Material use in sump

mling

New member
What type of material is safe to use for in salt water without fear of corrosion or harm to reef inhabitants ?

I have used egg creates, and of cause PVC pipes.

The ideal water depth of the new skimmer (Bubble Magus Curve 7) I got is 11". My current sump setup has a water depth of 14" I would like to increase the water depth of my new skimmer by having it sit on a brick or 2x4 wood. That should make up for the 3" in height.

Is it safe to put brick or wood in a reef setup ?
 
Wood definitetly would not be a good choice. Concrete on the other hand should be although I would rinse it off well and maybe soak it in vinegar overnight. I would also avoid any conrete product that has gavel as the gravel may have minerals that might leach out so it's a big unknown and for the price of concrete bricks just isn't worth it IMO. Here's an intersting papaer looking at ideal substrates for "microfrags".

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.623963/full
 
What about just a pile of rocks?

FYI: I made the below when I had the same issue. It worked great took about 20 minutes to make. I used it for years.
 

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I made a simple acrylic stand for the one in my DT. For the FT, I made a acrylic box on legs that sits almost at the sumps water level (rubbermaid 100g stock tank, so no baffles) The FT drains to the skimmer box and then just overflows into the sump area. I use the space underneath it to place my heaters.

Wood would be a very poor choice for many reasons, as wood bricks. I'd avoid cement blocks unless you cure them adequately so that they don't leech into the water. Really, either a PVC/eggcrate or acrylic stand is your safest bet
 
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