are lead weights safe for shrimp?

cheesenips · Post by **cheesenips** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 4:15 pm

I currently have a 10gallon tank thats heavily planted. It been cycling for over 2 months now and the plants are doing great. I am about to add some shrimp in there but I heard some talks about the lead used in plant sinkers are toxic to shrimp. Is this true?

I have other shrimp tanks but there is only java moss and floating plants in there.

Thanks

soritan · Post by **soritan** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:20 am

Actually, 'lead' weights aren't really made out of dangerous leads anymore.

If they are, and I'm wrong...weeell, my own shrimps have been damned for ages.

I believe they're made of zinc, now-a-days, and a couple other less dangerous (inert) metals.

If you're still tweaked about the affair, why not try this DIY? It'll seal up suspect metals in aqurium safe silicone, thereby making the weight 'worry free' (relative to your personal level of tolerance).

I have many weights in my 10 gallon tank, and my ghost shrimp are happy, breeding, and stealing food right out of my frog and betta's mouthes.

gr81 · Post by **gr81** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:33 am

Do you have any experiences usig AL in aqua? I wanna make chiller and use AL. Is it dangerous?

cheesenips · Post by **cheesenips** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:59 am

Cool thanks for the DIY soritan

I was just asking because, my tank is full of those plant weights and was wondering if I should remove them before adding shrimp in.

Shady · Post by **Shady** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:11 am

I don't have references in front of me, but I am 99% sure that most metals, including lead, have to become ionized in the water to be toxic. This usually only happens in extrmely low pH (like 2), extremely high pH in the presence of carbonates, phosphates, etc, or from a chemical reaction where the end product is an ionized form of that metal(unlikely in the aquarium). Also, the higher your water hardness in a "normal" pH range, the less likely you will have ionic metals floating around. In aquarium water, most metals will either oxidize or remain unchanged. The biggest danger with heavy metals is in their ionized form, because this is how they pass through the gill membranes. Unionized metals, whether they are oxidized or not, are usually harmless. One possible exception is if the oxides are directly ingested. Now, I'm not positive at what pH lead oxide forms, but I know it is low...like 5.5 or lower. So as long as you have a pH over 6 and have some minerals in the water, you will probably be fine. You can also use a chelating agent, like an aquarium water conditioner, to neutralize ionic metals.

BTW, aluminum and zinc are not more "inert" than lead, or less dangerous necessarily. Metals toxicity has a lot to do with it's permeability in the organism, the environmental conditions, concentration, etc.

soritan · Post by **soritan** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:50 am

A search on this forum and a search on http://www.plantgeek.com both seem rather reassuring, as far as plant weight toxicity is concerned.

cheesenips · Post by **cheesenips** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:44 pm

The ph for the tank is around 6.9-7.1. Does temp play a role also?

I did not want to take any chances and had them removed since they were no longer the same color as they were when I first put them in the tank 2 months ago (when they first went in, they were shiney and smooth now they are dull even white in some parts and rugged looking, is it rusting?)

while on the topic has anyone used chicken wire or some sort of metal mesh to tie their mosses with? how did that work out? I noticed for me the wire started to change colors, think i should take that out also (no shrimp in there either, just some ramshorn and mts)

Shady · Post by **Shady** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 7:15 am

White residue on lead is most likelu lead oxide. Might harm if ingested, but not sure how toxic it is to shrimp. Think about fishing weights for "normal" coloration of lead.

Chicken wire is usually galvanized steel. THe zinc in the galvanizing can be harmful if you use a lot. You'd be better off with plastic bread ties. The inner wire will rust, but iron oxide is not nearly as potentially toxic as lead or zinc. You can also buy thin stainless steel wire from welding shops and some hardware stores. Plastic zip cord (lightly tied) could work too, as could many other things.