Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I let my pipes sit for about 5 days before running water thru them, hope this is going to be okay. Didn'tknow about theglue for potable water

could be a source of several of our dead fishes initially?

Fantastic job there Aeon. Only great adventures to come.

The manufacturer should be able to supply you with MSDS sheets which will help you to know if it's ok....

PS. If it was a bostik glue/adhesive I can probably help you out because I sell it.....

PPS. Does anyone use butyl tapes in their tanks as a sealant?

you can get msds on the internet too, i have searched a couple on google with results

Ill go have a look for them

Bugger...
i was worried it might be toxic but i thought that PVC pipes are generally designed to carry water, thus the glue would be 'relatively' non-toxic.
Well, I guess i'm n ot surprised - the primer and glue fumes were pretty hardcore. I won't use any more of it in the pipe system though as I want to be able to take stuff apart easily if i have to. At least my grow beds are right over my pond so if there's any leakage of water due to less glue then the water wil go straight back into the system.
Thanks for the heads up though! Hopefully the most toxic exposure occurs while the stuff is being painted on and isnt going to kill the fish or be taken up by the plants. I wonder if theres anything within an anctive system that can lock the toxins up? - like carbon in the soil can lock up salt and make it benign to plants when it would otherwise kill them, if the right bacteria is present.


Aeon

After I left my pipes to set for a few days, I pumped them through into a bucket. The first 20 litres or so was a bit fumey so I'm glad I did.

aeon, as I said, you should be able to check with the manufacturer you tend to find that most stuff is fairly inert once it has 'gone off' as per monya's post. if you let me know what brand i can probably get some 'industry' info on it.

pvc is evil stuff anyway for offgassing so there is no perfect system I guess...

From the many sleepless nights looking up differnt plastics i cam to the conclusion that uPVC (un plasticised) as used in pvc pipes is the most ok.

flexible pvc's (vinyl liners are included in this i think) have a range of plasticisers used in them. There in lie the real danger stuff IMHO.

steve, I think you're right... I didn't consider that PVC pipes are different to flexi PVC but it makes sense. plasticisers are bad bad bad, and PVC offgasses for virtually its whole life as far as I'm aware. Basically mustard gas... nice!

Plasticisers also make adhesives not work to well unless specifically designed to be resistant...

other safe options are LDPE and HDPE for pipes and tanks.

If i was going to use a pond liner for edible fish and plants i'd probably use EDPM or something like it. much more expensice than the vinyl though

EDPM is v good stuff, yes very expensive though... (and I only sell it as a tape...).. I didn't know about LDPE or HDPE for pipes and tanks but know about them for plastic bags...LOL

Because i thought I might want to get yabbies, I have done some pretty hardcore lining of my pond ( on a budget that is). After my hapless freinds dug me a big hole, I did the standard carpet strips covering the walls and floor over the dirt, then the standard vinyl liner. It was $30 a metre - not the best quality ever but not el-cheapo either- but it smells pretty woofy - I reckon its the nasty kind of vinyl.
Then to protect it from the burrowing habits of yabbies I covered it in sheets of thick vinyl acetate (about 5mm) which were sold to me from reverse garbabe - an industrial re-use centre for 6 bucks each. They were advertised as completely non -toixc even though they smelled nasty. The sign on the display said to hang them in the sun for a few days whch I did and this would break down the amonia smell. (it still smelled like amonia when they went in the pond but i figure the aquaponics system is designed to break down amonia so any leaching into the water will hopefully be taken care of!- any thoughts on this would be great).
Over the top of the vinyl acetate sheeting I positioned lots of standard black vinyl plastic as I wa able to buy a big roll ( about 20 metres) for $20 bucks. Of course it wasnt water proof as it came in 4 metre pieces. Over all of that I placed a huge double thickness standard blue tarp - which is much nicer colour than black vinyl and I thought it would help slow down any leaching of funny chemicals into the water. Also I will be able to see my fish more clearly.
So I reckon Ive got a bit of a chemical cocktail there but i was planning to line the floor with about 10 cm of river sand covered in scoria gravel as advised by yabbie people - to give them something natural to burrow into, plus some little bits of brick pipe for hidey holes.

Elcheapo liner masterpiece ! ( I hope)

Aeon.

Thats funny,
I have been trying to work out why i was censored, couldnt remember saying anytjhing naughty - out it down to vague 'placenta brain' then remebered the word i used - its those yummy alcoholic drinks with little paper unbrellas in them. Very naughty!

LOL, i actuall had to check the word sensors to figure it out.

There you go, all better.