HELP... used wrong silicone

a couple fish passed away and my anemone...
so I pulled the rest of the fish out and put them in my hospital tank...
they are doing ok now...
but need to know if have it take it all down and start over...
I know i have to redo the baffles in the sump ... but don't know how much it affected the actual tank
 
Tough call man. I vote drain. Not sure at what level the toxins in the silicone are toxic. For that matter if they can ruin live rock. Run lots of carbon and keep fingers crossed.
 
tons of carbon, 50% water changes for a few days and poly-pad if you have it. if it is in your sump take the sump off-line, home the heaters to the display and put in an air pump.

personally I would scrape the new silicone out, clean with rubbing alchahol and redo with the right silicone. I like the RTV-108 from GE. used it to replace the side glass on my 40 gallon breeder sump and put in 3 glass baffles with it.

hang in there!
 
Clownfish... survived...

So the vote it empty the tank...
& redo the sump baffles with the correct silicone


What to do with the live rock, sub straight? rise the rock & sand?
Is the cheato still good or no?
 
I would post to the chemistry forum and get the right set of eyes on that question. I personally dont know what chemical in that silicone causes problems and if it has a lifespan in the tank.
 
I would drain it and clean it out.
You really don't want an antimicrobial leeching into the tank. It will kill the good bacteria as well as the bad ones... I also wonder if it causes the current bacteria to build up a resistance to the antimicrobial which makes it more difficult to treat the tank when you need to.
 
Actually... I'm not sure if that one has an antimicrobial in it. First look suggests that it doesnt but usually many of the bathroom caulks have at least an antimildew component.
 
I would QT everything that is alive and start the tank over completely and not just the sump. Clean skimmer and all pumps and replace/clean water lines as good as you can. Give the tank a vinegar scrub and hope for the best. I wonder if the anti mildew chemical could be absorbed in your tanks seals...

Edit: I'm not sure how the chemical will react to vinegar, or if it will even neutralize the agent. I'd do a little more research on removing the chemical first. I have seen a few threads on this in the past.
 
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Either way, I'd QT the livestock including the live rock and corals in seawater that hasn't been in contact with the tank/sump. Then I'd drain the tank/sump, and if the silicone has either antimicrobial or antifungal (it should say on the tube ;)) I'd scrape that off, re-do it with proper silicone, let cure, and then re-fill with NEW seawater. Transfer your stuff back over and run some heavy carbon for a while just in case. As long as you match salinity, temp, and pH the livestock shouldn't really have a problem with transferring to "new" water. I do close to 100% water changes on my tank as a routine part of maintenance. Never lost a thing as a result.
 
Not certain that Groov is silicone. Everything that GE says about it is that it is like silicone. No where do they say it is silicone.
If it were silicone it would have given off a strong vinegar odor when it cured. Best bet is to get rid of it totally from the sump & start over.
 
I don't know if GE Groov is a problem.

I strongly suspect the anemone died because it got burnt by the heater, which also caused it to release nematocysts which killed fishes.
 
Between the heater and this your tank has been through some trials and tribulations. For now assume the silicone is bad - get a 50% change in and run carbon - at this point there is something going on and it is a time proven measure to take against possible contamination, including anything being released by your corals from the stress.
100% seems a bit much, then again I see where you are coming from.

IMO I would redo the baffles.

Now you know you did everything you could have to restore order in the tank - for me that goes a long way :)
 
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