Randy Holmes-Farley
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Regarding permeation, I just read from the MarinePure website Q & A section that the media is still useful for biological filtration even if the media is totally encapsulated in coralline algae. Still, coralline algae would be thinner than a layer of concrete.
I am not a chemist, but I understand that pure aluminum has more toxicity than aluminum oxide. That documentary I inserted above has some good evidence that pure aluminum is a neurotoxin and can be toxic to other tissues in both mankind and animals. It is impossible that aluminum oxide can be as toxic because it is one of the most common substances in the earth's crust. I compare that to sodium chloride (salt) as being essential for our health yet chloride gas as being toxic. I wonder what sort of process or aluminum compounds MarinePure uses in making what they call "aluminosilicate ceramic." Still, some folks on this thread are showing increased aluminum levels per Triton testing after introducing MarinePure media.
I do not know the basis for what they claim (if any), but no matter, concrete will not be adequately permeable.
Pure aluminum may be more likely to dissolve and instantly become aluminum ions in solution, but I'm skeptical of this tox claim. The surface of aluminum is ALWAYS aluminum oxide except when freshly prepared in high vacuum (which I have done), and ANY aluminum in seawater is ALWAYS aluminum ion not aluminum metal. It reacts super fast with water and/or oxygen. The only reason an aluminum part does not go up in flames in water like sodium metal does is the quickly formed oxide layer protects the underlying aluminum metal from further oxidation.
For example, in your video they talked about acid rain leaching aluminum. That is aluminum ion, not aluminum metal.