Plastic water containers may not be a good idea for storing water.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by rayjay

I too use I.O. but I've had a running problem with cyano in just two of my eight salt water tanks. If it's I.O. based, why isn't the problem in all of the tanks?
In my 15+ yrs of the hobby, I've found a lot of blame misplaced on the forums by people assuming something has caused the problem without any scientific proof.
i.e. after doing "X", I had the problem of "Y", so "X" caused my "Y" problem.
I could do the same thing with my two cyano plagued tanks and say that sand beds are the cause because the two plagued tanks have sand beds and the others do not.
I'd be willing to bet that of all the I.O. used tanks out there, less than half have a cyano problem so the question is, why some and not others?
Next question, why do users of other salts have a certain percentage of their tanks plagued with cyano?
Possibly because I.O. is the most used salt, there are a greater number of I.O. used cyano tanks than other salt used cyano tanks, distorting the picture.
It's like when my customers ask me what van to purchase and when I replied, Caravan, they would say they have heard too many complaints about Caravans so they don't want them.
In fact, because there are so many Caravans on the road, like maybe as many Carvans as all the rest of the vans put together, then if 1% of them have problems, and you compare it to 1% of problem Windstars for instance, it would look like Windstar has a LOT fewer problems than a Caravan.

As far as the containers go, I don't use the Brute, but have 9-26g Rubbermaid Roughneck containers holding water and raising brine shrimp and rotifers and I use the water from them, plus the brine and rots grown in them, to raise H. Reidi seahorse fry that are smaller than an adult brine shrimp when they are born.
While they are definitely much larger than the more sensitive gametes, I have no concern about my use of the same water in my tanks, feeling that if the containers were a significant problem, I would also experience problems with the sensitive seahorse fry.

Well said Ray. Never had any cyno in relation to my IO, which I have used since its existence. If anything, IMO, relates to cyno, its sandbed. But thats another story for another thread.

[danny zubot]

Good info, thanks for posting. I'm always a bit nervous about plastic these days, and not just in relation to our hobby. Plastics aren't good for people either, that has been proven. Knowing that the water in his container reacted in that way makes it easy to identify potential issues when first trying out a new container. I myself use a 10 gallon clear plastic container for a fuge. I haven't, or didn't notice ill efects when I first put it into action. I'm lucky I guess.

As for the IO thing....

Definitely good to know! I also had no idea about the Instant Ocean either. I just bought a brand new pail, and now I'm thinking I should take it back for Reef Crystals... ...however, I think I need more info first...

Isn't Reef Crystal made by IO? If they are, shouldn't the same suspect be placed on Reef Crystals? Not that I'm sure I believe what was said about IO to be true, just felt like added fuel to the fire.

[PuffLuv]

Originally Posted by danny zubot

Isn't Reef Crystal made by IO? If they are, shouldn't the same suspect be placed on Reef Crystals? Not that I'm sure I believe what was said about IO to be true, just felt like added fuel to the fire.

Good point! It looks like other people have had similar observations with IO & RC.
http://bb.wetwebmedia.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&p=24051

Maybe its because IO is less expensive salt than others, but I think its kinda funny how IO was used in experiments to culture cyanobacteria! (Second from bottom, right paragraph).

http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-p...l&size=largest

However, after reading Bourneman's article, I think Reef Crystals may be at least a better choice than Instant Ocean.

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic10....aspx#bm101263

[fkshiu]

His single observation is hardly scientific proof that such containers are automatically evildoers. As Ron mentioned, did Borneman (or more likely one of his lab assistants) rinse out the Brute prior to use? As a former lab rat myself I can tell you that simple things like this can easily get missed when you're a unpaid schlub who just pulled an all night cram job for a midterm.

Further, using "food grade" containers is no guarantee either. The whole bisphenol A issue was such a big deal because it was being used on numerous "food grade" containers for years.

I'm now on the lookout for a 55 gallon Pyrex cylinder, BTW

[danny zubot]

I'm now on the lookout for a 55 gallon Pyrex cylinder, BTW

That sounds just like my mother 'n' law.

[mike31154]

I agree that a single article is hardly sufficient evidence to start getting overly concerned. I use a rectangular rubbermaid container for my water change container. Don't think it's considered food safe but that doesn't mean it's necessarily going to leach a deadly amount of toxins in the several days it takes me to mix up a batch & do the change.

I do however use glass wine making car boys for my top up DI water. Not due to any worries re plastic, but more because the form is convenient and they work well with my lo tech air pressure top up system. The drawback with them is weight, they're significantly heavier than a comparably sized plastic container. I have several food grade 55 gallon barrels, one of which I will eventually use to contain my DI water. Right now I'm using it to collect the RODI waste water for use in the garden etc. I'll continue to use the rectangular rubbermaid to mix up my water change batches though.

[mseepman]

Mike, where did you get your 55 gallon food safe barrels from? I've been trying to source something like these in Vernon for a while without luck.