new sump, sps not happy

[RiReuter]

i made a new sump out of a 40 breeder and swapped it with my old one on sunday, and now my sps are losing color. mag, alk, cal, no3, and po4 all test normal. any ideas? mini cycle maybe? i don't have a nitrite or ammonia test kit.

[danreefs]

Did you have a sandbed in the old sump? and did you reuse it ?

[Chris Goetz]

What silicone did you use?

[benihana]

Was it a new tank? If not, any chance that someone used copper in it? Not sure if that would cause what you are seeing, but that was what first came to mind

[RiReuter]

Ya it's new, I dunno the brand of silicone, but a fellow reefer used the same with no issues. No sand bed or live rock in sump, just equip.

[RiReuter]

Just curious about silicone, what does a "bad" brand have in it?

[Brent1128]

mildew inhibitors...basically ammonia. better check.

[RiReuter]

I threw it away already, time to dumpster dive.....

[RiReuter]

Well... It has the mold inhibitor... What now, how to rid the ammonia?

[Brent1128]

Uh oh...I did the same thing, darn near killed everything. Take the sump out and re-do the baffles with the dap silicon http://www.buzzillions.com/reviews/dap-aquarium-silicone-sealant-00688-reviews. You can get it at ACE.

As far as your tank, you need ammonia blocker and huge water changes. :mad_3:

[spsick]

Menards has the same stuff too.

[kjdeut]

is the new sump the same size as the old one? Did you have to add a large vol of new water?

[RiReuter]

Thanks for the heads up on the silicon, although the mod of the reef chemistry forum on RC claims the inhibitors are not ammonIa but toxins, either way bad ju ju. All sps are in a fellow reefers tank now and sump is getting replaced with the old one until the weekend and a few large water changes are in order. Thanks once again.

[RiReuter]

I did some research and seems like most mold inhibitors are ammonium chloride, is it like ammonia? Probably. Will get some ammo lock, thanks once again.

[re-fin-away]

Mystery solved. Rock that tank back in shape, your corals will be colored back up and good as new when you are ready for them. :beerchug: Except for the chalices, I was never a fan but now that they are in my tank all I can say is.... damn!:nuts: The cost of coral health care just went up. :gay1:

[Nanofins]

Thanks for the heads up on the silicon, although the mod of the reef chemistry forum on RC claims the inhibitors are not ammonIa but toxins, either way bad ju ju. All sps are in a fellow reefers tank now and sump is getting replaced with the old one until the weekend and a few large water changes are in order. Thanks once again.

Whatever it is that is released into the water, it seems to have some staying power. Some time back I redid a 5g breeding tank and accidentally used the wrong stuff (bottle looked really similar to the other stuff and didn't see the mold inhibitors). I added a pair of fish I was planning to spawn in there and they were dead by the next morning. I left it for a week and then did a 100% water change, left it for a couple more days, did another 100% water change, then left it for another week before adding some fish back to see if it was safe. Dead fish right away again. I ended up tearing down and redoing all the silicone. I don't know if a little bit of ammo lock and/or a water change will do the trick. You may need to redo that silicone.

[Chuckytt]

GE II silicone is what you want. As long as it says 100% silicone you should be good. I have used GE silicone II 100% silicone window door attic basement. And it has worked for me 6 bucks at home depot I think. Comes in a caulking tube. Usually they have it somewhere by the acrylic sheets.

[RiReuter]

Whatever it is that is released into the water, it seems to have some staying power. Some time back I redid a 5g breeding tank and accidentally used the wrong stuff (bottle looked really similar to the other stuff and didn't see the mold inhibitors). I added a pair of fish I was planning to spawn in there and they were dead by the next morning. I left it for a week and then did a 100% water change, left it for a couple more days, did another 100% water change, then left it for another week before adding some fish back to see if it was safe. Dead fish right away again. I ended up tearing down and redoing all the silicone. I don't know if a little bit of ammo lock and/or a water change will do the trick. You may need to redo that silicone.

thanks zach/zack (i dunno which :) ), my fish didn't die, however i lost 3 sps frags out of 23, but not the end of the world, working on getting old sump back online but i am really busy with other projects around the house. hopefully will have it redone by this weekend. prob gonna be 2 more weeks before i am ready for those chalice frags, so no rush on them.

[wheresscotty]

It is actually arsenic and cyanide in the GE silicone II. I called GE when I nuked a tank, The window and door AND the kitchen and bath has the inhibitors in it. The GE silicone II window and door USED to be legitimate. It no longer is and contains the inhibitors now. They change the recipe often. If you don't believe me, call GE. I don't understand why people try to save literally $10 by buying questionable silicone. When you have a tank full of $1000 worth of coral is it worth killing it all over $10??? Also, real aquarium silicone has a higher tinsel strength and the peace of mind is well worth it. Take it from somebody who killed an entire tank.

DO NOT USE GE II UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE

/rant

[wheresscotty]

Whatever it is that is released into the water, it seems to have some staying power. Some time back I redid a 5g breeding tank and accidentally used the wrong stuff (bottle looked really similar to the other stuff and didn't see the mold inhibitors). I added a pair of fish I was planning to spawn in there and they were dead by the next morning. I left it for a week and then did a 100% water change, left it for a couple more days, did another 100% water change, then left it for another week before adding some fish back to see if it was safe. Dead fish right away again. I ended up tearing down and redoing all the silicone. I don't know if a little bit of ammo lock and/or a water change will do the trick. You may need to redo that silicone.

It NEEDS to be cut out, I can not stress this enough. The tank isn't shot, as long as you get out the razor blades and mineral spirits and get 100% of it cut out. After that ALOT of rinsing is in order. I have re-used a GE II tank, and have not had a problem after re-re-sealing it. Also, do a BIG water change, the arsenic and cyanide can give your fish tumors/cancer over time. This happened to some minnows a friend of mine had to feed his fish. Once again we had to re-seal the entire tank. Sorry for the rants guys. I just hate hearing about frivolously killed livestock. PLEASE buy actual aquarium silicone. I really think every forum should have a sticky in every thread that says:

DO NOT USE GE II UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE

/rant

[Nanofins]

The tank isn't shot, as long as you get out the razor blades and mineral spirits and get 100% of it cut out. After that ALOT of rinsing is in order. I have re-used a GE II tank, and have not had a problem after re-re-sealing it.

I agree. Once I redid the tank (again) it was perfectly safe and worked fine for holding/breeding fish.

[Brent]

What silicone to use has been discussed on here many o' times in the past. Doing a search would have saved you some headaches prior to using chemical containing silicone.

[-Ace-]

Thanks for the GE info. . Have read on a number of sites that it was ok to use- granted, the recipe may have been ok to use in the past. Like u said, better safe than sorry.

[Shibbs]

I may be paranoid, but I pick up AQUARIUM SILICONE by All-Glass.

That way I know it has none of the crap in it.

EDIT: Gawd this thread is old.

[reef junkie]

seen safe for aquarium silicone at target. So if its late or in a hurry. See target.