Pebbles for ledger weights

[RBTraditional]

Not great for long term water quality though....copper contains arsenic. I often wonder how much damage we have done over the years by using and losing lead weights, setting the swan issue aside, there must be tons of the stuff in our lakes and river systems.....I have made ledger weights from very dense wood in the past... yes there are some species that sink, before we go all Monty Python here!

[RBTraditional]

I stand to be corrected sir....thank you for enlightening me.

Regards
Rob

[Snape]

Not great for long term water quality though....copper contains arsenic. I often wonder how much damage we have done over the years by using and losing lead weights, setting the swan issue aside, there must be tons of the stuff in our lakes and river systems.....I have made ledger weights from very dense wood in the past... yes there are some species that sink, before we go all Monty Python here!

Arsenic is a completely different metal to copper and it is not found in copper coins.
Copper compounds are toxic but the metal is very unreactive and is little affected by water (unless it is very acidic) and so the degree of toxicity due to the metal will be nearly zero (thankfully since our water pipes are also copper!). Lead poses a more serious problem as it is more reactive and will form some toxic compounds particularly if the water is acidic. However I am not convinced that the it poses that much of the threat (it would need a huge amount of lead to cause any real damage to a river or lake) but non-lead weights are better because lead shot and small lead ledger weights caused more of a problem by being ingested and the acid etc in the digestive system resulted in the formation of toxic compounds which poisoned wildlife.

[Nobby]

It may not contain arsenic, but copper is indeed poisonous in the aquatic environment.


It's well known in fish-keeping circles that no copper must come into contact with the water. Clips and the like that are chrome plated often have a copper plate beneath this and should the chrome wear away the copper can become exposed.


Whether this is a situation brought about by all the electrical equipment involved as well, I don't know, but an old way to kill a tree is to bang a copper nail into its trunk apparently.


One of my wife's many peculiarities is that she cannot handle 'copper' money without almost immediately getting a foul metallic taste in her mouth. So much so, that she avoids touching it at all, and if she must, she uses silicon gloves.

[Davyr]

One of my wife's many peculiarities is that she cannot handle 'copper' money without almost immediately getting a foul metallic taste in her mouth. So much so, that she avoids touching it at all, and if she must, she uses silicon gloves.

Have you ever considered this may be a ruse to encourage you to give her "the housekeeping" in large-denomination notes rather than bags of 1p and 2p coins? :lol:

[Snape]

It may not contain arsenic, but copper is indeed poisonous in the aquatic environment.


It's well known in fish-keeping circles that no copper must come into contact with the water. Clips and the like that are chrome plated often have a copper plate beneath this and should the chrome wear away the copper can become exposed.


Whether this is a situation brought about by all the electrical equipment involved as well, I don't know, but an old way to kill a tree is to bang a copper nail into its trunk apparently.


One of my wife's many peculiarities is that she cannot handle 'copper' money without almost immediately getting a foul metallic taste in her mouth. So much so, that she avoids touching it at all, and if she must, she uses silicon gloves.

Compounds of copper are certainly toxic (as are the compounds of all heavy metals). The metal itself (also mercury and lead) are pretty unreactive and are not considered toxic (but only as the metal). If an amount of a soluble copper compound leached into a water course or lake it would cause serious harm. A few copper coins used as weights? No chance.
Because fishkeepers are dealing with much small volumes of water the concentration of any leached heavy metal compounds will be relatively higher and will therefore cause more of a problem.

[Nobby]

Yes, that makes sense, Snape...thanks. Made worse by the effects of evaporation, every aquarists nightmare.


Plenty of people wearing copper bracelets to ward off arthritis

[Frankelson]

In one of the angling magazines I read about using a link swivel. Superglue the link part to a pebble then use it as a normal bomb. It stays on all day but comes away with a hefty tug if it gets snagged.
I've used this method for a year or so now and it's so good I get annoyed if I can't find a suitable pebble

[Michael]

May I suggest glueing a small piece of rubbber tube to the stone, and thread the line through the tube. I make sure not to use too much glue, therefore if it the stone becomes trapped, the tube and stone will separate....

[Rod]

Before I retired, I used to install machinery, including the early repetitive CNC lathes, so when it came to testing, I would get the operator to put a length of brass rod in, and turn me out a few dozen Arlsley bombs of various sizes, then as I needed them I would drill a small hole and Araldite a swivel in, then slap a quick coat of Humbrol matte black on them. This was before the uproar about lead, and I am still using them today, mind you the stock is going down dramatically.