Did I just ruin everything?

[leviburns89]

So my tank has been in the works for about 3 months.

Aquascape was finished 2 weeks ago, and I recently read about gluing your rock to prevent falling rock.

Well I used Loctite 2 part 5 min epoxy, and the stuff didn't stick to anything. Some of it stretched out into a hair, and floated within the tank.

After reading, I now know I should have used the marine putty.

But in the meantime.... did I completely ruin everything I have been building so far? It didn't grab onto the rock at all, so putty will be my next purchase, but I'm worried about leaching into the tank.

Can't find any solid answers on this.

[heathlindner25]

Can you post a picture of the product you used?

[leviburns89]

Originally Posted by heathlindner25

Can you post a picture of the product you used?

[leviburns89]

I am currently running my carbon reactor full blast to hopefully pull out most of the potential toxens.

This is a real bummer, I was on track to add a cuc this weekend, but now I'm not sure if I need to do several 100% wc to undo what this had done.

I turned off my system for 20 mins while this stuff set up. So hopefully it hardened before it could poison the tank

[bat21]

I'm glad there are no fish in there. I have no idea how long that stuff will remain toxic. But if there is literally one rule above all others when keeping a fish tank, it's make sure what you are putting in the tank is safe to put in the tank before you put it in the tank. Not after.

[Sk8r]

ALways have 3 things on hand: Prime, binds nitrate, stops ammonia; PolyFilter, picks up metals and other pollutants; carbon, removes organic problems, some metals, some chemicals. Also do water changes. Dilution is sometimes the answer to pollution.

Superglue is safe; epoxy less so.

[leviburns89]

Ok, I will dose some prime, and do some water changes

[leviburns89]

Are there any specific chemicals I should be testing for?

Aside from ammonia.

[VirginiaMarine]

I would do some water changes and do your best to get the product out of the tank. 100% water changes in general are a bad idea in my opinion. I would do weekly water changes of around 50% for a few weeks.

[leviburns89]

Originally Posted by VirginiaMarine

I would do some water changes and do your best to get the product out of the tank. 100% water changes in general are a bad idea in my opinion. I would do weekly water changes of around 50% for a few weeks.

I thought the same thing.

I will try to do 10% a day for a couple weeks. Gonna burn thru a ton of salt mix tho.

Lol that was an expensive mistake.

But silver lining; at least it happened now, vs later with livestock.

[VirginiaMarine]

I try to avoid adding chemicals to counteract symptoms. Salt can be expensive but I watch for sales and stock up. Saltwater problems are usually solved by removing the cause and then getting rid of the symptoms becomes easier.

[leviburns89]

Originally Posted by VirginiaMarine

I try to avoid adding chemicals to counteract symptoms. Salt can be expensive but I watch for sales and stock up. Saltwater problems are usually solved by removing the cause and then getting rid of the symptoms becomes easier.

I won't be adding any chems aside from the initial dose of prime.

I wanted to know if I should be testing for chemicals that could be in the water.

Either way, I think changing out my carbon, and doin several wc is the only way to combat this.

I noticed today that the few asterina starfish that came on some live rock are still out and feeding, so it hasn't cooked them.

[VirginiaMarine]

I would think water changes and then following up with something designed to remove impurities such as Seagel or Chemi Pure would be the ticket. As far as testing for chemicals, I wouldn't personally. I think you will be okay. I don't think you have to remove all your rock and start over.

[leviburns89]

Thanks for the help everyone.

This hobby would be impossible without you guys n gals.

[toothybugs]

If it was well mixed, it was totally inert about 3 minutes after you mixed it because it crosslinked ("set up") and became pretty much one GIANT molecule. There is very, very little that will leach out of a cured epoxy like that - there aren't any additives, solvents, etc since it is designed as an adhesive. A coating would be a different story entirely. I highly doubt Chemipure, Polyfilter, etc will do anything to your water that traces back to your uncured epoxy.

FWIW, I have done the same thing trying to glue frags in. Never saw any effect. Made a mess, sure, but nothing lasting.

Let epoxies cure before putting them back in the tank, and don't use them on wet surfaces. On dry rock that product would be fine as long as you give it the few minutes it needs to set up properly. It will probably soften a little with time so avoid doing anything too demanding with it. The strings and globs you saw were because epoxy resin has a density that isn't all that much greater than freshwater and so literally floated away when you put it in your tank. By letting it set up, it will tie itself to your rock and prevent that from happening.

[leviburns89]

Amazing info toothy. That was just the info I wanted to hear.

What do you mean when you say "a coating"?

[toothybugs]

Originally Posted by leviburns89

Amazing info toothy. That was just the info I wanted to hear.

What do you mean when you say "a coating"?

Like a paint or something, something pigmented or there for some purpose other than to stick 2 things together (which is an adhesive). Adding anything to resins like solvents to help with flow, pigments for color or to kill the clarity, etc makes an "adhesive" more like a "coating."

Decorative coatings do really nothing but affect the appearance of a substrate, like painting the walls in your home red or blue or green. Doesn't do a darn thing but look pretty. That's a good example of a decorative coating. Functional coatings are there to protect the substrate, like a primer. Not really pretty but serves a protective purpose.

The terms are not set in stone, in fact they are pretty flexible; you can have a decorative coating that is very protective of its substrate and not pigmented (think wood varnish) and vice versa.

BTW, anecdote on your experience: When I did a similar thing to my system, my puffer enjoyed chasing down the globules and chewing them up and spitting them out. I figured he learned with the first one they weren't food but any piece bigger than a drop of water got chewed up in to little bits and spat out. Must have enjoyed the texture or something. Once the mix cured (it doesn't need to "dry" or get oxygen or anything to set up) the bit were just caught in a filter. It's basically a chunk of plastic once cured.

[fishbones43]

Don't forget to use ro water for your changes, really makes a difference

[leviburns89]

I always, and only use rodi. My tap water here is outrageously toxic. I probly shouldn't even drink it lol