- Joined
- Sep 25, 2006
- Messages
- 572
Thales;171679 said:A side note, I am not convinced about the theory that a tank dosed with copper in the past is dangerous to cephs. I have the feeling that that is really and idea that someone had that stuck, and havent been able to find an example where the idea was confirmed. If anyone has evidence that it is true, I would appreciate hearing about it.
Good point. I'm embarrassed that I was caught doing one of the things I complain about: spreading conjecture on the forums as if it were fact. The theory is that silicone "absorbs" the copper, and will leach it out later. I don't know enough chemistry to know if it's even possible for copper (or the compounds containing copper) to enter silicone, or if once inside, if it would leach out. I also don't know if the small amount of copper that could possibly make this trip would be enough to bother a ceph. I do know enough about human nature to know that we have a strong desire to understand the cause of things that hurt or threaten us, and that most of us will assign whatever cause sounds the best if we have no other explanation. I should have presented this as an unproven theory, not as a fact.
Until we have more evidence one way or the other, I think it's prudent to try to avoid tanks that may have been exposed to copper, just in case, but I'd sure like to get scientific basis for an opinion on this one, so I won't have to pass up good deals on used tanks with unknown histories (or so that I can pass them up without regret).