Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board - Losing Corals fast...question about GE Silicone II

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Losing Corals fast...question about GE Silicone II

Another reefer and I built a back chamber for my new cube tank and we used GE Silicone II. I set up the tank and almost immediately I started losing corals and I blame the GE Silicone II. Is this product reef safe?

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 well 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. 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 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.

What should I do now? Should I take everything out of the tank to remove the Silicone?

Quote:

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.....

I just did some research the other day on GE II ! People say its not reef safe and have lost livestock from using it. Some people say its no problem at all though so who knows. Myself I lost some livestock mysteriously when I started up a tank a year ago and I did use it to silicone my 2 corner overflows together. Just use GE SCS1200 to be safe which I actually bought today for my build. Its also the best and strongest silicone money can buy.

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by msjboy (Post 665515)

You have no idea how ****ed I am right now. The new tank was looking amazing that is until corals started dying. I did a very minimalist open aquascape that totally rocks. I might have to tear this tank apart to get rid of the GE Silicone II .

It really hurt to lose the Aussie Gold Torch and Neon Green/Blue Wall Hammer. They were stunning corals :-(
Oh, and the ricordeas are NOT happy right now.......

If I lose most of my corals I'll get out of the hobby for sure.....I would have no desire or time to invest more energy into the hobby

Quote:

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.....

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.

Quote:

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.

I let it cure for over 48 hours

Quote:

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

I left my GE II cure for a week but it was nowhere near long enough. It releases a chemical I read until its fully cured -ammonia I think it was but not 100% sure

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkelly (Post 665521)

What's interesting is that the reefer that helped me out (and recommended to use GE Silicone II) had a major crash after setting up his new cube tank. He used GE Silicone II to build his cube too and he lost 90% of his livestock. It's just now that his tank is slowly bouncing back.

I always thought that GE11 had mold and mildew inhibitors and shouldn't be used in aquariums. A quick google kinda confirms this?
Do you still have the solona? I would fill that up with new salt water and get all my livestock into it ASAP. Might want to keep your rock in a bin for a few days tho separate and do a few water changes on it.. To leach out the chemicals.