Peracetic acid (PAA) and silicone

[Tommypantsmagee]

Hi @Randy Holmes-Farley and any other chemistry gurus, quick question for you.
We recently broke down our freshwater planted tank. It was a 72 gallon bowfront that thrived on the principle of benevolent neglect. After moving 4 years ago we had an outbreak of black beard algae that we could not get under control. It didn’t seem to really affect the fish and it wasn’t getting any worse. Of course we all know what happened in the past three years, I’m a nurse and didn’t have much spare time. While trying to think of ways to make sure that we do not restart the tank with equipment and things contaminated with Blackbeard algae we stumbled across the idea of possibly using peracetic acid ( PAA) to sterilize the tank as well as some hard scape. We’ve used it to clean outside garden tools as it’s a great broad spectrum algaecide/fungicide/bactericide but I wasn’t sure if anyone knew how it reacts with the silicone sealant or has used it themselves. Basically just wanting to make sure that this won’t weaken the sicone sealant holding the tank together As I can’t seem to find that info anywhere. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I do not know for sure, but I expect it is ok based on tubing and dentures and such being exposed to it and not rapidly failing.