New sump now fish are sick!

[Clay]

I'm very sorry to hear about your fish. However, there is a very important lesson in using silicone that is FDA approved for food contact. I know that GE/Momentive makes several silicones that are approriate for this use for minimal cost, but the one you selected certainly is not. Many people have also used GE I windows and doors, but it is not approved for food contact, and not guaranteed to be inert after curing.

The tank you used looks new, but the trim looks... different than normal. Did you do anything to this?

The silicone looks like you used a lot more than you needed to. While it may or may not be the issue, next time you can use a lot less.

Where did those center sponges come from?

To me, the likely scenario is that a thick glob of silicone remains uncured, and because of that is leaching into your tank water. If you read the warnings on most silicones, it says that the side effects of uncured silicone include sterility and liver failure. I'm sure you'll read something like that on the back.

 

[Grover]

Looks to me either the return tube or the sponges have chemical in them poisoned your fish.

The return tube was on the old sump with no problems as well as the sponges.

 

[Grover]

I'm very sorry to hear about your fish. However, there is a very important lesson in using silicone that is FDA approved for food contact. I know that GE/Momentive makes several silicones that are approriate for this use for minimal cost, but the one you selected certainly is not. Many people have also used GE I windows and doors, but it is not approved for food contact, and not guaranteed to be inert after curing.

The tank you used looks new, but the trim looks... different than normal. Did you do anything to this?

The silicone looks like you used a lot more than you needed to. While it may or may not be the issue, next time you can use a lot less.

Where did those center sponges come from?

To me, the likely scenario is that a thick glob of silicone remains uncured, and because of that is leaching into your tank water. If you read the warnings on most silicones, it says that the side effects of uncured silicone include sterility and liver failure. I'm sure you'll read something like that on the back.

The tank was custom built for me by a tank builder in my area. They build many large tanks so the trim looks a bit larger than usual.
Yes I used way too much silicone but normally that is not a problem when using the correct type.
The centre sponges came out of my old cycled sump and I think they are actually Aquaclear or Fluval sponges.
At this point I think my only course of action is to remove the dividers from my sump, scrape all the silicone off and redo it.

 

[Clay]

Agreed, and good luck. Again, sorry to hear of your bad luck with this construction.

 

[Grover]

Agreed, and good luck. Again, sorry to hear of your bad luck with this construction.

Thanks.

 

[Grover]

Well it's a day later and I never did find a good bridge to jump off of so here is an update. Just my Cubans still alive but not looking great yet. I'm not sure if they will ever recover after looking so bad.

On the bright side I think I have confirmed the cause of all this. Clay I believe you were correct. While dismantling my sump I came across some clumps that had uncured silicone in them. Even after several days of curing. Because I used too much, never thought too much would be a problem, the silicone never cured properly and leached the toxins into the water. This probably would have happened no matter what kind of silicone I used. Live and learn I guess. So several hours of messy work later I have cleaned up the old glass and got it back together using new silicone from the LFS at a much higher cost. Wasn't going to take any chances this time.

Here is a picture of the new silicone job using way less and being more careful. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and comments.

 

[Mastiffman]

Well my Synspilums died. Also the rest of my Rainbowfish. The Cubans are hanging on barely as well as the Salvini. Did massive water change and removed new sump. Will continue water changes tomorrow and run only my cannister for now. I guess even after 30 years of keeping fish you can still learn a few things. Have attached a picture of the silicone used and the sump. Tomorrow I start over and will use GE Silicone I clear. I have used all kinds of silicones over the years and never had this happen. Still can't believe this was the problem but can see nothing else. I would love to hear from people who say they have used this with no problems. I need sleep so will continue this tomorrow.

The silicone Tube in this puicture doesn't even look like any that i've seen at Home depot.... it almost looks an older tube.... All of the Current GE I/II are mostly a plain white tube with either plain red or blue accented labels with not really any other colors except the grey "100% Silicone" seal on it.....

What was the MFR date on the back. I think that they are only good for a certain amount of shelf life as well. SO if it was an older tube that could've been the reason that it didn't cure all of the way... OR liek you said, to much in some areas that needed more time.... I'm willing to bet that it was an old tube...... Did you purcahse it for this job ior have it laying around from past jobs?

Very Unfortunate! I Hope that your fish get healthy quickly!

P.S. nice work on the new Sump! I like the larger trim! It looks Fancy! Seriously!

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

Glad you got to the root of the problem. Hope your cuban make it

 

[skillzizzo]

It deffenityl isnt the type of silicone used. I know that for a fact i have used that same exact silicone on a few different tanks. The black and the clear. I let it cure for more time thow a week every time. It might have been the lenght of time you let it cure. Not the silicone its self

 

[Sonny503]

great topic, learned something new today... thanks. sorry to hear about your fish getting sick, I first thought it was the temp drop. I too changed to sump and am battling ich for 2 weeks now. the sump dropped the temperature down like 5 degrees, instead of 82, it was like 77, which would have been fine for other fish, but small clown loaches, ay no!