Tank sinking quick or looks to be!!

[Ubans13]

I went with fluke at first cause of the heavy breathing and cloudy eye on one of the tangs and a slight skin looking issue. But after a fresh water dip that wasnt it. Move what fish I had left and they are all back to swimming normal and eating.

Fish were swimming sideways and almost upside down in other tank. And this all took place just hrs after replacing the sump.

 

[Reefpro]

Question, I just put baffles in a 40b using Red Devil 100% RTV silicone. Does anyone know if this is ok. I cannot find anywhere on package where it states it has mold inhibitors

 

[cromag27]

Which formula? I don't believe any of them do, but I also don't know if all of them are reef safe. best to check out the msds.

Question, I just put baffles in a 40b using Red Devil 100% RTV silicone. Does anyone know if this is ok. I cannot find anywhere on package where it states it has mold inhibitors

 

[Ubans13]

I have used silicon before that never said aquarium safe. And been ok. But after my last experience and just how much it has cost me it's not worth the trouble to guess I would say. So I will only order stuff aquariums safe.

 

[cromag27]

"aquarium safe" silicon is just a marketing gimmick. the momentive rtv isn't advertised as aquarium safe, but it's safe for aquariums as long as its cured properly. in fact the packaged "aquarium safe" silicon isn't even as good as momentive rtv. I've built several glass tanks with momentive and I know several big companies that also use it.

One big issue with silicone is the cure time. the cure time listed on the tube is good for its intended purpose - bath, window, gaskets, etc. it's NOT intended for aquarium purposes because we generally use a much larger bead size. more silicone = longer cure time. I wait at least a full week then do a sniff test. if I can still smell ammonia I'll leave it for another week.

Several years ago GE (iirc) used to label type 1 as aquarium safe. they removed that label due to liability issues. just because a consumer knows how to use silicone, that doesn't mean they know how to construct a solid water vessel.

 

[mgoesma]

I don't recommend colored silicone. Silicone is cleared so if it has a color it is not 100% silicone. Also if the silicone has mold treatment I believe in the usa it must be stated on the label (for agergy reasons)

 

[cromag27]

Actually, you can used colored silicone and you can use silicone that doesn't say "100%" on the label. what matters is the msds/mds.

you are correct that you want to stay away from mold inhibitors. But if people would just use momentive rtv 100 series, they wouldn't have to worry about that. :)