FirstClassFish

Epsom Salt will help remove fluid. Hope it works, this one can be tricky!

Yep, formaldehyde is nasty stuff and not much talk about it. Nutrafurazone is also carcinogenic. I don’t react well to the antibiotic Cipro and that and related medicines are used commonly. The one I mentioned in the OP causes hallucinations in humans and there are cautions for it’s use in dogs and cats. Since we know some of the anti-parasitic drugs absorb through the skin, I wondered about the antibiotics. I imagine we won’t get definitive answers and the answer is just to wear PPE when working in the tanks and as mentioned also when dosing, etc….as they are often fine powders. I will unfortunately have to stay away from two of the best antibiotics I mentioned out of an abundance of caution. Neither of those are something I want to deal with potential symptoms from. The whole class of drugs actually. Read up on them….I’ll only take them if I have no other choice, which for a few things, unfortunately could be the case, especially with the pandemic.

I can’t say I follow your line of thinking. Algae and duckweed are not harmful to humans, at least not easily so. Antibiotics and other medications absorbed through the skin on the other hand? Two completely different things.

I’ve been researching what medicines to have on hand for treating fish. I never thought of this before and I’m surprised I and others haven’t brought it up more often. It struck me as a concern a couple times in my research recently. Once when they spoke of anti-parasite medicines being used by rubbing on the livestock’s ears, so obviously absorbed through the skin. The other time when enrofloxcin was mentioned as one of the most advanced antibiotics that we have for fish treatment, but one of the reasons it didn’t pass human trials was that it causes hallucinations!Another cautious moment for me was when I saw Cipro is used for ornamental fish. I have bad reactions to this medicine. So, in hindsight this all seems that it should have been a concern all along that I’d need to learn more about. Surprised I’ve never seen it discussed. So clearly some anti-parasites can be absorbed through the skin and we should probably use gloves as a precaution there?What about antibiotics and others?Is there a reason there’s no concern here? Or is there concern and people simply use proper gloves and eye protection and I’ve just not heard this before. Thanks!

@Cory any thoughts on this thread? I think it would help a number of us out. Appears very similar to PFS, although not usually marketed that way. You have experience with it so maybe you can clear some things up about the grading and composition. Thanks

You’re right, I think the Basalite one may have been a file that was incorrect under one of the product pages. It’s hard to do all this research on a phone. I’ll have another look and I’ll make some more phone calls. I’ve made one so far. The ones right form Cemex seems to be correct.

The Cemex is the same brand.

It says there in the SDS I added 0-100 silica and 45-100 limestone. Quite the variance. I agree and know limestone isn’t necessarily a danger, but it’s always something we want to know if it’s there or not due to the buffering.

I appreciate you and your tank sounds awesome! I think with a little work investigating and finding the right knowledgeable person, we can do better than just try and see. Here is the one file I knew I was forgetting. Look at the limestone percentage. I think between that and the aluminum (not sure if that form is in a soluble or handful form), there’s reason to try and figure out if it’s safe or not.

I hear you, but I’ve never seen those numbers on other sands (not saying you are wrong)… It does say 60-100 percent silica/quartz and 10% aluminum? Just seems odd considering every other similar material is usually something like 99.7 silica or similar. Like you say it does have more colors in it though.

I’m taking a sand deep dive and looking for the perfect one for me, or at least to educate myself and know my options and hopefully help others along the way. In looking a little beyond the stuff always mentioned, I came across this: Different Types of Sand and What They Should be Used for Learn about all the different types of sand and how each should be used, including what sand actually is and why some are different colours www.diydoctor.org.uk It’s mentioned that PFS works because it’s sharp. Most MSDS sheets have it characterized as “sub-angular”. Does classifying it as sharp and angular, just mean relatively in this case? Meaning it’s not really all that sharp and fine for all manner of burrowers, bottom dwellers, and sand sifters?I haven’t seen mention of problems with it other than the rare occasion. The article above is interesting, but when I do internet searches using their terms it seems like everyone has a different idea of what should be called what and there’s a lot of overlap. I’d like to find the one they mention as River Sand and a few other names. Sounds perfect. What characteristics would you say keep a sand from compacting? Is it size, or consistency of size, or the uniformity or lack thereof in the smoothness of the granules. I’ve heard so many things when it comes to that, I have no idea what is true. Any other less known options for the perfect sand for a planted tank and bottom dwellers that comes in colors other than mostly solid off whites?Thanks!

So I’ve been researching sand. If I have the time I will post some other info I’ve collected on the way about various black sands, etc. For right now though I’d like to focus on the Lapis Lustre/Red Flint sands and any other PFS type sand that may be darker than most of the cheaper options. Also, a few general sand questions. The answers might help others as well. Maybe someday I’ll make one giant post as I know myself and a lot of others are on a constant hunt for options and want to know what they’re getting exactly. I know some here are familiar with the Lapis Lustre as Cory has used it in a tank and people wanted to know what it was. Any good footage of that tank? I’d like to see it being used in an aquarium. The SDS seems to indicate is has all kinds of things we don’t want, so surprised to see it used, but figured since Cory definitely knows what he’s doing most of the time, that I’m wrong. SDS/MSDS sheets can be hard for us laymen to read. I’ll provide pics of the two SDS/MSDS I have. Seems it also has limestone in it in potentially large quantities? Being from Monterey Bay perhaps shell as well. It seems this stuff comes branded as: Cemex, Kleen Blast, Cemex Kleen Blast, Cemex Neogem, RMC Pacific Materials, and Basalite In the first pic and link it says: Kleen Blast CEMEX Lapis Lustre Sand #60 100 lb./Bag So what is the #60 for? It’s not for mesh or pounds. Mesh is listed as 30 in the description, but the bag says mesh of #2-/16? In the mesh chart it says #2-/16 is 16x30 and that 30 mesh is 30x70, so I don’t think they are the same….and how does one read the chart overall? I think I have a general idea from googling it, but am not positive. To make it even more confusing, Cory says he used .8. I assume mm, but I don’t see any that are listed that way and from the charts it looks like there is always a range of granule size per mesh category. https://www.whitecap.com/p/Kleen-Blast-CEMEX-Lapis-Lustre-Sand-60-100-lbBag-55289/195907/433LL60/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6IGeyaHN-AIVhofICh3oDwXwEAAYASAAEgIJrvD_BwE Home Depot (different package and weight) https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cemex-50-lb-30-Mesh-Sand-200000278/100321932#overlay The Red Flint sand by Red Flint seems to also be a good PFS type of sand that isn’t stark white. https://www.redflint.com/sand-filtration-media/ They have what appears to be the exact same thing in their aquarium section as well. Estes has what looks like almost the same thing?: Scroll down and it’s called Red Flint Sand https://estesco.com/natural-aquarium-gravel/ They also have Ceramaquartz T&S grades in black, which is supposed to be the replacement for the 3M Colorquartz They also have a line called Permaquartz. I believe Cermaquartz is the ceramic coated variety and the Permaquartz is impregnated with the color somehow. My guess is the Ceramaquartz is what Estes sells as Stoney River in pet shops. If so, I’m really surprised that isn’t more popular as the 3M stuff was very popular. There’s also Covia Personally I’m not sure I trust the coloring. I’ve seen enough reports of it coming off.