Urgent aluminium in saltwater tank

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by nanomania, Jan 26, 2012.

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  1. nanomania

    nanomania Vagabond Butterfly

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    I am setting up a small nano tank which has a sump too, its just a 2.5 gallon desktop nano which i got from singapore (DYMAX IQ3) i want to add a float switch to it, can i make an aluminium stand for it? is aluminium bad for saltwater tank? i dont know how to make stuff out of acrylic and no guy at the store is ready to make it for me. the other holders that you get online that im using on my other tanks, are too big to fit in and look ugly on this cute tank.
     
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  3. vawdka

    vawdka Coral Banded Shrimp

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  4. nanomania

    nanomania Vagabond Butterfly

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    any idea on making a floatswitch holder without acrylic?
     
  5. vawdka

    vawdka Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Could you maybe rig something up out of small PVC pipe? That's about the only idea I have other than maybe using pieces of egg-crate to fashion up something. maybe a combination of the two with a bit of superglue. If you could make it out of aluminum I'm going to guess you are pretty crafty.
     
  6. nanomania

    nanomania Vagabond Butterfly

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    well aluminium isnt safe, i read. well the only way i guess is some plastic material but nothing is coming in my mind nor im finding something in my house. any pictures or ideas with pics?
     
  7. Servillius

    Servillius Montipora Digitata

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    I just scanned it and while the article is fairly down on aluminum in seawater, I didn't see anything that said metalic aluminum is a likely source of dangerously elevated aluminum. For that to be true, I would think it would have to continuously corrode in sea water and I'm not sure it does.

    If I missed it, please let me know; I use an aluminum cleaning rod with, so far, no ill effect.
     
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  9. coylee_17

    coylee_17 Fire Goby

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    If it was sitting in salt water I would think it would corrode and pollute the tank, I wouldn't do it.

    To OP, have you looked into acrylic? I know you have said you don't want to, but if you can make something out of aluminum then you can easily do it out of acrylic, it is easy to work with. Easy to cut, drill and glue.
     
  10. vawdka

    vawdka Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Aluminum can corroding release aluminum ions in to your water. Any stray current at all in your tank could accelerate the process even more. Generally what starts the process is something like salt or some other substance leaching in to the aluminum and then while it breaks down and starts to corrode the aluminum it will release aluminum ions in to the water. This is for raw aluminum. You could probably get away with it if it had an anodized coating but if something ever happened to affect the coating, like a scratch, you could end up with the same effect. So I guess theoretically, yes, you could use it if it was anodized. You're right though, the process would probably be slow. I just follow a general guideline to keep anything metal out of my tank.

    I suppose if you wish to do it then that is your call. I'm mainly concerned that it is possible that it could leech in to the water and I didn't want to tell him yes and then have his tank crash on him.

    I'm hoping someone with more experience with mounting ATO systems could chime in and maybe help out more than I am. Perhaps if you post a pic or two of what you're trying to mount and where? Then maybe someone could give you suggestions on how to do it in your situation.
     
  11. Servillius

    Servillius Montipora Digitata

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    Because of the way aluminum corrodes, it is highly resistant to corrosion under normal circumstances including in sea water. There are some narrow exceptions that you should be aware of. I'm not here recommending the use of aluminum in a tank because there is much I don't know about the amount necessary to cause a problem and the likely rate of corrosion if something goes wrong. I do think however that there is some indication that it can be used if handled properly. This article may help a bit.

    http://www.floodbreak.com/default/Maintenance Ops/Aluminum corrosion paper.pdf
     
  12. TritonsGarden

    TritonsGarden 3reef Sponsor

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    Perhaps I missed it but are you planning to submerge the holder in saltwater or just use it to mount the float? Should be OK if it's not submerged.