Plumbers tape?

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Devon6209

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
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183
S plumbers tape(the white stuff used for a good seal) ok to be used in an aquarium. I am wanting to use it to fit an attachment to a power head.
 
I wouldnt use it, it may break down to a toxin in ur water if left for a long period of time, try to do some research on it nd see wut it is made of nd then see wut is harmful for to fish
 
I have used it for securing one of the Hydor FLO attachments to my powerhead with no I'll effects in my saltwater 37. I did so at the recommendation of my LFS.
 
Boomer23 said:
I wouldnt use it, it may break down to a toxin in ur water if left for a long period of time, try to do some research on it nd see wut it is made of nd then see wut is harmful for to fish

Ok I'm gonna see what it's made of, but isnt it designed to be wet and not break down
 
Devon6209 said:
Ok I'm gonna see what it's made of, but isnt it designed to be wet and not break down

Its designed to stop leaks, i work in HVAC so i kno exactly wut ur talkin about, im not sayin it will break down nd desinigrate, it may jus break down nd release a toxin into the water if soaked for extended periods
 
teflon tape should be fine. I mean we put it on out drinking water fixtures and I have never seen it break down.
 
Sake said:
teflon tape should be fine. I mean we put it on out drinking water fixtures and I have never seen it break down.

Yea u use it on fixtures that arent bein touched by water 24/7, its only flowing through a couple times a day, this is actually sitting in water all day everyday, its better to research it urself then to jus throw it in there nd have a wipeout
 
Used it before, in my aquariums. Went through a year of trouble trying to find out wut was wrong with my tank, my grandfather works for united water, big water company in the tri state area(NJ) he tested my water nd found toxins, mayb not strong enuff to hurt me if i actually drank it, but deff was strong enough to kill off my fish. Now thats y i told the guy who made the thread to jus do research on the type of teflon he is using, jus to be safe. Nd nah i dont need to google it bcuz this about fish not humans
 
Let's keep this on topic. I think we've all given our opinions in the matter.
 
It is absolutly 100% tank safe I have it on my bulkheads in a 10+ year old tank with no ill effects just think its attached to our braided lines under our sinks for a water tight fit to your fixture witch touches water 24/7

HVAC is heating ventilation air conditioning and I am not knocking you career at all great profession and good money to boot but nothing to do with drinking water
 
Sake said:
teflon tape..is it safe? - The Reef Tank
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f20/broken-pump-is-teflon-tape-safe-to-come-in-direct-contact-with-water-135126.html
Everything Aquatic- Forum Board - Which Teflon tapes are tank-safe and which aren't?
There are some google answers to if teflon tape is safe for aquariums. I know you had issues with what you believe was teflon tape, maybe it was a fluke maybe it wasn't but people have been using it without ill effects for some time.

No it was teflon, i found the problem to be wherever they manufactured it used a type of oil or lubricant that was on the tape, nd poisoned my water, all i said was do research, everyone needs to relax
 
ryan-peddle said:
It is absolutly 100% tank safe I have it on my bulkheads in a 10+ year old tank with no ill effects just think its attached to our braided lines under our sinks for a water tight fit to your fixture witch touches water 24/7

HVAC is heating ventilation air conditioning and I am not knocking you career at all great profession and good money to boot but nothing to do with drinking water

Hvac nd plumbing are very very similar, nd we do all kinds of work with peoples drinking water, nd 99percent of the time no one drinks tap becuase it has chemicals in it, they use filtered water, thats why ur always suppose to let water sit 24hrs before putting it into running established tanks, of course a gallon of it wont hurt in a 20gal.
 
Teflon goes on the thread of any union, pipe ect. Nd then is fitted into another pipe, the teflon is not touching water 24/7, relook an attachment nd see how much teflon is exposed under sink. Nd if it is shown, mayb u need to hire a better installer.
 
No it was teflon, i found the problem to be wherever they manufactured it used a type of oil or lubricant that was on the tape, nd poisoned my water, all i said was do research, everyone needs to relax

Just trying to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. You are claiming that teflon tape released enough toxins to kill your fish for an entire year?
 
jetajockey said:
Just trying to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. You are claiming that teflon tape released enough toxins to kill your fish for an entire year?

No they killed them in the first week, it took me around a year to find wut the problem was. Water levels at that time were perfect.
 
Boomer23 said:
Hvac nd plumbing are very very similar, nd we do all kinds of work with peoples drinking water, nd 99percent of the time no one drinks tap becuase it has chemicals in it, they use filtered water, thats why ur always suppose to let water sit 24hrs before putting it into running established tanks, of course a gallon of it wont hurt in a 20gal.

Unless your on well water which a lot of people are and I tottaly understand the Teflon goes onto threads so it isn't "touching" the water but it would still have some contact.

What I don't understand is where you used it that it would be in 100% contact to effect your water because like you said if it properly used it shouldn't be in contact?

And I am not attacking at all but be carefull touching plumbing if your an HVAC technician because your not a licensed plumber and that could mean code infractions
 
ryan-peddle said:
Unless your on well water which a lot of people are and I tottaly understand the Teflon goes onto threads so it isn't "touching" the water but it would still have some contact.

What I don't understand is where you used it that it would be in 100% contact to effect your water because like you said if it properly used it shouldn't be in contact?

And I am not attacking at all but be carefull touching plumbing if your an HVAC technician because your not a licensed plumber and that could mean code infractions

The company im with is licensed in both because they are so similar nd its easier to get jobs. Nd i made a custom air bubbler, the thread piece i used was longer than wut would fit into the union of the bubbler piece, nd it was visible mayb by like 3cm into the water, i was a rookie at the time maybe only being in the aquarium business 3 years, now i have about ten years under my belt, nd i dont let little messups happen like that. i do alot of research on wut goes into my tanks
 
...... he tested my water nd found toxins, mayb not strong enuff to hurt me if i actually drank it, but deff was strong enough to kill off my fish. .......
Very intereseting. Exactly what toxins did he find? Teflon tape is actually Polytetrafluoroethylene and it is nontoxic. It's the same stuff that's on non-stick cookware. It will not dissolve or break down in water but will start to off gas fluorocarbons at around 500°F and melt at around 620°F. I will make the assumption your tank water didn't get that warm. ;)

I would say it's a safe bet in that if there were toxins in your tank it didn't come from the teflon tape.
 
ccCapt said:
Very intereseting. Exactly what toxins did he find? Teflon tape is actually Polytetrafluoroethylene and it is nontoxic. It's the same stuff that's on non-stick cookware. It will not dissolve or break down in water but will start to off gas fluorocarbons at around 500°F and melt at around 620°F. I will make the assumption your tank water didn't get that warm. ;)

I would say it's a safe bet in that if there were toxins in your tank it didn't come from the teflon tape.

Read my other posts, i said i later found out it was wherever they manufactured it, they used some type of oil or lubricant when it was processed, it wasnt used to make the teflon it was used i guess to package it or to keep in storage, im not sayin teflon is the problem or that it is a problem in sayin jus do research on it before u use it, everyone jus isnt understanding wut im tryin to say, i didnt it was all bad nd the worst thing i used, all i said was do RESEARCH
 
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