GE Silicone II question - ASAP

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Have a 100+ y/o cement pond, kidney shaped, appox 700 gal, 2.5 feet deep at the deepest. Recently decided to get it going again. Had a crack re-cemented, fiberglass patch and Pond Guard application to entire pond this past Saturday. The next evening, Sunday, (1.5days after Pond Guard application, 24 hour cure recommended) filled with tap water, dechlorinated, etc, tested water, everything perfect. Added tadpoles and 1 goldfish. Watched for 2 hours, everything good. Added rest of fish (5 goldfish, 5 mosquito fish). Watched for 3 hours, everyone looked and acted great. Woke up next morning, Monday, to everything dead but one goldfish gasping at top. Checked water again, all levels were good, Ammonia was .25 but after a mass genocide I figured might be par for the course. Baffled. Found out later that my husband put a small amount of GE Silicone II kitchen/bath (with mold inhibitor) on a few spots where he thought the Pond Armour was a little thin just an hour or so before we filled the pond. Perhaps 2 tablespoons worth, max. I am figuring this was the culprit. My question - pond was drained yesterday, Tuesday, and rinsed multiple times. With a longer cure will this be ok or will it forever kill our fish? Scraping out will be a mess and might pull off Pond Armour as well. Can something be put over the top of it? Sorry for the novel but wanted to have background incase anyone thinks it might be something other than silicone. Any recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated!
 

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Silicone caulk is very safe for use in ponds. I have used it for years without any issue.
Sorry about your issue. Did you check the Dissolved Oxygen level?
 
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The silicone chalks with mold inhibitors (99.99% silicone) release toxin into water to kill the mold, it is not a matter of curing time like with 100% pure silicone which is completely inert after fully drying. So unfortunately I'd say you have to remove the old silicone because it will continue to release those toxin for like 5+ years. Going over it with a safe silicone (GE 1 for windows and doors without mold inhibitors for example) would most likely not work, especially long term because new silicone doesn't adhere to old silicone properly so you can't get guarantee a good seal. But that is something you could try, I'd consider that too big a gamble though. Sorry for the bad news and sorry for your loss.
 
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Thanks for your response. From everything I read (Dr. Google :) ) people say that this particular silicone is NOT safe esp before it has cured for a while. Mainly because of the anti mold additive but I can't find anywhere that says if it is safe after a longer curing or will forever be toxic.

Dissolved Oxygen - no, did not test for this. Will add it to my list! Thanks
 
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Thank you. That is what I feared. :( Not sure if this matters but this silicone does say that it is 100% silicon... but also "Mold Free Product Protection, Fights bacteria and fungus. 7 Yr."
 
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It is getting confusing now a days because GE knows that saying anything about mold protection sells more product so even when they don't add the mold inhibitors they say something about mold protection (a proper silicone seal offers natural mold protection).

If it says 100% silicone though it SHOULD be safe because by law they can't say it is 100% if it has ANY thing added (but we know how companies like to get around these laws). I haven't spoken to GE in a few years about it but I doubt that has changed.

In your first post you said "GE Silicone II kitchen/bath (with mold inhibitor)", where did you get inhibitors from? Just from the "Mold Free Product Protection, Fights bacteria and fungus. 7 Yr"? Or does it say inhibitors somewhere on it?
 

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The Safety Data Sheet for this product does not indicate a high level of toxicity for aquatic organisms. The only reference is to Flathead minnows that indicates that it is not a potentially toxicity causing bioaccumulate.
 
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It is getting confusing now a days because GE knows that saying anything about mold protection sells more product so even when they don't add the mold inhibitors they say something about mold protection (a proper silicone seal offers natural mold protection).

If it says 100% silicone though it SHOULD be safe because by law they can't say it is 100% if it has ANY thing added (but we know how companies like to get around these laws). I haven't spoken to GE in a few years about it but I doubt that has changed.

In your first post you said "GE Silicone II kitchen/bath (with mold inhibitor)", where did you get inhibitors from? Just from the "Mold Free Product Protection, Fights bacteria and fungus. 7 Yr"? Or does it say inhibitors somewhere on it?

Sorry, that is my fault, I just assumed - it does not say it has an inhibitor. I have been reading so much on this stuff that I just figured it did but thank you for clarifying. On the back it does just say it is resistant to mold and regular cleaning is required. I am hoping that is good news!
 
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Sounds like good news to me. :) I am unsure of how submerging uncured silicone will affect full curing though. Is the silicone goopy/soft? Does it smell like ammonia still? Silicone cures by releasing an acid that smells like ammonia and something about the air gets pulled in as that acid releases causing it to firm up. So once it was submerged that acid would be washed away but without pulling in the air it might not firm up properly. Good news is the worst case there is that the silicone just wouldn't seal properly but would no longer be toxic.
 
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Sorry for your lost!

I had this happened to me but the cause was the de-chlorinate was old and I didn't put enough of it in. My fish all died but a few. I managed to save my baby goldfish who was laying on her side dying. I put her in a floating basket, directly under a gentle oxygen bubbles that rose up to the basket. She is was an inch long then, she's about 7 inches now, big and healthy and just survived her first winter out in the pond.
 
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Sounds like good news to me. :) I am unsure of how submerging uncured silicone will affect full curing though. Is the silicone goopy/soft? Does it smell like ammonia still? Silicone cures by releasing an acid that smells like ammonia and something about the air gets pulled in as that acid releases causing it to firm up. So once it was submerged that acid would be washed away but without pulling in the air it might not firm up properly. Good news is the worst case there is that the silicone just wouldn't seal properly but would no longer be toxic.

Went home at lunch and smelled it lol no smell and is no longer goopy/soft so hopefully we are good. Was hoping we would get some rain today but not looking that way so I will fill tonight with water and put a cheapo goldfish in it and see how we do. Would love to get it up and going for my daughter's birthday this Saturday. Fingers Crossed! Thanks for all the input, its is greatly appreciated!
 

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