storage contradiction??

[pipermurphy]

I was thinking of some threads that were done in the past & am looking for some clarification from readers here.

-One thread talked about what your habits are before you put your hands into the tank; some people just rinse and drip dry, some use a reg towel to dry off, some use paper towel, some are careful about what soap, etc. and the thread was basically about how you should think about what you are putting in the tank and the stuff that is on your hands.
-The other thread was about how you store or mix your SW and some people said they that they just use just an ordinary Rubbermaid garbage can.

My question/confusion is this: wouldn't you be more worried about toxins, chemicals, factory by-products introduced by the rubbermaid can? I would think that they would be more likely to harm the tank than lint from a papertowel. Am I right in my thinking? I just am looking for peoples thoughts on this.

Thanks Again all.

 

[possum]

i personally just shove my hands in the water and wash afterwards LOL as for the rubbermaid i have never heard of anyone having problems from it but i wondered to as they sit in the store and people can put God knows what in them

 

[Biggen]

I have always been under the impression that plastic is fairly inert. In other words, not much (if anything) can actually seep out of it.

As far as my hands go, I just rinse them off in fresh water before I put them in the thank. The skimmer will remove any of the oils from the water that come off my hands. Of course I don't use any hand creams or anything like that. If I did, I would probably try to get as much of that off as possible or the skimmer would bubble over removing that from the water.

 

[jamal-188]

I don't worry about my hands too much either. Just rinse them off first. Think of all the garbage in the ocean.

 

[ReefLady]

Hmm, well, I guess I'm anal. Since I do use "scented" soaps, lotions, and use gunk (gel, mousse, whatever) in my hair, and also do laundry, cook, etc., over the course of the day - I scrub my hands (and arms) pretty well with an antibacterial soap before putting them in the tank. After, as well.

Regular towels, but clean ones. We have some we use for tank related stuff only - the salt eats up the fibers.

Rubbermaid & sterlite are usually safe to store water in. There are some plastic containers which are known to leach phosphates into the water.

 

[ReefRaff]

Rubbermaid & sterlite are usually safe to store water in. There are some plastic containers which are known to leach phosphates into the water.

Mine is a Rubbermaid, but I was suspecting the can leaching phosephate and wondered what I could do about it. My Idea was to take a extra large trash bag (new ofcoarse) 45 G size, and line the inside of the can, just like a swimming pool has a plastic liner. Do this sound like a good idea? Worth trying? or has someone tried already? what was you experience?

TY

 

[reefrunner69]

but I was suspecting the can leaching phosephate

Before going to all the trouble...get a salifert PO4 kit and test the water sored in the can. Also test the water straight from the RO to be certain any PO4 is from the can. If there are no phosphates...then it isn't the can.

 

[ReefRaff]

get a salifert PO4 kit and test the water sored in the can. Also test the water straight from the RO to be certain any PO4 is from the can

I will. I thought that po4 or any other dissolved solid, would show a value on the TDS meter? mine runs at 000 TDS.

 

[justDIY]

trashbags are designed to release chemicals to kill bacteria and stifle odors, I would not use them when it came to water for a fish tank.

if you're concerned about the rubbermade leaching chemicals, look on the bin for a recycling id code, usually a triangle with a number in it. with this number you can look up the type of plastic, and from that, look up an MSDS.

alternately, you could by a 55 gallon potable water drum from a big warehouse store - should not be too expensive, and it comes with a lid pre-fabed for various hose/pipe connections!

 

[possum]

you can also buy drum liners which is the same thing as a trachbag but is safe to store food for animals in so i would think it would be safe for water