Possible lead in water

[Ichthys]

It’s the same product. Originally invented and sold by Poly-Bio-Marine. Later sold to Underworld, who sold it to Arcadia.
My bad, it’s Poly-Filter now.

 

[Sunnyspots]

I've bought some!

 

[StevenF]

This article points out some serious concerns over diffused CO2 for fish.
Does CO2 injection cause disease? - Practical Fishkeeping

Very interesting article, and one that certainly makes me reconsider my plans, but there is a fundamental problem with an article such as this one: it discusses, or even makes, scientific statements without any references. Maybe studies could and should be done on the back of such conjecture.

I fully agree. One thing people need to know about CO2 measurements. It is very difficult measure CO2levels in natural water. KH, organics have to be filtered out. The only easy way to measure CO2 is to use very pure water and an accurate PH probe. Drop checkers, PH probes in aquariums, and PH KH charts are widely used to measure CO2levels but none are accurate in any way. they are mainly good bad flag.

Since the water is pure the pH should should be 7. so any deviation from 7 is due to CO2. So I took my RO DI water TDS of 1 and put an air stone in it and measured the PH and compared it to a chart like this one. My PH dropped to just below 6. So about 300ppm. So just pumping air into water will eventually get the CO2 level up to and very close to air CO2 levels.

Many people use drop checkers to measure CO2 in the tank water but few fail to realize that it doesn't actually measure CO2 in the water. It measures CO2 outgassing from the water. Also A a drop checker removed from a tank will indicate low or no CO2 even through the air has 400ppm. Put the drop checker in an dry container with extra CO2 in the air will register in the drop checker. So the drop checker will only register CO2 when there is More CO2 in the water than the air. So a 30ppm reading for drop checker iWork's out to about 430ppm.

Calcinosis as a general ailment involves calcium deposits in the flesh of a fish, while nephrocalcinosis involves calcium deposits within the kidneys. Typically it is found in fish kept in high concentrations where CO2 reaches >12ppm

From the article he equates calcium deposits in fish as bing caused by CO2. He doesn't mention that scan be caused by a GH that is too high, calcium magnesium levels out of balance, and high phosphate levels. Injuries scar tissue, and tumors can also cause hormon imbalance that leads to high calcium levels in the fish. All of which do occur in fish tanks.

Also keep in mint hat during the last 700 million years on earth CO2 levels have averaged about 1000 ppm. About 2.5 times higher than today and yet fish and corals according to fossils ere doing well. Also whileCO2 levels outside are 400ppm. Inside a building it can be a lot higher. CO2 in US submarines is typically 8000ppm with studies finding no adverse effects on the sailers. In a full movie theater CO2 levels can actually go higher.

Overall the main hazard of using CO2 is keeping it at a stable level without gassing the fish with excessive levels. The best way to add CO2 to an aquarium is to discard the drop checker and diffuser and us the inverted bottle methode. You cannot gas your fish with this methode and it is much more efficient at getting CO2 dissolved in the water. By measuring the volume of my bottle and how often it is filled I calculated that my small shrimp tank is consuming 6ml of CO2 per hour. and my plants do pearl. And my 21oz paintball CO2 tank last about 1 year.

 

[Sunnyspots]

Thank you for the explanation of CO2 measurement and findings, including in air. I am planning to try the inverted bottle method having reesearched it a bit further. I only have tiny aerosol bottles to work with, but if it goes well I'll see if we can get big canisters over here.