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Silicone

littlen

CCA Members
I’m about 9,000% sure I know the answer, and am not looking forward to what it is going to entail to correct the mistake...

But, I inadvertently used this around 4 bulkheads. ANY chance someone out there in the fishyverse used the same/similar product with no consequences? It will be a Festivus Miracle if I get a yes.

Thanks
 

CSnyder00

Bearded Wonder
Brand? Label?

Depends on the grade of silicone. If it's food grade, you're good. That's what most glass tanks are sealed with. Anything else is a guess as to whether it will cause problems. 100% food grade silicone or "aquarium sealant" is all that I ever use.
 

littlen

CCA Members
I’ve been dragging a$$ plumbing a 150 and the bulkheads were probably needlessly siliconed about 3 months ago. The one in the sump will be fully submerged. The 3 in the tank will be ~1/2 submerged. I just didn’t feel like tinkering with a potential bulkhead leak so I unwittingly grabbed that little tube when I had plenty of 795 available. I can probably scrape most of it off from around each bulkhead but am still fearful of the obvious.
 

FishEggs

Well-Known Member
Thats the stuff you dont want ro use. See that mold free product protection label? It kills. Silicone 1 is the safe stuff. Xylene or MEK might get all the residue off but I don't know if those chemicals will leave residue that won't rinse off.
I don't think 795 is supposed to be used for submerged applications, is it? It might be 999. Not sure since its been a while since I've worked with the stuff.
 

littlen

CCA Members
795 is widely used in the aquarium industry (professional and hobbyist) as well as clear aquarium sealant/pure silicone. 795 is black and also has the advantage of curing underwater. It’s typically used for sealing and resealing large acrylic windows. Some parrotfish enjoy picking at it!

I cringed as soon as I saw the mold label. I was hoping someone would chime in and say they used a little and after chipping away as much as they could and letting it cure for a long time, they had no losses.

Looks like I’ll be playing the scrape game and trying to cover up the old stuff with 795 to seal it in against the bulkheads and hope for the best.

Talk about setbacks.
 

CSnyder00

Bearded Wonder
While it may take some time to get the residue off, you can use vinegar to help speed the process. Once you rinse it with water, its harmless. I use it to clean the scale of of my tanks before I store them or after I buy a used tank.
 

littlen

CCA Members
The saga continued. Always important to check the EXPIRATION DATE on sealants. My 795 was expired Jan/16'. So that all had to go as well. After 2 weeks it was the consistency of new Play-Doh.

At least I hit a wave of "Let's do this!" last night and scraped and resealed everything. Nearing completion. Thanks for the suggestions.
 

Marz

Administrator
Staff member
GE Silicone I all the way
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FishEggs

Well-Known Member
The saga continued. Always important to check the EXPIRATION DATE on sealants. My 795 was expired Jan/16'. So that all had to go as well. After 2 weeks it was the consistency of new Play-Doh.

At least I hit a wave of "Let's do this!" last night and scraped and resealed everything. Nearing completion. Thanks for the suggestions.
That sucks. I've used expired 795 before and didn't have a problem with it but it wasn't in critical applications like an aquarium.
 

littlen

CCA Members
Yeah I’ve had success as long as it was under a year, but over 2 years seems to be past the threshold of being usable. It must be the fishkeeper in us, but it’s hard to throw away unused or mostly full tubes. Hence why we all have several with screws in the top of them.
 

littlen

CCA Members
Thanks Shawn. Saturday I'm adding 3 juvenile Thorichthys aureus and several swordtails to round out the tank.
 

littlen

CCA Members
So often we fail to update our old threads. Here are a couple pics of the T. aureus "gold" mentioned from my last post, that were added about a year ago. I tried a few swordtails. They didn't last long.

IMG_6050.jpg
IMG_6052.jpg

And a mystery cichlid none of you have ever seen or kept before:
IMG_6058.jpg
 

xny89

Administrator
Staff member
I think I got a group of the "mystery cichlid" at last months meeting auction. Don't remember the name other than being a mellow CA cichlid.
 

littlen

CCA Members
They are A. myrnae, and yes, very mellow. I’m guessing that your group and mine are very likely to be from the same genetic pool ;)
 
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