drywall and reef aquarium

[doch]

is there any danger with having drywall dust in my tank? I am doing reno's and have noticed some drywall dust floating in my tank. How screwed am I and what should i do?

[Salinity Now]

I guess it would depend on how much? I'd try to remove as much as I could anyway, with a fine netting or sieve. Also setup a sponge or some kind of mechanical filtration in your return line to try and remove as much as you can. I don't know if there would be any chemical reaction taking place with gypsum and your water. There may be a ph change, but I'm not sure? Good luck and keep an eye on it. For the future, I'd just tape some poly around the tank, or poly off the area that you're renovating to prevent it from happening again.

[fishface]

some planted tank folk actually put gypsum in their tanks as an inexpensive calcium suppliment...i can't imagine it being too problematic. $.02

[StirCrazy]

I remember reading something on RC about it and it was quite a bad thing to have in the tank. Gypsum is very caustic and not a good thing at all to use, and I think anyone who puts it in there tank for Ca is nuts as it is not a soluble Ca source. anyways another problem with Gypsum is the dust is so fine it gets into everything and will destroy motors of vacuums or maybe external pumps. if you are really bent on doing this I would tent your tank and use a outside air source for the tank.

Steve

[fishface]

"Formed by the evaporation of saline deposits from seawater, gypsum is an abundant mineral found in all parts of the world. Some of the most notable national deposits include California, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio and Michigan. Gypsum is also commonly found in France, Switzerland and Mexico, and other parts of the world.

Due to its unique properties, and because it is non-toxic, Gypsum is used in a seemingly endless number of products including: food additives, beer brewing, casting plasters, toothpaste, medicines, and as a soil amendment in the agricultural industry."

hope this helps...

[scotchy]

The dust created from dywalling is not from the drywall anyways, it's from the compound when you are mudding and taping. The compounds are not made from the same stuff as drywall and have ingredients that are not good for you so likely not your fish either. Better safe than sorry. My two cents.


Scott

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by fishface

"Formed by the evaporation of saline deposits from seawater, gypsum is an abundant mineral found in all parts of the world. Some of the most notable national deposits include California, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio and Michigan. Gypsum is also commonly found in France, Switzerland and Mexico, and other parts of the world.

Due to its unique properties, and because it is non-toxic, Gypsum is used in a seemingly endless number of products including: food additives, beer brewing, casting plasters, toothpaste, medicines, and as a soil amendment in the agricultural industry."

hope this helps...

I never said it is toxic, but rather caustic. will mess with you PH like crazy.

Steve

[doch]

Well, for those interested: Everything seems to be OK. Strangely enough, there are things that even look happier than they did before. For the next round of sanding though, I will tarp the tank to be safe(r).

[Quagmire]

My .02 as a part time drywaller is to agree with scotchy.The dust is from the mud.Even if by chance the dust did come frome the drywall,its not 100%
gypsum.Lots of chemicals are added during the process of crushing,baking,forming etc.Even if the gypsum was OK in a tank,the additives would cause problems.Maybe a good idea to scoop out what you can,and put a towel or blanket over the tank when the taper is sanding.

[Ruth]

Another thing that works well for covering a tank is to use plastic wrap and just keep wrapping it around and around. It gives you a much better seal that a tarp.