"Beware Rubbermaid trash cans"

[Hellaenergy]

For those of you who haven't seen this before this is an interesting read:

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic101230-9-1.aspx

[kcooley]

i figured this out the hard way years ago. glad you found and posted this.

[Mutu]

Interesting...

[RJREEFER]

Ok, so I have one. I just bought it about 3 months ago and I use it to store RO/DI water and to mix with when it's time for a WC. Should I be worried and look for alternatives? This thread is not new information to me but I have read multiple threads that go back and forth about it. My can is HDP not LDP so does that make a difference?

[kcooley]

i would only worry about it if you are trying to spawn anything. If not it will not affect the life of your fish or corals. it only affects the fish's sperms ability to swim.

[Merkurfan]

strange huh? I wonder if it wears off. Or if the problem with the water continues for ever once it's been in the can.

[kcooley]

i used mine for over a year and it still affected the fertility rate.

At the time i was a member of dph.nl, a discus-sion forum from the netherlands. Nobody knew why my male was un successful, and we looked into everything. unfortunately this information was figured out about a year ago.

[kbb0118]

ARGH! I was looking for info on this yesterday. You read my mind! I need something other than glass 10 gallon tanks to raise a.ocellaris in. I keep cracking them. :mad_3: Looks like last night's batch will be put in the 20 gallon. Blah. I glued PVC into a rubbermaid tote and was going to put them in that.

[David Grigor]

I don't use rubbermaid, however, I wouldn't rush out and replace if I was. For our purposes, they are fine. For, marine biology projects maybe not.

[kv2wr1]

http://www.reefaquariumguide.com/forum/general-reef-aquarium-discussion/98362-curing-all-new-rubbermaid-plastic-buckets.html

Here is a link on how to cure them. I'm not sure if this makes them ok to use in breeding marine life or not, but may make then a little safer to use.

[kcooley]

that is just for cleaning the toxins off the surface. this issue is deeper than that and leeches out into the water that is held in them.

[zoolan70]

Does anyone have a good source of 'safe' containers for storing and mixing RO? I'm using the trash cans now, and like David said, I won't be changing just because of this reason. However, if I could find containers that were a better fit for my space (taller and preferably square / retangular rather than round) I would consider making a change.

[kv2wr1]

Does anyone have a good source of 'safe' containers for storing and mixing RO? I'm using the trash cans now, and like David said, I won't be changing just because of this reason. However, if I could find containers that were a better fit for my space (taller and preferably square / retangular rather than round) I would consider making a change.

Certain Mills Fleet Farms have jugs that are food safe and are made for storing water. I use those for storing water and for mixing saltwater I used a (sanitized) 29g aquarium that I had gotten from my aunt.

[zoolan70]

Certain Mills Fleet Farms have jugs that are food safe and are made for storing water. I use those for storing water and for mixing saltwater I used a (sanitized) 29g aquarium that I had gotten from my aunt.

I'm looking for something in the 40+ gallon size...it would need to be something cast off from soda bottling or other food manufacturing, I would think...

[Screwtape]

I've read some criticism of this information, basically that it wasn't a very controlled experiment and there are other possibilities for the results that occurred, at least based on the information on the MD forums. There may be other information elsewhere to back it up but I haven't seen it personally.

That said, I would probably hesitate only if I was looking at actually trying to breed some marine animal. I use Rubbermaid trash cans without any problems for my tanks with no apparent ill effects.

[kcooley]

Agent462(bryan) got his from a website that sells only food safe jugs and storage containers. i would ask him.

[Hellaenergy]

As someone points out in the MD thread, food safe does not necessarily mean there are still no effects from the plasticizers present. They repeatedly defer to the unknown, though.

Also, although long, the people in that thread go through quite a few questions and attempted answers that this thread is deriving. I would suggest reading it in it's entirety if you have the time. I found it informative.

This issue reminds me of the Bisphenol A (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A) controversy a couple years back.

[kcooley]

makes me curious about side affects that could possible still be discovered about those new resins for lowering N and P.

[redlion4]

Been using those cans for over 10 years to store RO/DI water prior to mixing with salt. Do the mixing in a smaller 18 gallon rectangular rubbermaid container.

Obviously does not hurt our fasle percs eggs or sperm, since their latest clutch hatched / was harvested last night. They have been spawning for several years now, like clockwork....

It is possible that the manufacturing has changed since we purchased our can. Many other possibilities too as Screwtape mentions, regarding a controlled environment to do a true experiment. Always good to pass on this info, but take it with a grain (or box) of salt.

[Hellaenergy]

Obviously does not hurt our fasle percs eggs or sperm, since their latest clutch hatched / was harvested last night. They have been spawning for several years now, like clockwork....


This sounds like a perfect opportunity to represent our club on MBI (http://mbisite.org/) and gain some points for yourself :nuts: You could start a breeding journal (http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29454) and submit it (http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29496) for some easy points.

[Daniel]

Argh, people make wine in these things!

[redeclipse6049]

One problem I have with that writeup is that they use that old argument of "well just because you don't see any problems, doesn't mean there aren't any" when talking about people who have used those containers without issue for years.

That's the same thinking of
auto mechanics "you can't tell, but your engine is on its last leg and you'll need all new gaskets and pistons"

anti-drug lobbyists "just because it doesn't look like it causes any long-term negative side effects doesn't mean its safe"

and volcano insurance salesmen
v6KQhiiYTtA

[mpedersen]

Interesting side note - I posted a thread here a while back about this very same issue - I think part of the issue is LDPE (recycle #4) vs. HDPE (recycle #2). We all use a lot of HDPE all over the place in our tanks and systems...LDPE seems to be cheaper and used in a lot of other stuff like cheap plastic totes etc. 5 gallon buckets are typically HDPE (#2)....