Dr. Shimek..........Titanium??

[danmhippo]

Just got Dr. Shimek's email asking around who uses Titanium grounding probe in the tanks..............(aren't we all do?) Shimek's analysis report shows the titanium reading is 17000% of normal sea water (quote from his email).

Question for Dr. Shimek and everyone else:

Is high titanium concentration poisonous? Does it bind with other element in normal sea water? I am assuming many many many uses titanium grounding probe. Anyone knows of how safe these probes are?

 

[Anonymous]

What is the alternative???

b

 

[SPC]

Dan, my problem trying to answer his question is I don't know if my grounding probe is titanium or not, is there an easy way to tell?
Steve

 

[Super Len]

Titanium itself is not very toxic. The LC50 of Ti is very high. 17000% of NSW is roughly .17ppm - not enough to justify alarm IMO.

Titanium should also be relatively inert, but I'll leave its chemical characteristics up to those who understand chemistry better then I.

Ron should be also inquiring who uses chillers.

 

[danmhippo]

Ron did inquire it too. I know of at least one person has already come forward and certified he has owned 2 Ti-grounding probe and a Titanium probe chiller.

 

[AFH]

Hello All, I have a Ti probe and a pro-heater which is also Ti in my tank. Would any of us have known about the usually high level of Ti in our tanks? This is the beauty of the research Dr Ron is doing. From my results, I have found that I was reading my Ca test kit incorrectly. I am in the process of adjusting my calcium level. Who know what effect ti has on fish an inverts.

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

Anyone know how safe these probes are?

Getting worked up over this is likely to be a waste of energy I think. Titanium is used rather extensively in HUMAN bodies. It's the metal of choice for reconstruction of shattered bones etc. If it was harmful in a saline environment I don't think you would be seeing it used so extensively.

Also the mere anecdotal fact that there are thousands of reef tanks with probes and chillers that are healthy and thriving. Maybe down the road we will discover that Ti causes the retardation of the formation of coral gametes or something, but for the time being I think Ron's discovery is merely interesting, not alarming.

[ December 21, 2001: Message edited by: MickAv8r ]</p>

 

[Anonymous]

Leo:
Ti is VERY reactive. However, since it forms a protective layer of relatively inert TiO2, it is useful in corrosive environment.

 

[Anonymous]

Gold(24ct,in particular,is conductve and not corrosive). But,expensive. I would also expect that it too would add something to your water chemistry. I wouldn't pay any mind to titanium unless you can afford more precious metals.

 

[esmithiii]

The other option is stainless steel. You can tell the difference because stainless is shiny like chrome and titanium is a medium grey color.

E

 

[CTaylor]

maybe titanium does affect our tanks... like just maybe it is why many of us cant keep elegans alive nor goniopora? though it's obviously and probably not the case... it would be interesting if there was a connection

 

[jmeader]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by SPC:
<strong>Dan, my problem trying to answer his question is I don't know if my grounding probe is titanium or not, is there an easy way to tell?
Steve</strong><hr></blockquote>
If it's the one you got from me it is. That's all I ever bought. Also, stainless steel rusts when exposed to SW.

 

[MedicineMan1]

Just because titanium isn't toxic to humans doesn't mean it won't be toxic to the life forms in our aquariums.

 

[Super Len]

LC50 is the value at of which an administered substance kills 50% of the test subjects (LC=lethal concentration) after a single exposure. It gives you a relative/general idea about toxicity, and is commonly used to describe the toxicity of substances. It represents acute toxicity, and is less useful in analyzing chronic exposure.

 

[Super Len]

Here's a link I found that explains LC50:
http://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/lc50.html

 

[Super Len]

Titanium is not very toxic to most every known organism. The LC50 of Titanium for inverts and vertabrates alike are very high, and its presence in our tanks is nothing to concern ourselves over. ~0.20ppm is insignificant. Fact is, 0.20ppm in Cu (a much more toxic element) would not even be regarded as universally toxic.

 

[Anonymous]

Leonard,
I saw it in the first post and thought it was a typo so I ignored it. Now I see it in this post also. Please tell me, what the heck is LC50? I am clueless.