Originally Posted by Carrera75 (Post 665511)

A friend and I built a back chamber for my new cube tank and we used GE Silicone II and I would like to know if GE Silicone II is reef safe. Up until now all the info that I have found says that it is NOT safe but I am hoping to get some feedback from people with some experience with this product.

Another reefer shared this link not long ago and it makes me think that the other reefer that helped me out build the back chamber used the wrong Silicone.
http://www.reeftime.com/diy-reef-pro...ef-safe/23.htm

I recently shut down my 34 gallon Solana and set up a cube tank. This transfer was very planned and I made sure that all corals, fish and liverock were placed in Rubbermaid containers immediately. Each container had a powerhead or two to keep the water moving and a heater to make sure that the temperature remained stable. All corals were open and happy during this time but all this changed as soon as they went into the new tank.

Tank is currently not doing well and I am losing corals fast and I am afraid that the GE Silicone II is the responsible for all the loses. I was even told by the reefer that told me to use the GE Silicone II to put a fan in front of the back chamber and this would cure the Silicone in about 4 hours. This idea didn't sound right to me so I let it cure for over 2 days instead. There is no other explanation for what's going on in my tank. The liverock has been in my systems for the last 7 years and I used new sand. I get it that a small cycle might happen but not this. Whatever this is, it's killing my corals. So far I have lost an Aussie Gold Torch, Neon Green and Blue Wall Hammer, Orange Frogspawn, Galaxia and it seems that the Octopus Frogsoawn is on its way out too. All 9 Rock Flower Anemones spawned last night and the rest of the corals are not looking good.

I started doing water changes as soon as I realized that there was something wrong with the tank and finally got did some water testing last night. Phosphates, Nitrites and Nitrates were at 0.0 but Ammonia was at 0.25 ppm. I quickly did another water change, waited a bit and tested again. The w/c seemed to bring down the Ammonia to 0.0. I also started running Purigen and ROWAphos hoping that this will eliminate whatever it's that's bothering the corals.

I am so :mad: right now.....

Originally Posted by msjboy (Post 665515)

That is a shame...i think you have one of nicest tanks around that is sumpless and skimmerless. Hope you can replensih the stock with frags you passed on in the past.... How are the 200 rics doing?
Msjboy

Originally Posted by Carrera75 (Post 665511)

Another reefer and I built a back chamber for my new cube tank and we used GE Silicone II. He assured me that it was totally reef safe and I believed him but now I am not so sure that this thing is reef safe so I thought I would ask other reefers what their views are on this product. Up until now all the info that I have found says that it is NOT safe but I am hoping to get some feedback from people with some experience with this product.

Another reefer shared this link not long ago and it makes me think that the other reefer that helped me out build the back chamber used the wrong Silicone.
http://www.reeftime.com/diy-reef-pro...ef-safe/23.htm

I recently shut down my 34 gallon Solana and set up a cube tank. This transfer was very planned and I made sure that all corals, fish and liverock were placed in Rubbermaid containers immediately. Each container had a powerhead or two to keep the water moving and a heater to make sure that the temperature remained stable. All corals were open and happy during this time but all this changed as soon as they went into the new tank.

Tank is currently not doing well and I am losing corals fast and I am afraid that the GE Silicone II is the responsible for all the loses. I was even told by the reefer that told me to use the GE Silicone II to put a fan in front of the back chamber and this would cure the Silicone in about 4 hours. This idea didn't sound right to me so I let it cure for over 2 days instead. There is no other explanation for what's going on in my tank. The liverock has been in my systems for the last 7 years and I used new sand. I get it that a small cycle might happen but not this. Whatever this is, it's killing my corals. So far I have lost an Aussie Gold Torch, Neon Green and Blue Wall Hammer, Orange Frogspawn, Galaxia and it seems that the Octopus Frogsoawn is on its way out too. All 9 Rock Flower Anemones spawned last night and the rest of the corals are not looking good.

I started doing water changes as soon as I realized that there was something wrong with the tank and finally got did some water testing last night. Phosphates, Nitrites and Nitrates were at 0.0 but Ammonia was at 0.25 ppm. I quickly did another water change, waited a bit and tested again. The w/c seemed to bring down the Ammonia to 0.0. I also started running Purigen and ROWAphos hoping that this will eliminate whatever it's that's bothering the corals.

I am so :mad: right now.....

Originally Posted by unclesalty (Post 665517)

Just reread your post and its definitely the cause. 2 days isn't even close to letting it cure. I have heard you need weeks and weeks to let GE II cure.

Originally Posted by Carrera75 (Post 665518)

Can you believe I was told to put a fan in front of the back chamber and this would cure it in 4 hours..............grrrrrrr I feel like kicking somebody's butt right now

Originally Posted by bkelly (Post 665521)

I just had a big crash and lost all my SPS after re siliconing my sump and letting it cure for over 24 hrs using the same GE II silicone. I am not certain it was the silicone or just a kill from having to pull my sump for 2-3 days but all my SPS except 2 pieces died my LPS suffered but not as bad. I had done reading on line and found most posts were saying THE Blue/white tube of GE silicone II was reef safe. Either way killed everything.
I put tons of carbon in my reactor and did water changes till the town was out of salt - for the first few weeks i was changing nearly daily as much as i could do. ITs been 2 months i guess, the tanks better, and starting to support itself with less water changes. And its supporting SPS again.
If your seeing signs id frag whats still alive best you can and that into a diff system to hopefully have something left , .
My crash drug on for a weeks thats what leads me to think it was poisoned. Nothing survived it , my parameters werent out of wack from what i could recall although you could smell the death.
Hope you dont get it as severe but if you want to be safe id recommend doing some quick fragging.
All the best Brent

Originally Posted by Borderjumper (Post 665525)

I always thought that GE11 had mold and mildew inhibitors and shouldn't be used in aquariums. A quick google kinda confirms this?

Originally Posted by Borderjumper (Post 665532)

I would call GE tomorrow.. There must be a number on the silicone tube. Ask them what's in it, and how long it would take to dissipate.

I was googling and found a post on some chiclid forum.. It mentioned that recently GE changed their formulas so that all of their products now contain mold/mildew inhibitors. I don't know if this is fact or not.. If this is true don't be too fast to blame your bud.. Maybe it used to be reef safe?

Water changes certainly won't hurt!

Originally Posted by Aquattro (Post 665563)

Doug, I don't think that's the moral of the story here at all. I'm pretty sure All Glass doesn't make silicone, it's just re-branded, and I wouldn't be surprised if it came out of GE. It's like buying Two Little Fishies seaweed (with the little dotted cut your sushi roll here lines) vs. grocery store nori. One is simply packaged for the hobby at a good profit for the repackager. The same with silicone.

Originally Posted by Aquattro (Post 665551)

I used GE II on my tank and have had no issues at all. I did let it cure longer, but 48 hours should be more than enough time to seal it chemically.

Originally Posted by Aquattro (Post 665553)

However, this was over a year ago, so if the formula changed, you might be affected by it. Last year your buddy was right, GE II "was" reef safe...

Originally Posted by asmodeus (Post 665554)

Wow man I'm so sorry to hear about this. Your tank was so flourishing with life

Originally Posted by Seamazter (Post 665555)

Do like 5% water changes every 2 days, and use alot of carbon.
This is a sad thing to see happen, if you cannot move your corals out of the tank try the advise above.

Originally Posted by Lonster (Post 665556)

I just used GE II about a month ago to build my new sump. I read there was issues when it was not left to cure long enough, I left mine for about 5 days until it didn't give off a smell anymore and have had no problems with it. There are two different types, one with mildew inhibitor and one without, I was told to make sure that I used the one without. Are you sure you used the one without the mildew inhibitors?

Originally Posted by Mandosh (Post 665600)

Both GE I and GE II have "kitchen & bath" (mildew inhibitors) and "window & door." The issue with GEII, from my understanding, is the fact that it is considered "neutral cure." It doesn't realease acids as it cures (so it doesn't stink like vinegar) and because of this it can leach substances (ammonia?) into the tank water for the first couple weeks.

Originally Posted by fishytime (Post 665557)

Really sorry to hear about your losses.....I guess the moral of the story is.... Don't cheap out..... It's amazing to me how many folks look for cheap alternatives for things in this hobby..... Only silicone I've ever used is All Glass aquarium silicone..... Way more expensive than GE or any other brand, but at least I KNOW that it is aquarium safe...... GEs products are not formulated with the aquarium hobby in mind and small changes in formulation can obviously have a big effect..... Again sorry for your issues

Originally Posted by Aquattro (Post 665610)

I also didn't use it to save money, the GE I wasn't available in black, so I used the II. It cured for a few weeks before I added water, but the tank has been running for a year+ and doing well. Perhaps they have changed the formula since then and it contains the inhibitors mentioned.

Originally Posted by bkelly (Post 665621)

cold you PM me the GE reps email? The silicone i used was GEII window and door, like to ask him if mold inhibitors are in it? I had read this one was ok.

Originally Posted by bkelly (Post 665617)

So do you guys think that a tank /sump that currently is running and has GE ii silicone in it needs to have the silicone removed because of the possibility of it leaching mold inhibitors?

Originally Posted by Aquattro (Post 665626)

I'd say that if the tank is fine now, it should stay fine. I don't think chemicals hang around for a while and decide one day to leach (relative to this scenario).
As I mentioned, I used the GE II and had no problems, so I wouldn't now tear my tank apart to replace it :)
Based on the rep stating that the formula changes, I probably wouldn't use it again, just in case. Silicone I and GE 1200 are both safe options, so I'll use those on future tanks.

Originally Posted by Carrera75 (Post 665629)

I think you are right again:wink:. If you are not having any problems now, I doubt you'll have them later.

Aquattro, you mentioned that GE I and 1200 are reef safe. Do you know where I could buy some?

Finally, do you guys think that it's safe to use the sand that's currently in the tank again? It's practically new sand but I am not sure if it would absorb some of the toxic stuff that the silicone has released in the water.

Originally Posted by Carrera75 (Post 665629)

Aquattro, you mentioned that GE I and 1200 are reef safe. Do you know where I could buy some?

Originally Posted by ensquire (Post 665652)

Just a suggestion, seeing that you live in Vancouver
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/mc...+10.3+oz..html