I like your advice I asked about a coffee stump in another thread... It has no smell or taste.... That makes me feel better.
Wood wood wood wood
- Thread starter convict360
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I'm not sure about any "rules" other than soft wood high in sap, like pine isn't recommended. Wood that could be poisonous like eucalyptus, cedar and even Oleander and Bougainvillea roots....
Stick with hard woods and roots and vines from plants we eat. Grape vine roots and branches, manzanita branches and roots.
Now, the argument has always been that in the wild, environments with fish and bogwood, there is no way to keep poinonous wood from entering the water and fish often live with the very wood considered poisonous. I would tend to agree, to a point, and to be fair, I have had eucalyptus in my aquarium without any problems...and I didn't have plecos.
In a closed system without water constantly moving, some wood tannins can accumulate to toxic levels.
Just better to be safe rather than sorry.
You might be surprised how quickly it sinks. I have had super dense manzanita root sink in just a couple days....but drift wood from the ocean, washed up and dried in the sun, take months. Hot water may help open the wood fibers...
My reasoning for this is that lead is toxic to all animals at some level, and prolonged exposure can effect the health of your fish.
While fine particles of lead are of greater risk for direct human exposure, larger particles of lead are also capable of leaching into soils and water. While there may be a decrease in the rate that these particle leach lead over time as they gain a "protective white layer" I would argue that they never "basically go inert".
The amount of lead leached into a water source would depend primarily on the pH of that water, as well as the dissolved ion content. A great case in point is the current Flint, Michigan state of emergency over lead in their drinking water. The government made a decision to switch water supplies for cost saving reasons, and although the new source was tested for and deemed absent of lead, by the time the new (more acidic) water reached the taps, it had picked up lead along the way, leached from old copper sweat joints. Lead solder was banned from drinking water applications in the early 1980's, so the lead in those pipes had plenty of time to gain a "protective white layer" if it was going to. In reality, the lead lay mostly dormant for years, and is suddenly leaching rapidly in the presence of the new acidic water.
So, use lead in your tank if you want to take the risk, but hope your pH never shifts on you...
Here is an easily digestible information source which would stand in opposition to your statement that "bullets and fishing lead are ok for the world." I think your interpretation is more geared towards your own personal health risk, not the overall effect "for the world" as a whole.
http://www.nps.gov/pinn/learn/nature/leadinfo.htm
I didn't go for lead, and don't plan on using it in future; doesn't sit right with me.
In regards to the bit of wood from this thread, its half submerged in my river set-up, so I haven't properly tested it to see if it sinks fully
In regards to the bit of wood from this thread, its half submerged in my river set-up, so I haven't properly tested it to see if it sinks fully
I basically agree with all of that although thinner than paper solder joints and ingesting lead fragments are a little different than a large slab in a tank with weekly water changes. I was just explaining why so many commercial companies use it, and like I said you won't find it in my tanks....and I feel for birds as well especially snow geese and ducks, I always pay extra for non lead shot and bullets even on the range
