polyester resin is it safe in aquarium

[longbrro]

hi guys........is it safe to made my ornaments from resin casting and put it in the tank ?????

[glassbird]

That is a good question! I have wondered about this myself.

If not polyester resin, is any other type of resin safe?

[Lynae]

Aren't now-a-days aquarium ornaments all made of some type of resin??
Oh so many questions...

[mfdrookie516]

Originally Posted by Lynae

Aren't now-a-days aquarium ornaments all made of some type of resin??
Oh so many questions...

its some kind of resin... good question as to what it is though lol

[longbrro]

a fish dealer told me that i can put my costume made resin in water but after the bad smell is gone .....i will try it but not in my aquarium

[jsoong]

There are also food grade silicone casting compounds, use for making chocolate molds, etc. I would think that silicone would be safe. <But the resulting object would be a bit soft & rubbery.>

[gzeiger]

I doubt fish habitually swim into objects with enough force for that to matter. Buoyancy in water should make that material plenty strong enough.

[longbrro]

u mean that i can put the resin in the aquarium with no fear of bad things to my fisheies ???????

[gzeiger]

I was referring specifically to the food mold material mentioned by Jsoong. I would be careful of the type of resin used to make statues for display. If the material you have isn't labeled as "food grade" then I would find some way to test it. Generally if it has a strong odor to it, whatever chemical you're smelling is likely to be released in the water. The ideal test would be to keep some Daphnia in a bucket with the ornament for a day or so, but if you can't readily get any because of where you live then you'll have to do something else.

What I would recommend if you're unsure of any material is that you treat it like new driftwood. Soak it in a bucket with a complete water change at least daily until it no longer smells. It's not necessary to dechlorinate the water, but if you have time to do very frequent water changes it would be slightly better to use warm water, or put a heater in the bucket. When you think it's soaked long enough, put one fish in the bucket with it to be sure (wuth dechlor this time!) and then add it to the tank if the fish is ok.

[longbrro]

if the algae start to appear......then is that means that the water is pure and no poison in it ??????