Water stinks of Epoxy

saltlife26 · Jul 31, 2018

Hello All, I used the Boston Aqua Farms reef epoxy yesterday to stick a frag on my rock and the epoxy smells terrible! Not only did I find the frag fallen off the rock this morning, my tank water stinks of this epoxy. All my livestock are fine but the smell is really pungent. I removed the epoxy off the rock this morning. Should I be concerned and do I need to do a water change? I just did a water change on Sunday. Please advise. Thank you.

HotRocks · Jul 31, 2018

I would run GAC (if you aren't already) and do a WC just as a precaution.

andrewkw · Jul 31, 2018

How much epoxy did you use? Are your fish acting normal? I'd consider adding some extra aeration the tank as a precaution.

saltlife26 · Jul 31, 2018

HotRocks said:
I would run GAC (if you aren't already) and do a WC just as a precaution.

I am running GFO but will do another water change this evening. Thank you.

saltlife26 · Jul 31, 2018

andrewkw said:
How much epoxy did you use? Are your fish acting normal? I'd consider adding some extra aeration the tank as a precaution.

Fish are acting normal. I used around a quarter size. Even when I cut the epoxy, it smelled awful- not sure if all epoxy smell this way. I have a Hydor Koralia powerhead that I am not using and I will plug that back in this evening.

andrewkw · Jul 31, 2018

If they are acting normal then they likely aren't oxygen starved. This is a real concern when you use lots of epoxy at once. The amount you used should not be an issue. Really weird that it smells though. Epoxy does have a bad smell that will stay on your hands for a while but you should not be able to smell it in the water at all. Did it just fall apart? When you removed the epoxy was it fully cured or still soft?

saltlife26 · Jul 31, 2018

andrewkw said:
If they are acting normal then they likely aren't oxygen starved. This is a real concern when you use lots of epoxy at once. The amount you used should not be an issue. Really weird that it smells though. Epoxy does have a bad smell that will stay on your hands for a while but you should not be able to smell it in the water at all. Did it just fall apart? When you removed the epoxy was it fully cured or still soft?

When I removed the epoxy this morning and it was still soft and literally falling apart. I did use the epoxy under water when I had to place my new frag on the live rock yesterday.

andrewkw · Jul 31, 2018

saltlife26 said:
When I removed the epoxy this morning and it was still soft and literally falling apart. I did use the epoxy under water when I had to place my new frag on the live rock yesterday.

I would throw the rest out. Something is wrong with the epoxy, maybe it's just old but if it did not cure overnight it is of no use to you. The cure time is pretty quick with most of this stuff. About 10 years ago I decided to mount a lot of pieces and used a ton of epoxy (an entire tube). My water turned cloudy and almost all of my fish died due to oxygen deprivation. That being said I don't think you have anything to worry about, at least as far as fish suffocating. None of my corals were effected. Run carbon to get rid of the smell, maybe do an extra water change if you are really concerned and just continue to monitor the tank. I hope this story doesn't scare you but again since you've already made it a night I don't think you have too much to worry about.

saltlife26 · Jul 31, 2018

andrewkw said:
I would throw the rest out. Something is wrong with the epoxy, maybe it's just old but if it did not cure overnight it is of no use to you. The cure time is pretty quick with most of this stuff. About 10 years ago I decided to mount a lot of pieces and used a ton of epoxy (an entire tube). My water turned cloudy and almost all of my fish died due to oxygen deprivation. That being said I don't think you have anything to worry about, at least as far as fish suffocating. None of my corals were effected. Run carbon to get rid of the smell, maybe do an extra water change if you are really concerned and just continue to monitor the tank. I hope this story doesn't scare you but again since you've already made it a night I don't think you have too much to worry about.

Got it thanks. How much water should I change? Typically I do a 20% change.

HotRocks · Jul 31, 2018

saltlife26 said:
I am running GFO but will do another water change this evening. Thank you.

You can leave your GFO running but I would at a minimum run some carbon. At least a bag in high flow portion of sump.

andrewkw · Jul 31, 2018

I would say stick with your 20%. The last thing you want to do is panic and throw your parameters out of wack. If you don't have the water change water ready do your normal routine to get it ready. If you have carbon run that now and then replace it in a day or 2. Even the carbon may be enough, but do an extra "normal" water change is not going to hurt. Rushing to replace all the water maybe.

saltlife26 · Jul 31, 2018

HotRocks said:
You can leave your GFO running but I would at a minimum run some carbon. At least a bag in high flow portion of sump.

I am running GFO and Chemipure right now. I believe the Chemipure contains carbon. Should I replace it?

saltlife26 · Jul 31, 2018

andrewkw said:
I would say stick with your 20%. The last thing you want to do is panic and throw your parameters out of wack. If you don't have the water change water ready do your normal routine to get it ready. If you have carbon run that now and then replace it in a day or 2. Even the carbon may be enough, but do an extra "normal" water change is not going to hurt. Rushing to replace all the water maybe.

I am running GFO and Chemipure right now. I believe the Chemipure contains carbon. Should I replace it?