Biocide alternatives...

first and foremost, merry christmas...

and now onto the reason for this post.

i believe the reason for a "biocide" is to prevent growth of somesort.
will it be something like algae maybe or similar?

since i can't get anything like pt-nuke (read about it on a few other threads)
w/o having to pay a fortune for shipping,
what can i use as an alternative?
i understand i can get something in aqua petstores that does the trick?
what should i be looking for?
try not to suggest brands pls. but instead pls describe what the item is supposed to do.
is it a disinfectant of some sort?
what do i have to consider?
my WC loop is just a plastic pump/res, copper elbows, cheapass 1/2" tubing
from your local hardware store, copper tubed rads (hwlabs and another one i forgot from where) and an ek supreme.
also read something about silver. just by having a silver item in the loop
slows growth? will something like an old silver dollar in the res work?

Another effective biocide is a piece of silver. Whats the chance you can buy some pure .999 silver wire? It leaches silver ions into the water and is very effective. The ions are very good at not letting anything grow.
A silver coin needs to be really pure silver and might not have enough surface area. But I guess if you got a really pure coin and put it on a railroad track a few times it would be thin enough and enough surface area?

Here is a link to two places we can get it in the USA, to give you an idea of what we are talking about.

http://www.petrastechshop.com/sikibyia.html
http://www.realredraider.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2088 Look at the links in the article.

As you can see it doesn't take a lot. Check with a local jeweler.

Conumdrum said:

Another effective biocide is a piece of silver. Whats the chance you can buy some pure .999 silver wire? It leaches silver ions into the water and is very effective. The ions are very good at not letting anything grow.
A silver coin needs to be really pure silver and might not have enough surface area. But I guess if you got a really pure coin and put it on a railroad track a few times it would be thin enough and enough surface area?

Here is a link to two places we can get it in the USA, to give you an idea of what we are talking about.

http://www.petrastechshop.com/sikibyia.html
http://www.realredraider.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2088 Look at the links in the article.

As you can see it doesn't take a lot. Check with a local jeweler.

Click to expand...

Coin silver is usually 90% silver and 10% copper. If you order fine silver (99.9% pure) bezel wire from a jewelry supplier, that will work great. Just coil it up so it fits in your res and you should be fine.

ahhh... ok. got it.
i need something that's close to pure silver and w/ enough surface area.
what about the stuff from aqua pet stores?

I hear it's okay, they have them with alchol and not alcohol. No alcohol for sure, alcohol ruins acrylic. I have NO idea how much to use, what kind, etc etc. Might need to do some Google search with a good search string. maybe some forum will discuss it. I dunno tho.

A old silver coin with a high percent of silver could be worth more than your computer. Google and find out what the coin is worth before dropping into your tank. Some are worth thousands of dollars.

they sell barbs/fittings made of silver...
http://www.jab-tech.com/Bitspower-True-Silver-G1-4-High-Flow-1-2-Barb-BP-SLWP-C01-pr-4397.html

I use algovec made by sera and haven't had anything in my loop for 4+ months now
That is with some of the tubing exposed to direct sunlight