Is this cruel

[drobbins27]

Ok, I really wanted to add some PVC piping to my tank. I asked my next door neighbour if he had any. He opened the back of his truck, and cut me a piece. It was really dirty on the inside so I put it in some water to let it clean itself out. In a few hours, Im going to change the water and then throw one of my cherry barbs in as a sort of "Mineshaft chirping canary". Is this cruel, or smart?

 

[heresmike]

Ok, I really wanted to add some PVC piping to my tank. I asked my next door neighbour if he had any. He opened the back of his truck, and cut me a piece. It was really dirty on the inside so I put it in some water to let it clean itself out. In a few hours, Im going to change the water and then throw one of my cherry barbs in as a sort of "Mineshaft chirping canary". Is this cruel, or smart?

Cruel. But that's just my opinion. Did you use anything other than plain water? You could use bleach, and then rinse thouroughly several times with dechlorinated water. I've done that with rocks from the garden. Or some say to use vinegar.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi drobbins27

I don't think risking the life of a fish just to save some money by using a questionable piece of pipe is a good idea.

Why don't you just throw it away and buy another, new and clean piece? You don't even have to tell your neighbor about it if you don't want to hurt his feelings.

At least your fish would be safe.

 

[Idolz]

When I think of it being in the back of a truck I think of all sorts of things that could have been there before, oil, gas, fertilizer... I wouldn't take any risks you could contaminate the tank and everything in it. IMO its better to buy it new.
And also i dont think its fair to put your poor barb in as a test.

 

[Adrinal]

 

[handsomeboy]

it would be like flushing the fish down the toilet, if you flush it down the drain, it might have a slight chance of surviving

 

[Adrinal]

um, just to be clear... you are talking about a piece of pvc IN the tank right?

 

[drobbins27]

yes

 

[Opcn]

not only is it cruel it is a poorly designed experiment.

Opcn

 

[Aquariamystic]

Dont Sapose you have feeders around? I sometimes use feeders for tests.

 

[cometcattle]

If your going to use that piece, smart. How upset would you be if you woke up to see one of your SD floating. I personaly would just go to Home Depot and have them cut you a new piece for $3.00

 

[CFC]

Piping intended for plumbing in the home is impregnated with anti bacterial and anti fungal chemicals that can poison the tank, if you want to use tubing it has to be marine safe pvc.

 

[drobbins27]

Heres my plan, Im going to boil it. Lets hope it's not lethal to my fishies, everyone says it isnt. (I asked on Oscarfish.com)

 

[big_fresh]

I threw in a piece of PVC piping last week, and now have a problem with my fish [see my post in the Emergencies section]


They kind of seem 'blind', my platies were running into the plants and deco and my cories were less startled when I put my fish net into the water. (usually they swim off quickly).

I am worried that when i rinsed the PVC pipe I got from a hardware store and chucked it in the tank, there was some chemicals on it. That I didn't get rid of.

I took the pipe out and I will monitor them when I get home from work today.

 

[Sang72]

Just my $.02, but I believe it is illegal to use PVC pipe for potable (drinking) water lines in any residence around here, they all have to be copper. So if the state says we should not drink from PVC lines, should your fish?

PVC = PolyVinylCHLORIDE (too close to chlorine for my comfort)

*edit*
maybe this will help

http/www.geomembrane.org/TechPapers/WhatIsPVC.htm

it says in part...."Homopolymers comprise over 80% of the production in the U.S. Chemically, all PVC homopolymers contain about 56.8% chlorine with the balance being hydrocarbon. The three most important characteristics which affect the processing and use of specific resins are molecular weight, particle size and particle configuration."

"PVC is a thermally sensitive thermoplastic. Certain compounding ingredients must be added to the resin to permit it to be converted to an end product. Such ingredients are required for both processing and performance.

Heat stabilizers are common to all products for processing reasons and may b e required for adequate performance in end applications. Other important additives used are lubricants, plasticizers, impact modifiers, fillers, biocides and pigments. The plasticizer is the major additive in a PVC compound (or formulation) since it imparts workability, flexibility, extensibility and resilience to a polymer system. Internal plasticizers are held in polymer systems by chemical bonds, while external plasticizers maintain their molecular identity in the polymer system and their comparability with it by virtue of forces such as hydrogen bonding and Van der Waals attraction."