Is lead fish friendly?

My oto has been very happy seen his little belly nice and full and he recently discovered shrimp pellets and algae wafers so he joins in the cory feeding frenzy. I was wondering if I could use lead weight used for fishing to weigh down cucumber baby marrow etc for a more diverse diet is the lead safe to use? Thanks

 

NOOO! Never us lead or copper in your tank.
You can use a cake fork or like me, use a normal mild steel nail. Nails can also be used under the roots of sword plants and crypts.

 

Just stick an old fork through the baby marrow, chuch in the tank. When the marrow is gone, remove fork. (Don't tell the missus!)

 

Snyper just tie it to a rock.

 

we use copper and lead in household plumbing, why is it more dangerous to fish?

 

I have used lead sinkers in the past to keep plants from floating untill they establish their roots, cant say that there was any ill effects.

 

George,

Lead is en extremely toxic metal. It does not have direct effects immediately, but it causes sterility and liver damage in fishes. It should not be used in any system where you are dealing with living organisms and definitely not in an aquarium.

We used to have lead in petrol. It has now been removed because of the serious environmental effects that it was causing, it does the same in aquatic systems.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Am I right though that 'new' fishing shots are not made from lead any more, but a none toxic substance?? Is this non-toxic 'Lead' fishing shot also harmful to fish??

I know this happened in the UK, as Swans and Ducks were being found dead all over the canals and usually lead shot was found in their guts. SO they banned the use of Lead in the fishing shots, and changed it to a non toxic substance.

Has this happened in SA too??

CHeers
G!

 

Thanks a lot guys glad I asked before I just put it into the tank. U are correct the new fishing shots are being replace with the likes of brass just for interest sake u buy 3 bullet lead sinkers for say R6 but the same brass ones cost around R90 its not enforced or anything like that here at the moment but those are the costs.

 

Snyper,we use coated lead sinkers for fishing because of the poisonous effects of lead.
Just pop in by me and i'll give you some ogf the coated sinkers.
The coating has been developed not to be poisonous.

 

That's the reason some Capey's have been doing it with old spark-plugs!
Cheap and no Lead! Well, that's their way of thinking...

 

Brass is an alloy of zinc and copper. Copper is also highly toxic in an aquarium, perhaps less though than in the environment, but I have had major problems with copper toxicity in the soft water of Stellenbosch. So forget about brass as well.

The risk of even a coated sinker breaking its coating and leaking lead into the aquarium is too great for me.

carlp, if the pH of water is above seven, which is what all municipalities strive for, copper does not really dissolve in it and it is for this reason that copper is used. It is interesting to note that lead is thought to have been one of the factors that lead to the end of the Roman empire. They used to drink their wine from lead mugs en used lead plates and utensils.

I would advise that you use normal steel nails because when they rust they can actually supply iron to your plants.

Enough said,

Dirk