If you just want a small amount in a tube for occasional projects, you can buy aqueon aquarium sealant silicone for about $5. G.E. type I is the only silicone I have ever used in the hobby based on the general consensus that it is aquarium safe.
Be careful using Silicone II
- Thread starter viejafish
- Start date
True. There are tons of posts on this topic and it is general consensus that GE I is safe and GE II is not. For various reasons. My experience with these is in the actual building of aquariums and GE II does not hold and does release something into the water that will kill fish. It has happened to me.
There are different versions of the product, and I can only speak to the product that is available to me.
Type I is safer than Type II because Type I releases acetic acid and Type II ammonia which is more toxic. But after thorough curing, both are 100% silicone and makes no difference. Type I is very pungent and takes forever to cure, but easier to work with. Type II cures quickly and good for quick bonding job. I always have Type II tube in my tool box for ordinary household job so I didn't buy it specifically for aquarium job. In the future, I won't take the short cut and will use only Type I for aquarium job. I like the Aqueon sealant in the tube but I think it costs a lot more than $5 in my LFS.
It does cost about $10 at my lfs as well. Probably only worth getting it if you were ordering other items online with free shipping.
Ok , I have a little bit of experience here with silicone and aquarium. First the silicone 2 you used killed your fish because it has mold inhibitors in it. "Mold Free" on the label is referring to that no mold can grow on the silicone when cured. Great for bath and shower and even exterior.
Second curing has alot to do with its environment.
I have resealed tanks and put a fish in the tank in 24hrs with no Ill affects.
What killed my fish is ammonia, not mold inhibitor. Mold free does not necessarily mean the presence of mold inhibitor, as just about every chalk product claims the same. I am not sure about other GE brands, but the ingredient list in mine does not include biocides. I have used GE Silcone II to chalk my bath tub and it blackened in a year.
D
Did you not have a filter on your aquarium? If there really is ammonia in the silicone, which I doubt, how come your beneficial Bacteria did not convert it to nitrites?
Yes, it's a cycled tank with oversized filter in a 30g tank. I was counting on bb to detoxify the Ammonia. But I used too much silicon for a small tank, and the bb can't catch up with the ammonia loading. I have no doubt it is ammonia poisoning.
a simple water test would verify this. Why waste time assuming?
