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#Post#: 1072--------------------------------------------------
Do certain decorations not bought in a pet store affect the fish
in an aquarium?
By: Bilbo Baggins Date: October 3, 2014, 3:05 pm
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Hi all. Today I bought 4 small, silver coloured, metal skulls as
a Hallowe'en decoration for my 5 US gallon (23 litres) tank. I
was about to put them in when I thought they might harm the
water and in doing so harm the fish. Right now they are in a
bowl of water separate to the tank because I thought if they had
any toxins they might release them there. My plan is to slowly
put them in, one at a time every few days, for 2 weeks. However
I would love if someone had any other information they could
share with me that would help any problems. Thanks.
1 day later: Question 2: What other materials are a problem in a
tank?
#Post#: 1075--------------------------------------------------
Re: Do metal decorations not bought in a pet store affect the fi
sh in an aquarium?
By: Stu4648 Date: October 3, 2014, 6:01 pm
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Metal and water is usually not the best combination. Although,
sometimes you see java moss sold on small metal grids to weigh
them down and give them something to grow on. Not too sure what
metal they use, possibly some sort of stainless steel. If you do
not know what the metal is though it is a risk and not something
that would lessen with time as if it is toxic it will remain
toxic even if you had it soaking for over a year. Even carbon in
the filter would not be enough if that was the case.
#Post#: 1087--------------------------------------------------
Re: Do metal decorations not bought in a pet store affect the fi
sh in an aquarium?
By: Jennifer Date: October 4, 2014, 2:15 am
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The short answer is, yes it's a problem.
Heavy metals are highly toxic to fish and in very low
concentrations. You can't leach the "bad stuff" out of metals
to make it safe for your fish by soaking it first. That only
works, somewhat, with wood and some plastics. And really, not
even.
If you do not know if something is safe for your tank or not,
don't put it in there. Dead fish is irreversible.
#Post#: 1138--------------------------------------------------
Re: Do certain decorations not bought in a pet store affect the
fish in an aquarium?
By: Bilbo Baggins Date: October 5, 2014, 3:26 am
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Ok thanks so much Stu and Jennifer. Luckily I hadn't put them in
yet as I was awaiting a response, and I didn't want to risk my
fishes health, and indeed lives. Thanks so much for getting back
so quickly. Do you know of other materials that would be bad for
an aquarium? Obviously substances that are dissolvable, such as
wax, are not to be put in but what about plastic? I know theres
different types but generally do you know if plastic is safe or
not? Any other help on this subject would be great from anyone.
Again thanks so much for your information on the metals Stu and
Jennifer. And Clash on!
#Post#: 1142--------------------------------------------------
Re: Do certain decorations not bought in a pet store affect the
fish in an aquarium?
By: Stu4648 Date: October 5, 2014, 8:31 am
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I generally prefer to go with natural materials although I do
have a couple of more decorative artificial caves. Not sure what
they were made of but they were purchased from the LFS and made
specifically for aquariums so I would like to think they were
safe in that respect.
#Post#: 1147--------------------------------------------------
Re: Do certain decorations not bought in a pet store affect the
fish in an aquarium?
By: Jennifer Date: October 5, 2014, 2:22 pm
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I end up using a lot of things from the lawn and garden section
at the home fixer upper stores. Pretty much, if you find it
around the gardening section, what ever it is, it's safe for
growing food and therefore safe for your fish tank. So I have a
lot of terra cotta pots and things like that. (Often times, you
can get broken pots for free or very, very cheap and the broken
pots make cool decorations. There is also a place I found in my
city that makes granite counter tops. They end up with a lot of
scrap ends and pieces, and occasionally I'll stop in and ask if
I can have some of the stuff they'd be throwing out anyway.
But besides those kinds of things, I stick with natural inert
rocks and driftwood. I did have a couple of skull shaped glass
bottles in one of my tanks for a while. I think there were
vodka bottles, a friend gave them to me. And I might go looking
to do something like that with other unique shaped old liquor
bottles, but ... I don't drink so, I have to rely on others and
sometimes they don't want to part with their cool bottle lol!
#Post#: 1159--------------------------------------------------
Re: Do certain decorations not bought in a pet store affect the
fish in an aquarium?
By: plindsey88 Date: October 5, 2014, 8:27 pm
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One note... Some rocks that you find at either a landscaping
store - or even your LFD - can leach trace elements into the
water, affect the water hardness, or alter the pH.
Two good examples would be lace rock (100% Calcium Carbonate)
and driftwood.
Calcium Carbonate will both harden your water AND raise your pH
to roughly 9.0 to 9.5. These are great conditions for most
Tanganyikans. These are terrible conditions for most South
American cichlids.
Driftwood is commonly recommended to soften hard water and lower
pH in South American tanks. But you should be aware that it
decays over time, and can release unsightly and sometimes
dangerous tannins.
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