Granted I dont have covers on most of my tanks so who knows what drifts through the air and into the top of my open tank. Recent studies have proven there are particles of all kinds of bad stuff in ordiary household dust.
Take a look at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002216509_dust23m.html orhttp://allergies.about.com/cs/indoor/a/blcu021004.htm which talks about the hazards of carpet in the house and taking off your shoes to prevent tracking in particles of all sorts of nasty stuff.
The last times I have sanded using extremely fine grade wet dry there was barely enough plexiglass particles to see on a clean sheet of sandpaper, I think we are talking very few parts per million. I am not recommending anyone use a power sander to remove large volumes of plexi from the surface of the the tank.
From: "Hess, Clay A" <clay.a.hess@boeing.com>Reply-To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat<gsas-member@thekrib.com> To: "Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat" <gsas-member@thekrib.com>Subject: RE: [GSAS-Member] Safe in Tank Acrylic Sandpaper Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 14:07:00 -0700 I will suggest again that you do not want to sand your tank with the fish in the tank. Plexiglas particles and the particles from the sandpaper were never meant to be part of the fish environment. Although you may not recognize any significant impact to your fish immediately, neither do humans recognize lung damage immediately from fine particle exposure (look at asbestos as a perfect example). Similarly, skin or external damage does not always appear immediately either (fiberglass is an excellent example for this one). I know that I have seen much written recently about the care we take to make our tanks not feel like "prisons", the care we take in creating the perfect balanced diet for our fish, the care we take in getting the lighting just right for our plants. Soooooooo, it begs the question, why would anyone, that takes this much care with their fish, take a chance on sanding the inside of their tank while the fish are in it? It is just not worth the risk in my humble opinion. Clay -----Original Message----- From: Susan Welenofsky [mailto:welenofsky@comcast.net] Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 1:03 PM To: 'Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat' Subject: RE: [GSAS-Member] Safe in Tank Acrylic Sandpaper I found McGuire's 2500 sandpaper ($20 per box, must buy whole package). I bought 2000 wet/dry grit today (5 sheets, $8). I'm going to use the sander. They have finer grits at a different store, in Kirkland. So, I can safely use the black wet/dry sandpaper while the fish are in the tank? I would buy a package of that or 3,000 if someone wants to split it with me. I can get an auto dealer/worker discount on the stuff. Susan -----Original Message----- From: gsas-member-bounces@thekrib.com [mailto:gsas-member-bounces@thekrib.com] On Behalf Of Paul Winchester Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 10:43 AM To: gsas-member@thekrib.com Subject: RE: [GSAS-Member] Safe in Tank Acrylic Sandpaper I have successfully used the black wet dry paper in a couple of my acrylic tanks. I have heard that the micromesh works well but have not found it locally in a fine grit. Depending on the depth of the scratch I would use 400-1800 grit, the 400 for only the really deep scratches, then follow with 600-800 and then 1200-1800. I sand in same the direction as the scratch. For teeth marks I would sand in a circular motion and probably use 1200 first. You might want to start with the fine 1200-1800 first to see the effect, but the finer paper requires more effort to see the results. Be sure to always progress from the course paper to fine. Sand as little as possible to prevent the area from looking distorted. After using the fine 1200-1800 grit paper the arcrylic can be polished with a cloth and some of the arcylic polishing compound available at the stores. I think similar results could achieved using other polishing substances, like baking soda. If you didnt use too much it shouldnt changes the ph much. >From: "Susan Welenofsky" <welenofsky@comcast.net> >Reply-To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member >chat<gsas-member@thekrib.com> >To: "GSAS Member Chat" <gsas-member@thekrib.com> >Subject: [GSAS-Member] Safe in Tank Acrylic Sandpaper >Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 10:50:26 -0700 > >What is a good, safe, in tank sandpaper? I believe I have a lot of >scratches >on the acrylic surface from tooth marks from a pleco. I read something >about >micromesh being safe. I was also wondering if the black wet/dry auto >sandpaper was safe to use. I know they sell acrylic scratch kits that are >safe to use in aquariums, with fish, but they are quite expensive. > > > >Susan > >_______________________________________________ >GSAS-Member mailing list >GSAS-Member@thekrib.com >http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member _______________________________________________ GSAS-Member mailing list GSAS-Member@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member _______________________________________________ GSAS-Member mailing list GSAS-Member@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member _______________________________________________ GSAS-Member mailing list GSAS-Member@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member
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