Question on PVC pipe

[tnt0401]

I was told to put a piece of PVC pipe in my new tank so that it worked as an over flow for my filter. sounds good? The down side is i woke up to find all my fish DEAD...

. Not a good day. Would the PVC have something in it that would have killed my fish?
Amm...0
PH..7.8
Nitrate..0
Nitrite..0
Salinity..1.020
I have a 55gal tank with a magnum 350 filter.
Any thoughts?

 

[oceansidefish]

I think a picture would be super usefull...did you glue it???

 

[pezenfuego]

PVC is aquarium safe...I'm thinking it's something else...
What other changes took place?

 

[tscuda]

Did you rinse it off good using hot water? Sometimes theres a mold release on it.

 

[crypt keeper]

if you buy them new at like home depot or lowes they have a oily texture to them. I washed mine off with hot water and soap and let air dry. That could be what it was. Your PH is low as well. That wouldnt have killed the fish though.

 

[tnt0401]

I used no glue. I know the PH is a little low, but the next day it was a little high, but again I had 6 dead fish on the bottom of my tank. I talked to some ppl in the area and got that PVC that is not drinking water safe has toxins that can kill fish. I rinsed the pipe in hot water. Idn. guess I get a start over.

 

[florida joe]

Culled info from the web
Safe drinking water in PVC pipes (migration and bacterial growth)
PVC is used all over the world for water distribution and is considered as one of the safest materials for the transport of drinking water
Migration: Different methods are used to detect the migration of substances present in PVC formulations. First of all the leaching behavior is assessed by prolonged direct contact of the potable water with the products in very severe conditions. Then the "migration water" is checked using different techniques, including searches for traces of molecules below the level of a few µg/l.
Virtually nothing leaches out: the leachates are very similar to the blanks used when analyzing them with techniques like gas chromatography combined with mass spectroscopy (GCMS)
Lead is used less and less as a stabilizer and such stabilizers have never been a source of lead in drinking water, as the stabilizers are immobilized within the PVC pipe structure during the manufacturing process. The new stabilizers being used as alternatives to lead are fully assessed ("positive listing") and do not affect the drinking water characteristics in any way.
Microbial growth: PVC pipes are known to perform perfectly according to the different methods used in Europe for the assessment of microbial growth of products in contact with drinking water (Germany, United Kingdom and The Netherlands).¹
Many field studies confirm this good behavior. This is linked to the absence of migration and the very good surface properties of these piping systems
But there has been reported bacteria growth with in the PVC but that is where it is used as the major water supply pipe for communities and as such it is a much thicker walled pipe and the problem arises at the joints where a void is left and bacteria grow

 

[big]

Yor loss immediatly after intoducing the PVC would seem to point at it as the cause. BUT many systems including mine flow threw PVC with no issues........
I have on mine, about 50 foot total distance of
PVC on a loop system that runs to my basement and
back.
With the large and immediate overnight loss of fish, I would look at possibly other causes or issues being involved . The issues of migration and leaching Joe listed in the info on PVC it seems would only result in long term questions, not a quick loss. Neat read Joe..........
Something like a spike in Ammonia from the loss of the first fish effecting
the rest.
Was the Mag on your system turned off for a while and them restarted without first cleaning it out??? That would be my first thought as the culprit.......
Letting one of them off for a while and the starting again without cleaning can be like pumping sewer water into your tank if it was full of crap.
I learned this lesson the hard way, a couple of years back. I had a big Powerblue in a basement tank with a canister and a GFI.. The fish was going to a shop that week for sale and a nice profit on him. One morning I noticed the GFI was off, before thinking I reset the GFI and the smell of sewer water hit me........ Daaaaaa Lost the Power the next day.
Sorry for your loss.