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May aluminium foil be toxic for fresh water shrimps and fish?

Discussion in 'Inverts' started by fablau, Jul 17, 2009.

  1. fablau

    fablau rotalabutterfly.com
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    Hello here,
    I have a 75gl panted tank plenty of fish and shrimps (Crystal and Amano shrimps). I use a MegaFlow 3 sump, and I was thinking to use a piece of pierced aluminum foil (the one used for food) inside the sump, right where the water pours over the pre-filter in order to better distribute the water flow through the percolating bio-balls filter. Do you think that could be poisonous for invertebrates or fish? With the fact the aluminum foil is used for cooking and conserving food, I guess is not toxic for humans, but I am not sure about its use inside the aquarium.

    Any thoughts are very welcome.

    Thanks!

    Fab.
     
    #1 fablau, Jul 17, 2009
  2. Biollante

    Biollante Lifetime Charter Member
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    Hi Fab,

    Aluminum is highly toxic to fish in acidic water.

    I don't know that it would be a direct threat in an aquarium environment with a ph above 5.8. aluminum participates phosphate between ph 6.8 and 7.3, for what that is worth.

    I would worry.

    Also I'm not sure aluminum foil would hold up all that well.

    Have you considered stainless steel? Light gauge stainless steel is readily available on line and in hardware stores, True Values anyway. Stainless steel is easy to work and relatively non-reactive.

    You might wish to do some reading Aluminum (Al) and water Talks about toxicity.

    Also SpringerLink - Journal Article and Al = Aluminum - a Toxic Element - Linked to many diseases in humans

    Good luck.

    -Biollante
     
    #2 Biollante, Jul 18, 2009
  3. fablau

    fablau rotalabutterfly.com
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    Thank you so much for your reply and insights Biollante, actually I didn't think about stainless steel. I will look into that and I will drop my "crazy" idea to use aluminum.

    Thank you again very much for the provided links and thoughts, really appreciated.

    Best,
    Fab
     
    #3 fablau, Jul 18, 2009
  4. Biollante

    Biollante Lifetime Charter Member
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    You are welcome.

    Confession time. :eek:

    I don't think the idea of using aluminum is so 'crazy'. It seems rather natural, as you pointed out we use the stuff for food. I drink way too much soda from aluminum cans.

    I found out the hard way myself :eek:

    I also have to say I have not done any great amount of research or conducted any studies on the matter. It is always possible my disaster had other causes and I simply assumed the aluminum was at fault.

    I pretty much limit myself to stainless steel for any of my bright ideas involving metal in the tank. Even then I first try to figure out a way to accomplish the task with acrylic or some other non-reactive material.

    -Biollante
     
    #4 Biollante, Jul 18, 2009
  5. Tom Barr

    Tom Barr Founder
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    Plastic works well also, Rubber maid, PVC, most plastic hobby materials, poster board materials etc........

    Regards,
    Tom Barr
     
    #5 Tom Barr, Jul 18, 2009
  6. fablau

    fablau rotalabutterfly.com
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    Exactly, I thought about plastic first but I wasn't sure if a plastic sheet would also release some toxic substance in the water. If Tom confirms that Rubber maid and PVC can be used safely, I will probably go with that for this kind of application.

    Thank you so much again to all of you.

    Best,
    Fabrizio.
     
    #6 fablau, Jul 18, 2009
  7. Biollante

    Biollante Lifetime Charter Member
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    Should have thought of that myself. I use a lot of rubbermaid, safelite, whatever along with pvc and so forth.

    Biollante
     
    #7 Biollante, Jul 18, 2009
  8. fablau

    fablau rotalabutterfly.com
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    Very interesting. Where do you find that material? Home Depot?

    Thanks!

    Fabrizio
     
    #8 fablau, Jul 18, 2009
  9. Biollante

    Biollante Lifetime Charter Member
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    Yeah, Home Depot, Loews and so forth.

    Also I am always on the lookout for stuff I can misuse. :D At WalMart, basically all the marts. Garage sales for that matter, though that is more work than I normally go for. :eek:

    It just seems as though once someone says it is for aquarium use they jack the price up beyond ridiculous. It is not that I'm cheap, okay I am parsimonious, but still it really ticks me off. :mad:

    I guess it is what drew me to this place. It may not be the best 13 bucks I ever spent but it is darn close.

    Biollante
     
    #9 Biollante, Jul 18, 2009
  10. fablau

    fablau rotalabutterfly.com
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    Thank you for the info, I will look there...

    I agree with you about the price issue, I've got the same experiences!

    Many thanks again!!
    Fab.
     
    #10 fablau, Jul 18, 2009
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