I was reading about artificial plants on the net. There is this site that describes using silicone as a base for fake plants. My husband went and used GE silicone II as a plant base and put the plant in. The tube said
that the stuff was not "aquarium safe" My husband then said that meant it wasn't safe to seal an aquarium with and the manufacturer does not want a lawsuit if a huge tank explodes from the wrong silicone.
Anyway, the plant was in there all night and the fish were acting weird this morning. One was hanging out under the filter, the other two were acting normal. I checked on line and found out that this silicone is toxic
to fish, so I removed the plant and did about a 90% water change and replaced the salt. The three mollies are just hanging out now, but that may be the stress from the huge water change. Anyway would Epsom salts help or do I just wait to see if it is too late. I will no longer let my spouse
make any aquarium decisions again. Thank you!!!
. Yes, it is true that you need to use only aquarium-safe silicone around fish. The silicone itself isn't toxic so far as I know, but the anti-fungus chemicals added to the silicone usually are toxic, and the
aquarium-safe silicone lacks these. Removing the silicone from the tank, and then doing one or more large water changes, should bring things back down to normal. The addition of fresh carbon to the filter would also be very helpful. After a week, remove that carbon and throw it away. Cheers, Neale.>
would like to try correcting misstatements I have made re the use of various "Silicone" formulations... They are NOT necessarily toxic, but often unsuitable in other ways. Please see the discussion here:
Mea culpa, but I have misunderstood that 100% Silicone on labels was and is NOT the same product/formulation. ONLY ones distinctly labeled FOR AQUARIUM USE should be employed for such
thanks