LOL - weird question about pantyhose and aquarium water

[driftwoodhunter]

Ok, here's the deal;

I have some Seachem bio media, and I want to divide it up & place it in cut up pantyhose sections, then put it in my 125. The reason being, I want to use those parcels in a few months to help me seed newly set up tanks with nitrifying bacteria. I want to put the pantyhose bags behind my Hamburg Mattenfilter so they aren't in view of the main tank. Being in pantyhose bags will make it easy for me to siphon around them when I do water changes, too (so much mulm collects behind the HMF. If the media was loose, I couldn't siphon the bare bottom).

So the question is, I am planning on using fishnet pantyhose because the water flow will be so good through the open mesh (haha - finally, I'll have a sexy tank!) Does anyone know if the dye used in making pantyhose leaches into the water? Can it possibly have toxic properties that can harm fish?

Thanks!

[MABJ]

I probably wouldn't use fishnet stockings lol. I used normal pantyhose and nothing bad happened. It hasn't broken down on me either.

I will say this seems like a lot of trouble when you could just use $5 ceramic media bagged or unbagged

[driftwoodhunter]

Ok, it's good to know regular pantyhose will work - I didn't know if the water flow would be sufficient through it.

What I have is Seachem Matrix. I bought it because I got a really good deal on it (60% off with free shipping) on Black Friday, and I bought the 4L tub. I'm sure I could have gone with something cheaper - frankly I wish I had remembered at the time about the Dollar Store plastic pot scrubbers people use! Matrix seems to get good reviews so I'm ok with it. I have enough to add it to all my tanks, but two won't be set up for a while yet. I figured I could put some in stockings in an established tank now, and later it will give those new tanks a head start once I get them up & running. If it's unbagged, it will be too difficult to siphon the mulm out from under it. This way I can simply lift the bags out of the way when I siphon.

So I'll skip the fishnet hose (Darn. There go all the wild stories I was going to tell my friends). Thanks for the help!

[MABJ]

No problem! I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't use fishnet, but seeing as many people use normal nylons without much strife, I usually take the trodden path.

[Mahlady]

I added Purigen to my tanks about 3 weeks ago, had to use 3 "knee hi" pantyhose since the granules were really fine. No problems yet, and the only ones I had around were black ones.....

[HD Blazingwolf]

it should still be nylon either way

just wash it a couple times without soap and u should be straight

seachem's bio media is pretty heavy, a gravel vacuum is probably not strong enough to suck it up if u do decide to leave it open

[driftwoodhunter]

Thanks everyone - I might even pick up a few media bags at my LFS, but that's a waste of money...I bought a few pair of nylon knee highs for my Purigen (that I haven't used yet) and I think I'll try it in my 40B. That poor tank has virtually no plants at all, and it could really use the media...

[Diana]

I have used cut up nylons for many years. They do not leach color, and they do not disintegrate.

I have heard of problems using them with Purigen, though. Purigen can be rejuvenated with bleach, and the stockings do not hold up well to bleach.

Other materials I have used:
Food mesh bags that I buy onions, avocados, or other things in.
Problem: The softer they are the better they fit into the filter space, but the holes deform, stretch, and the media falls out. This is only a minor annoyance, since only the largest ceramic bio-noodles fit in these bags.

Manufactured media bags: Too stiff to properly fill the space in the filter. Too much water flows around rather than through.

[driftwoodhunter]

Thanks everyone ~

Today I put some Purigen in a doubled-up knee-high for my 125 (had medicated the tank and have done several w/c, but thought the extra effort couldn't hurt). No problems with any particles falling out, even when I squeezed the hose to test it. When I have some extra $$ I'll buy the proper pouches for the Purigen so I can bleach and recharge it.

I also put a single knee-high with the Matrix in it in both my 40B and my 125. In the 125 it's behind my Hamburg Mattenfilter, in the 40B it's resting against the sponge of the powerhead. I know Matrix works best if in a canister or HOB, but these tanks have neither. I still think there will be some benefit to having it in the tanks. I must say I felt like I was stuffing coal into Christmas stockings when filling the Matrix - lol - I don't know why stockings full of coal for bad kids made me think of my cats...

[Diana]

It is even more weird stuffing half a knee hi full of peat moss!

[driftwoodhunter]

Originally Posted by Diana

It is even more weird stuffing half a knee hi full of peat moss!

haha - that's probably next for me...glad I have friends here, my friends at home think I'm really weird with what I do to the tanks. Most people say "you put REAL plants in your aquarium? Why??? Won't they kill the fish?" lol

The next most often heard. "You put those snails in there on purpose?!?"

[HD Blazingwolf]

Originally Posted by driftwoodhunter

haha - that's probably next for me...glad I have friends here, my friends at home think I'm really weird with what I do to the tanks. Most people say "you put REAL plants in your aquarium? Why??? Won't they kill the fish?" lol

The next most often heard. "You put those snails in there on purpose?!?"

yeah my neighborhood thinks im weird

[driftwoodhunter]

Misunderstood geniuses, all of us...

[MABJ]

There's a thread on the questions we get asked.

On the snails question.. Head on.. I was informed last year about how my snails would kill and overrun my tank by someone whose credentials were "My dad keeps fish tanks."

Shaking my head as I type this.

[Shangrila]

I use the regular stockings in my tanks and the fishnets for my wife.