acrylic baffles and have never seen the silicone turn yellow.. this was really weird.. the silicone had absorbed the yellow and was glowing when i took it out and hosed it off...

Mike in CT · Mar 17, 2015

Yes it's looks a bit radioactive.... lol

tigerdragon · Mar 17, 2015

May have used a silicone with mold/mildew inhibitors in it.

IDLegend · Mar 17, 2015

That is exactly what they used.... will this affect the tank or will i be ok scraping the old silicone out and installing new silicone, running carbon and doing a water change... do you think it has leached into live rock and substrate??

Mike in CT · Mar 17, 2015

Are you positive they used the wrong silicone? As I stated before, this discoloration of the silicone pretty much happens to everyone who uses aquarium safe silicone in their sump.
If you do a search you will find thread after thread discussing this. I think it has to go with the silicone curing, but it eventually goes away.

Eric81 · Mar 17, 2015

I once used the wrong silicon in my sump....the kind with mold inhibitor. It killed 80% of my livestock within 24 hrs. I saved what I could and ran the tank with rock and sand for about a month with heavy carbon and poly filter. Also replaced the sump. Then slowly started adding livestock back in. Everything did fine and now I have s tank full of healthy corals, including sps. Your tank should be fine with a little tlc.

Cheers!

IDLegend · Mar 18, 2015

I did notice the other threads but there wasn't much info on them and most all of them ended up replacing the silicone... I'm pretty sure they used the wrong silicone... Water quality is perfect and doesn't explain fish and coral loss... Only thing it could be is this silicone...

thejuggernaut · Mar 18, 2015

It's amazing that people who make their livings in this industry don't understand the very very basics of things. If I was your LFS I would never use that contractor again, and you deserve some restitution for your losses. Too many fly by night operations in this industry. Good reputations take time and money to build, and should afford premium prices. Sounds like the new store is good. The guy came to your house to check out your tank. That is service and something worth rewarding. As far as being under new ownership, if they bought the business and maintained the name then you should insist they honor the warranty, loudly in the middle of a busy store if necessary. If you buy a business you don't just inherit the assets, you inherent the liabilities. I hope it all works out, but either way I think that would be the last time I spend money in that store. Too many good online vendors who care about their customers, to shop at a store that only half way cares. That whole shop local thing only goes so far with me.

GreatWhiteTang · Mar 18, 2015

A. Silicone turns yellow sometimes... Doesn't mean it's the wrong kind, if it's older the acetyl acid that. Males. It. Liquid can cause yellowing as it evaporates from the silicone itself..

B. If it was the type with mold inhibitor, I feel you would have lost a lot more coral and livestock than you did.

C. Water quality is not the only thing that can kill fish, I've see fish get spooked run into wall have a mini seizure and die. Correlation is not causation

D. Running carbon while the sump is. Rebuilt. And a water change or two. Should be fine and you will be Ok. If it was contaminated I feel the die off would have occurred in the first 48 hrs..

Good luck hope everything works out.!!!

ca1ore · Mar 18, 2015

As noted earlier, there are countless threads across the internet about silicone problems. If you check the material safety data sheets on both GEI and GEII there is no mention of any 'mold inhibitor'. I believe that the 'mold inhibitor' in GEII is a function of it being a neutral cure silicone rather than GEI which is an acetyl/acid cure. I have been told that the neutral cure is more toxic in its uncured state and since it doesn't have the strong smell, may be used too soon. I have used both kinds in sumps and had no problems with either .... as long as you give it plenty of time to cure properly. I'm talking a week at least, maybe more. It's no coincidence that when one buys a custom tank, it takes them a month or two to make the tank - most of it silicone curing time.

Further, I have had both kinds of silicone go yellow, or even pink. I'm not really sure of the cause, and have read no definitive explanation (beyond speculation). It doesn't appear to do any harm. If the OPs sump was the cause of the problem, I'd put it down to improperly cured silicone rather than some mythical mold inhibitor. Of course, there are countless reasons that a fish or a coral can die .....