HCA: Hermit Crab Association

It's been weeks and I'm still waiting for my homemade pools to completely cure. A few days ago they finally stopped smelling like wet silicone, but I wanted to test the water in them before I put them in with the crabs. I thought since the silicone released acetic acid that a good test of whether or not it was fully cured would be to test the pH of the water after it had been sitting in it for 24 hours and compare that to the normal pH of my tap water.

My tap water has a pH of around 8.2. The two smaller pools (done a week after the large ones) had pH below 6.0. That was as low as my test went, and the color was lighter than the 6.0 reading. I set them aside to cure longer.

The two larger pools had pH of 7.0 and 7.4. I thought that seemed alright as a small drop isn't too unusual. However, when I ran through the other standard tests, the ammonia level was outrageously high! For fish, an ammonia level that's even 0.25ppm will kill them. The test goes as high as 8.0ppm, and the color that appeared was even darker than that..... So the ammonia level of the water is at least 8.0ppm, possibly much higher.

Has anyone with silicone pools done water testing? Are these readings to be expected? Should it read 0ppm of ammonia and a normal pH when cured?

I re-filled the pools with water and am going to wait a few more days and see what happens with the readings. I'm wondering though if I should just scrap the idea.

I admit it's been a while since I tested the water in my pools but I don't remember anything that crazy in the beginning. My pH out of the tap is 6.0 and if I remember correctly the pH of my pools always tested higher but nothing too high --I just don't remember what exactly....I'm thinking the fresh was around 7.2 and the salt was a bit higher. Ammonia and nitrites spiked a little in the beginning while first cycling the pools but then read 0 and then I had trouble getting and keeping the nitrates below 20.

I am soon ripping out my built in pools though and switching back to containers. Not sure exactly what kind just yet but I'm wanting something removable for easier cleaning.


I don't know if any of that helps you in any way but I hope it does.

i know my freshwater tank reads anywhere from 6.0 to 7.0. It generally levels out to 6.4, and the fish are fine, but I don't know if it goes the same for crabs.

My freshwater tank is always near 8, we have hard water though. A bit off topic, but the big thing to remember with fish is, they can tolerate different pH's, as long as they are adjusted correctly to it.

Thats really odd that the ammonia would be so high, I've never tested by pools at all. You wouldn't think there would be anything in Silicon sealant that would produce ammonia though.

I think you said you used GE Silicone I? Dunno if it's accurate or not, but one of the posts in the link below says that GE Silicone I gives of acetic acid while curing and GE Silicone II gives off ammonia. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... 62491.html

Not that that helps much and it doesn't make a lot of sense if you used GE Silicone I but it was about all the info I could find.

Yeah, my fishtanks all read a pH of about 7.6, and of course there's 0ppm ammonia.

I realized when I was in the shower this morning that I had used straight tap water for the 24 hour test. I went downstairs a few minutes ago to replace the water and treat it with dechlor and I'll see what the readings are tomorrow morning. We have chloramine in our water, so the reading of 8.0ppm could be from it splitting from the chlorine, but that would still be an awfully high amount of ammonia in the water. It could be a false-positive though depending on the chemicals used. Maybe I'm worried over nothing, we'll see.

I hate chemistry.

Nope, still no go. Ammonia readings were still 2.0ppm after 24 hours in dechlor water.....

Any ideas?

I wonder if you filled it with warm water and baking soda if that would help? let it set for a day or two and them wash it out good and do a new test? I was told to do that one time when i bought a large plastic tank.. They suggested to do that before you set up any type of fish in the tank . I dont know if it was due to the plastic of the tank or the sealant? it was years ago, a frog kit from tad pole to frog..

I tried the baking soda trick for a week, but it didn't do anything. My guess is that since the silicone used for aquariums is acidic that the baking soda wash would neutralize any residue so when it was filled with water the pH wouldn't dive. Thanks for the idea!

It's been over a month now, and the ammonia still reads 4.0ppm when left sit overnight. And the pools still smell strongly of vinegar as well when dry.....

I'd say I got a bad tube of silicone, but I used two different tubes from two different stores!

Argh..... I just wanna use the pretty pools already....

contact the silicone company and see if they have a idea. Sorry ive been away, I have some issues with my eyes going on..

So it's been I don't know how long since I made these stupid pools. I pretty much stuck them in the sunlight and forgot about them for a month as things have been busy with the garden. I dug them out last night now that the basement isn't a a makeshift plant nursery. Let the water sit in overnight, and tested a few minutes ago.

The ammonia levels have gotten worse. I'm not sure how much worse as the test ranges from yellow to grass green, and the tubes turned blue/grey/black in less than a minute...

There is no silicone smell at all coming from the pools. I wouldn't even know something was wrong if I hadn't tested the water. They look like perfect, pretty stone pools.

I can't contact the silicone company since I used Window and Door silicone. The same stuff that a lot of other people here used. I'm really wishing I had spent three times as much on the Aquarium Silicon right now as then there would be some recourse for help.

Does anyone know anyone who does work on aquariums or vivariums who might know what happened? These are my only shot at custom pools, if I can't make it work I have to scrap the whole idea due to cost and keep using the plastic food containers I've been using.

Out of desperation I've placed all four pools into a spare aquarium downstairs and am running it with two filters. If there really is that much ammonia leaking out of these things then I should be able to cycle the tank and hopefully build up a large enough bacterial colony to eat all of the ammonia. (Maybe - big big maybe.)

that was going to be my next thought to put them in water. maybe add something to the water like a bit of baking soda.. dont know if it will help? that helps in swimming pools.. gees.. ive not made pools, the only time i made something i use aquarium sealant and it fell apart.. it was just a climber for the back of the tank, i used a very think piece of plastic canvas and broken shells to glue on it.. they kinds just fell off.. sorry this is happening to you.. maybe you can use them to set a pretty plant in for your table? I bet they are lovely..

post came up multi times?

sorry..