Are Fishing weights harmful to your tank?

[toke_]

I have a 90g tank that has many plants. I've always used a tights trap and fishing weights to keep my plants on the bottom of the tank. Yesterday I bought a large sword leave plant and I had to use about 4 weights to hold it down. After that I did a 20% water change and put Prime and then went to sleep. I woke up today and all my fish are at the top of the water gasping for air, even my morey eel is acting really weird. The water temp was 83F so I lowered it a little but idk if the lead weights could be causing toxins in the water. I posted a pic of the type of weight I'm using to help

Dropbox - Error - Simplify your life

 

[Rivercats]

I'm sure that is your problem. Too much iron in water can kill plants and fish so hopefully you've taken them out and do a large maybe 75% WC. Why do you use weights to hold plants down. Is your substrate not deep enough? I have a 220g very heavily planted and don't have issues keeping plants down. On occassion I've gotten plants that have too short a roots for the size of the plant and in that instance I just add a couple good sized rocks to brace the plant down until it has a chance to root well.

 

[toke_]

i fear that a 75% water change will put the fish in shock, and my substrate is sand , probably 1/2inch thick, so it cant really plant them thats why

 

[Rivercats]

The lead in the water is worse. It will not shock the fish, I do a 50% WC weekly even in my big 220g so if that makes you feel better do that but I'd do another 50% WC in a couple hours after that.

 

[toke_]

okay, so when i do this water change do i have to put the Prime first then fill it back up or put the Prime after? and also do i have to worry about the water temp that comes out of the water hose when i fill it up?

 

[Rivercats]

Forgot to add that you can just add more sand. I've had to add more substrate to tanks many times over the years. I just a 2 cup size pyrex measuring cup, scoop up the cleaned substrate, slowly lower the cup down to the substrate and add it. Just do it slowly so you don't stir up too much stuff in the water column. I have never removed the fish while doing this either.

 

[Rivercats]

okay, so when i do this water change do i have to put the Prime first then fill it back up or put the Prime after? and also do i have to worry about the water temp that comes out of the water hose when i fill it up?

Remove the water, use a bucket, fill it with water that is about the same temp as the water in the tank, add Prime, then add to the tank. Do it a bucket at a time, not with a hose or you'll shock your fish with a water temp that is too far off the temp in the tank.

 

[Rivercats]

See your in FL. What are your temps at? Check to see if the water temp from the hose is close to what is in your tank. If it is you add enough Prime to treat the entire tank before you add water from the hose. Then after filled add enough Prime to again treat the entire tank.

With a large tank how are you doing weekly WC's? Investing in an Aqueon Water Changer makes doing WC's very easy. I have one and love it, no buckets.

 

[toke_]

water hose temp depends on the day, and how much sun is hitting the hose. But most days its on the colder side but i do 20% water changes weekly, never 50%+ . I saw the aqueon water changer and it looks pretty cool, i might buy it in the future cuz from what i read about it is that you can hook it up to your sink and put the other end in the tank and let it fill itself up haha

 

[ta2ya]

my friend just bought that for me for xmas. it is very hassle free, and im not breaking my back with the buckets any more.

not that i am using them, but how bout the bendable weights that the plants come in? are those no good as well? just curious.

 

[Rivercats]

Those bendable weights are often lead and I don't think any metal objects should be kept in a tank due to possible heavy metal poisoning. These are the only plant anchors I use (I have to use them in our fancy goldfish tanks due to the size of the fish)... Professional Plant Anchors (on sale)(reg. $2.29).

Another option is planting your plants in actual pots and sitting the pots in the aquarium. You can use those plain unglazed clay pots.

 

[ta2ya]

Yea, I didn't think any metal in the tank is good..

 

[jetajockey]

I don't think they use real lead for plant weights anymore. For fishing sinkers, yes, but from what I've read they use zinc for plant weights nowadays.

 

[Autumnsky]

I would think zinc isn't good either. Plants arriving from foreign countries may still use lead.

Also as a side note pottery/pots from foreign countries often have unsafe amounts of lead in them as well, so we can not use them for food, so I would be cautious using them in tanks, imho.

 

[Gillie]

I don't think they use real lead for plant weights anymore. For fishing sinkers, yes, but from what I've read they use zinc for plant weights nowadays.

I believe they are made from tungsten as zinc is toxic too.

 

[ta2ya]

hey i read some where...
bottle caps...!!
drill a hole thru them, to whatever size the roots are, pull the roots thru, with the bottle cap upside down, and fill em with gravel or sand, and they stay!
buuut, i wonder how bad the plastic can be in the long run...?

 

[Fresh2o]

The plastic used for bottle caps should be food grade (assuming) so it should be safe. Wow, this thread has got me thinking of all the bad things that go in tanks with good intention. Prolly going to start a new thread about some I rocks I had in my tank and where did my shrimp/snails go.