# Silicon?



## p8ball4life (Nov 7, 2007)

I asked the guy working at Lowe's if the type of marine/plumbing silicon I got would be safe for fish. Even so, now that I have applied some of it the smell is quite high. I'm a little worried because it smells so much, even after soaking the pipes in water overnight. Is there any way to safely detoxify it, or be sure that it won't harm my fish? I noticed on the back of the package it says "Danger: Contains Toluene and Hexane."

The brand is Loctite: Plumber & Marine Adhesive Sealant. I let it cure for about 3 hours and then soaked it in water overnight in hopes of getting some of the sandpaper dust and other chemicals off of the pipes.

Here are some pics of what I was trying to accomplish.



I used the silicon lightly around the edges of the sponge so that it would stay in place within the pvc as such...



Do you think I should gut the pipes and start over with new sponges? It might prove a little difficult to get all of the silicone out of the pipes.

Thanks,
Tyler


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Toluene is a suspected carcinogen, but its volatile enough to go away quickly. I've read that any 100% silicone is safe, but I've also read only to use "aquarium safe" silicone sealant. Is there an ingredients list? Anti-mold additives are particularly bad.


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## p8ball4life (Nov 7, 2007)

It doesn't say anything about anti-mold on it. There isn't an ingredients list either. I'm not sure if the pictures are loading or not, let me know if you can't see them and I'll try a different host.


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## fishbone (Jan 15, 2007)

Don't take chances. Silicone additives don't go away and thus you're risking your population. I found some aquarium-use, pure silicone at Menards for a reasonable price.


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