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Re: [GSAS-Member] Safe in Tank Acrylic Sandpaper
For those breeding fish, chemical exposures may be even more of an issue
than are mechanical
harm to fish. Any substance that may cause damage to RNA or DNA should be
avoided in that case.
I would recommend waiting much longer than the minimum curing time for
silicone sealants, avoiding vinyl hoses, etc.
Avoiding vinyl hoses? Should we weave them from palm fronds? I have had
numerous successful long term breeding setups using recirculating systems
where vinyl hose was an integral part of the water distribution mechanism.
Rubber hose was much worse to use, made the water smell bad and didn't hold
up as well.
Items that may harm gills or other organs or tissue are more important to
avoid for fish that live a long time.
What fish live a long time that we would breed in captivity (compared to the
wild. Are there any old fish in the wild?) Fish live *way* longer in
captivity than in nature. No predators. No habitat destruction (at least, no
intentional habitat destruction in captivity.)
Here, long term cumulative damage will impact the longevity of the fish.
Will impact? All you have here is proof by blatant assertion
For instance, my 3 Leporinus will live well over one decade if they are
not harmed while in my care.
Fish that only live a few years probably will not have time to accumulate
damage, and thus
something like household dust (often high in heavy metals in older homes
with old paint), fiberglass
(ie. rock wool), etc., may not be of as much concern.
Umm, do they still make rock wool avaialble in the aquarium trade? Modern
fiberglass isn't mineral wool anymore.
Asbestos, fiberglass, and heavy metals can
cause harm to both cellular components and organs in humans, and probably
also in fish.
Fiberglass can cause cellular harm in humans? Do you have a reference for
this? I won't argue about heavy metals, Asbestos I thought was more irritant
and hence led to lung cancer than mutagen
I recommend that we avoid easily-avoided exposures.
Remember first and foremost that fishkeeping is a hobby that has been around
for millenia and most fish do fine in properly dechloraminated tapwater,
living way longer lives than in nature and reproducing way more successfully
than in nature as well
Then the less easily avoidable exposures are
less likely to put our pets beyond their threshold of tolerable toxic
exposures. The air pollutants that
get into the water, the heavy metals our tap water leaches out of the
pipes, the heavy metals in the
fish food and rocks and gravel - these are harder to control.
Consider avoiding buying plants rooted in rock wool, lead strips for
sinking plants, soft plastics with carcinogenic
plasticizers. The industry will find good substitutes if we stop buying
products that harm our fish.
The pet industry is more irresponsible and greedy than most, I doubt buying
plants not rooted in rock wool (didn't think they still used that, but maybe
they do) or lead sinkers (have these *ever* been shown to do anything worse
than oxidize when submerged?) or whatever will make any difference to them.
The experienced aquarium hobbyist just plain doesn't have enough economic
impact for the pet industry to notice.
Efforts would be better spent and lead to more successful fishkeeping if,
for instance, we could lobby for expiration dates on food and water
treatment chemicals, real lists of ingredients, real guaranteed analyses,
some truth in advertising, real consumer testing of products (eliminating
marine water pumps made with iron shafts that rust out, stuff like that.)
The practices of the pet fish industry are borderline abhorrent, but lead
sinkers and rock wool bases for plants aren't even in the top 100 of the
problems that should be fixed. All this IMHO much like the original poster
was, I'm sure.
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