Reef Safe Plastics & Leaching (myths&facts)

That is not quite true. Many plastics leach phosphates because the plasticizers used to make them are Organophosphate Basedorganophosphate based. Remember, pure H2O is known as the Universal Solvent It's real easy to prove this to yourself if you have a colorimeter. Test some RO/DI water coming straight from the filter to ensure zero phosphate. Let it sit in the bucket or trash can of choice. Wait several hours. Use the colorimeter on the water in the bucket. You will have a reading of phosphates.

 

It is true that plastics leach. It is however not true in all cases. I was refering to toxic substances that could kill marine life. But i understand what you are saying, i should've been more specific.

 

Thanks Curt. I'm guessing that would include water sitting in the RODI unit plastic housings and water lines as well as any RODI water stored in 5 gallon buckets made days in advance of any water changes?

 

Yes and no.

How old are the various plastics? You can't get around this....you can only take steps to minimize this. Even a lot of PVC will leach phosphates. Over time, this leaching disappears...even in containers I wouldn't normally recommend for RO/DI storage. I don't know if the filter housings leach because the DI cartidge would remove the phosphates before it could be tested for.

I had a customer who swore her tank was haunted. No matter what was done, algae just took off. Waterchanges actually made things worse. We couldn't figure it out and then it turned out they did not buy the trashcan I recommended. When I asked why, it was because that trashcan was 4 times the price. Well, for holding trash, that can was not worth 4 times the price but for long-term storage of RO/DI for a reef tank, it is worth every penny.

 

Home Depot sells buckets, they are #2 HDPE as well, but they are 5 bucks each or so.

They are usually in the paint section, white and have Home Depot logo on it.

 

What type of trash can would you recommend?

 

I bought a #5 trash can from walmart for my autotopoff and a 36 gallon #5 rubbermaid bin at Home Depot. So you can go with #5 for RO/DI storage. #5 plastics are used to store yogurt and other things.

 

I know this thread is old but informational. From what I'm gathering all plastics are bad but you should use #2 or #5 to pick from the lesser evils. Should I just buy a 5 gallon glass jug. Like a carboy?

 

Bump for a good read. Lots of great info in these articles.

 

Agreed..sticky?8)