plant weights ??

[Roan Art]

This is a repost of another post I made in regards to lead plant weights in this very forum:
----------------------------
There's actually been a thread about this before in here, lemme see if I can find it . . .

Hrm, a few threads, but here's the one I found that seems to have the most posts:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...d+plant+weights

After reading this, I realized that I was using Lee's Lead Plant Weights and I emailed them. Here are the emails we exchanged with actual email addresses and headers removed:

-------------------
From: Eileen Kortright
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2005 7:35 AM
To: custserv at leesaqpet.com
Subject: Lead Plant Weights

Do Lee's plant weights really contain lead? Or is the term being used loosely?

E. Kortright
------------------------
From: "Stephanie"
To: "Eileen Kortright"
Subject: RE: Lead Plant Weights
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 08:27:16 -0800
Message-ID:

Eileen,

Based on the information I have obtained through our catalog, it does appear that the plant weights contain lead.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Kirst
Customer Service
Lee's Aquarium & Pet Products
-------------------------
From: Eileen Kortright
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 10:39 AM
To: stephanie_kirst
Subject: RE: Lead Plant Weights

Really? I wondered because lead is poison and if you use lead in an aquarium with fish, they will die.
Can you double check with someone? Because if they are lead I'm taking them out of my tank immediately.

E. Kortright
---------------------------

From: "Stephanie"
To: "Eileen Kortright"
Subject: RE: Lead Plant Weights
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 11:51:44 -0800

Eileen,

I did check with a co-worker and she indicated to me, that the plant weights to contain lead, and that we have discontinued the item for that reason.

It would be our recommendation that you do take them out of your tank.


We apologize for the inconvenience,

Stephanie Kirst
Customer Service
Lee's Aquarium & Pet Products
-----------------------------

So, if you are using or have any of those "Lee's Lead Plant Weights" I'd remove them and/or not use them.

Roan
-----------------------------------
Okay, now can someone give me the names of some metal weights that most definitely do *not* contain lead?

Roan

 

[RTR]

Lead solubility is more likely to be an issue in acid tanks than in the more common alkaline tanks in this country. Lead solubility climbs significantly with lower pH water. I don't know of any study which has tracked actual lead content in aquarium water, but obviously it is better to avoid the use of lead whenever possible.

 

[MidnightPyro]

This is a repost of another post I made in regards to lead plant weights in this very forum:
----------------------------
There's actually been a thread about this before in here, lemme see if I can find it . . .

Hrm, a few threads, but here's the one I found that seems to have the most posts:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...d+plant+weights
Roan

That's not good at all, especially considering I bought them from Big Al's a month ago.
Big Als now sells these Roan...it says "non-toxic", which I presume to me no lead.

Anyways, I'm definatly going to be removed from my tank tommorow. I sent an email to Lee's to confirm, and maybe a nice email to Big Als will convince them to replace them with some of these non-toxic ones instead. The plant weights were only like $2.10 for 12 of them, but it kind of disappoints me that such a company would be selling something which the manufactorer recommends taking out of the tank.

 

[Roan Art]

That's not good at all, especially considering I bought them from Big Al's a month ago.
Big Als now sells these Roan...it says "non-toxic", which I presume to me no lead.

Anyways, I'm definatly going to be removed from my tank tommorow. I sent an email to Lee's to confirm, and maybe a nice email to Big Als will convince them to replace them with some of these non-toxic ones instead. The plant weights were only like $2.10 for 12 of them, but it kind of disappoints me that such a company would be selling something which the manufactorer recommends taking out of the tank.

Is Al's saying "non toxic" or is that on the packaging? Lee's didn't have anything on the packaging that said that at all.

If you want actual copies of these emails between me and Lee's, shoot me a PM with your email addy and I'll forward them.

I'd actually love it if someone from Lee's came forward and said that the person I was corresponding with was full of it and gave a more creditable assurance that the weights were fine to use. I LIKE lead weights and would like to use them again.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

Lead solubility is more likely to be an issue in acid tanks than in the more common alkaline tanks in this country. Lead solubility climbs significantly with lower pH water. I don't know of any study which has tracked actual lead content in aquarium water, but obviously it is better to avoid the use of lead whenever possible.

That's exactly what I was worried about. With CO2 injection, this becomes a concern, does it not?

Roan

 

[MidnightPyro]

Is Al's saying "non toxic" or is that on the packaging? Lee's didn't have anything on the packaging that said that at all.

If you want actual copies of these emails between me and Lee's, shoot me a PM with your email addy and I'll forward them.

I'd actually love it if someone from Lee's came forward and said that the person I was corresponding with was full of it and gave a more creditable assurance that the weights were fine to use. I LIKE lead weights and would like to use them again.

Roan

Argh, sorry Roan, I forgot to throw in the link. These are the new one's Al's are selling that say 'non-toxic'

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?
product_id=19343;category_id=1577;pcid1=3349;pcid2=

The old Lee's ones don't say non-toxic at all. For 2 packs of weights, I only spent $2.10, so it's not a major loss at all. I'm not too sure whether it'd even be worth taking it up with Big Als. They're not going to give me a $100 gift certificate for my troubles :, just (maybe) my $2.10 back.

It just kind of irks me a bit that Big Als was selling a product that the manufactorer knew to be hazardous and recommended not using. Seems to be corrected at Al's now, but I have a bunch of lead plant weights lying around still! Maybe I can melt them and make a statue or something.

 

[RTR]

RA, Yup - there it is the pH that counts, not the TDS.

But as I said - we have no direct data from tanks. The Brits used to do ponds of lead sheets...but nobody tracked the fish so housed. And I suspect there was a lot more to the fall of Rome than lead pipes and aqueduct liners, or storing wine in lead flasks to "sweeten" it. Lead supposedly tastes sweet.