# Where did I go wrong?



## schmelzer (Jun 14, 2010)

Hey  I just joined this forum, because I am completely at a loss of what to do and am looking for some help. 

I have a ten gallon tank where four guppies and a snail settled in and had been living happily for about six months. 

Several days ago I came home to find my tank in a puddle. I found small leak at the base of the tank. Using the water from my tank, I filled a couple 1 gallon tanks and moved my fish and the snail. I emptied the rest of the water into several throughly rinsed water jugs.
I used bath silicone to re-seal the bottom of the tank, waited 24 hours, (the tube said it set in 4 hours but i wanted to be super duper sure it was dry) and then after a good rinsing I put everything back together. All in all, I replaced probably about 20% of the water. 
I moved my fish back into their tank. They seemed a little lethargic, but I just figured they were stressed. I put a little bit of stress coat in and went to bed. The next day when I got home from work three of my dear fishy were dead. The fourth one died yet that evening and my snail (who I moved to a tank with clean water as soon as I discovered the dead fishys) is not looking so good. 

I tested the water and the nitrates were actually detectable, but this was after the fish massacre. I don't really have a firm grasp of aquarium chemistry, but I think little fish bodies would affect those readings?
Anyway. I'm afraid to put anything into my tank. I'm unsure of how to determine if the water is contaminated with something and I'm not really sure of where to go from here. 
Any thoughts or suggestions???


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## squirrelcrusher (Sep 23, 2009)

Is it possible that the silocone you used somehow posioned the fish? Check the internet for info on the stuff you used to see if it is safe for fish tanks. I know they sell silicone for aquariums, but don't know if it is regular silicone that they repackage and mark up.


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## klug7214 (Dec 6, 2009)

My guess would be the silicone you used was toxic. You need to use special non-toxic silicone for aquatic life.


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## NativeKeeper (Jun 12, 2010)

The silicone is definitely the problem, regular silicone contains fungicides, and sometimes mildew preventives, that can and will leach into your water.

You can scrape off probably most of it but at this point, for the cost of a new 10 gal tank i would simply trash that one and start over, and be sure. Sorry


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## schmelzer (Jun 14, 2010)

Thanks guys. The tube of silicone I bought said non-toxic and I took that at face value. I didn't even think about mildew preventives, that would make sense.


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