aquaknight
Active Member
Rip from somewhere else, but several smart minds here, should be able to expel on this.
Curing all new Rubbermaid and plastic buckets.
When buckets are made they are put one inside the other. This is called nesting. When newly fabricated buckets are made and they are nested, there is no way any air can circulate. Thus any toxins from newly formed synthetic materials cannot escape.
To cure: Fill the container with water. Add one cup of Clorox (bleach) and 10 pounds of common salt (rock salt will do), to each 25 gallon size container.
Allow to sit for 4-5 days.
Dump out, not on your lawn! Wash with clean fresh water.
Fill with clean fresh water. Add de-chlorinator. Allow to sit for 4-5 days.
Discard this water. Allow to open air cure (leave in your back yard) for 4-5 days.
At the end of this process, smell inside the container. If there is ANY odor of plastic, resins, etc. Cure again.
Once there is NO odor of any type, you can safely use this container to mix and store salt water.
This is why we DO NOT use or recommend selling marine salts in new plastic 5 gallon buckets. -- E.g. Get a bucket of salts... it has an odor of resin, plastic, etc. This bucket MUST be cured prior to mixing or storing salt water.
Plastic is made from oil (yep- petroleum). The hydrocarcons used can contain some serious contaminants like sulfur, benzene, and other stuff. These must be removed from the hydrocarbons or you have to clean the plastic bucket and hope that there won't be any leaching. The chemicals used to color the plastic are suspect as well. I assume the plastic used in the food industry is refined to prevent this from happening.
Personally, I feel salt buckets are safe (they are 'food grade'). I have used a rubbermaid as the sump for my 125 and not noticed affects. I assume this probably is a case of getting lucky, but definitely would recommend this to anyone using non-food grade plastic containers with their aquariums.
Curing all new Rubbermaid and plastic buckets.
When buckets are made they are put one inside the other. This is called nesting. When newly fabricated buckets are made and they are nested, there is no way any air can circulate. Thus any toxins from newly formed synthetic materials cannot escape.
To cure: Fill the container with water. Add one cup of Clorox (bleach) and 10 pounds of common salt (rock salt will do), to each 25 gallon size container.
Allow to sit for 4-5 days.
Dump out, not on your lawn! Wash with clean fresh water.
Fill with clean fresh water. Add de-chlorinator. Allow to sit for 4-5 days.
Discard this water. Allow to open air cure (leave in your back yard) for 4-5 days.
At the end of this process, smell inside the container. If there is ANY odor of plastic, resins, etc. Cure again.
Once there is NO odor of any type, you can safely use this container to mix and store salt water.
This is why we DO NOT use or recommend selling marine salts in new plastic 5 gallon buckets. -- E.g. Get a bucket of salts... it has an odor of resin, plastic, etc. This bucket MUST be cured prior to mixing or storing salt water.
Plastic is made from oil (yep- petroleum). The hydrocarcons used can contain some serious contaminants like sulfur, benzene, and other stuff. These must be removed from the hydrocarbons or you have to clean the plastic bucket and hope that there won't be any leaching. The chemicals used to color the plastic are suspect as well. I assume the plastic used in the food industry is refined to prevent this from happening.
Personally, I feel salt buckets are safe (they are 'food grade'). I have used a rubbermaid as the sump for my 125 and not noticed affects. I assume this probably is a case of getting lucky, but definitely would recommend this to anyone using non-food grade plastic containers with their aquariums.
