Plastic Substrate
- Thread starter Zhewitt04
- Start date
I've been using plain old garden hoses, for wc, for years with no apparent ill affect to the fish I've kept.
They also sell pvc pipes that are drinking water safe, but plenty of people(including me) use just regular pvc for filtration systems.....no apparent ill affect either
Whether these over sights may potentially shorten a fishs' life span by a year or so.........who knows
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I guess theres about as much chance of ingesting plastic beads as they do sand or gravel. As long as its inert, there probably wouldn' t be a problem I suppose. Children swallow plastic toys and things all the time.
Hello; There are reports of ocean fish and cows eating plastic stuff. Some years ago I heard on PBS radio about cows in India eating the plastic shopping bags that are so common. The plastic interfered with their ability to digest food. For fish and other ocean creatures there is also the problem of being entangled in addition to being swallowed.
Hello; Here are three links about plastic in the bodies of fish.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/12/12/250438904/how-plastic-in-the-ocean-is-contaminating-your-seafood
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-plastic-from-our-clothing-is-ending-up-in-fish/
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/14/3679715/zooplankton-eating-plastic/
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/12/12/250438904/how-plastic-in-the-ocean-is-contaminating-your-seafood
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-plastic-from-our-clothing-is-ending-up-in-fish/
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/14/3679715/zooplankton-eating-plastic/
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Yeah, this is nothing new. Sea turtles eating plastic bags have been a long time well publicized concern. Cows eating plastic bags is a new old for me though. I believe that the harm comes in how much(and often) plastic is being ingested. Well, if the plastic doesn't harm it there's always the ingestion of pollutants like mercury and cadmium. I can't foresee rays finding plastic beads palatable. Heck, some people have a hard time even getting them to eat regular food like raw shrimp.
Hello; No. I have many bits of equipment made of plastic that sink. UGF ( Under gravel filters) for one. My take is that the densities of plastic can vary so that it can float or sink.
I had an ugf once but the substrate held it down, you are most likely right I have just never seen a plastic dense enough to sink I guess.
