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Is polypropylene with "UV-Stablizier" okay in aquariums?

Posted: 17 May 2023, 13:25
by Hyhy
I know the plastic itself is food graded but the part of it having "UV-stablizier" in it makes me second guess myself, anybody who got any knowledge/educated guesses on the subject?

Re: Is polypropylene with "UV-Stablizier" okay in aquariums?

Posted: 19 May 2023, 02:33
by Viktor Jarikov
In general, I'd think such UV treatment is benign to fish because many people, myself included, use materials (made of PE or PP) like tarp, greenhouse film, shade cloth, insect screening, plastic fence mesh and screening, and other plastic products treated to be UV withstanding inside fish ponds, tanks, or filters.

IDK if this is because the chemical(s) used for this treatment is totally water insoluble or whether it is harmless even if it leaches out into water.

There may be exceptions, I don't know. For short term assurance, one could test this using cheap fish or feeder fish.

Re: Is polypropylene with "UV-Stablizier" okay in aquariums?

Posted: 19 May 2023, 07:25
by Bas Pels
As far as I know, if it is safe for us - that is, food graded - it is supposed to be safe for our fishes.

While Victor is right - when in doubt, try with easier fishes, but such a test would, could take very long. After all - if you intent to expose yuor sensitive fishes for 10 years to the stuff, what exactly does 3 months without any dead guppy tell you? Not much.

Re: Is polypropylene with "UV-Stablizier" okay in aquariums?

Posted: 19 May 2023, 16:50
by Hyhy
Thanks for your thoughts. If it makes any difference it's bricks of plastic that you place under floors. Thinking about using them similiar to how people use egg-crate(which is not really a thing on this side of the big pond) to protect the bottom of the tank and provide stability for rock constructions etc.

Guess ill do some more reading but think ill just go ahead with it since I didn't find any better alternatives where I live. Abit reassuring that it's used in stuff related to ponds, filters etc but seems hard to know for sure and googling some didn't really make me much wiser which is why I asked here.

Re: Is polypropylene with "UV-Stablizier" okay in aquariums?

Posted: 20 May 2023, 06:41
by aquaholic
I used to raise large numbers of hard mouth pleco species in HDPE - 1000 litre IBC cage containers - (Industrial Bulk Chemical) the white translucent liquid storage boxes in cage frames on pallets. Large enough production numbers that I was selling fish by live weight. About 50 of these containers were kept outside under shadecloth roof where the water would turn green and copious algae coated the container sides. The fish would scrape everything clean, plastic walls getting thinner so definitely micro plastics and aged plastics were getting consumed. It was a worry for sure but I never found any plastic related health issues. Perhaps something longer term - fertility, life span, disease resistance - may occur.