southernfish
New member
Would it be ok to use stainless steel rods to connect LR together inside my reef tank?
Stainless steel
- Thread starter southernfish
- Start date
Bananafish
Member
In time, the stainless will leach its metals. Among other things, stainless contains iron and chrome. As if the iron wasn't bad enough, chrome is highly poisonous in very small quantities. Bad idea.
Your best bet is to use silicone. Only aquarium grade is guaranteed not to have mold killing or anti-fungal chemicals. You can also use reef plugs as pegs to hold the rocks together. Silicone the flat side and drill holes on the other to accept the pegs. The advantage here is that the rocks are held steady but come apart easily if you need. A bag of 24 reef plugs is about $15-20 and well worth the investment if you have the tools, time, and skills to fit them.
Your best bet is to use silicone. Only aquarium grade is guaranteed not to have mold killing or anti-fungal chemicals. You can also use reef plugs as pegs to hold the rocks together. Silicone the flat side and drill holes on the other to accept the pegs. The advantage here is that the rocks are held steady but come apart easily if you need. A bag of 24 reef plugs is about $15-20 and well worth the investment if you have the tools, time, and skills to fit them.
Bananafish
Member
Never thought of that. Thanks, N-dog!
southernfish
New member
True. That's what I was afraid of is the different chemicals in stainless. Just exercising some ideas to make ledges and such. I'll go with the acrylic rods. Thanks
southernfish
New member
Yeah I thought of the coathangers but I don't want to get too much weight on one and it break. I'm gonna do the acrylic rods cause one of my overhanging ledges is going to be pretty extreme offset.
Some types of stainless are likely OK (IMO), but are going to cost a lot more than plastic as well.
Ron Reefman
Active member
How about fiberglass rods? They sell them at HD for holding up plants (like tomatoes).
I have used high quality stainless for years- but in areas where inspection is possible. I think if I was going to do a extreme ledge, I would not use acrylic-when it goes its all at once. If you wanted to use stainless- you could always shrink wrap it to keep it away from the water entirely. I have used titanium a few times-but I get it as scrap from my motorcycle stuff- would hate to know what it costs to buy rod wise!
southernfish
New member
Good point on the acrylic possibly breaking. I'll check around on fiberglass rods and nylon, thanks.
low riderr
New member
what about carbon fiber arrows?what would the salt water do to them i have no idea.but they are very strong.just an idea,probably a bad one.
Inexplicable
New member
I see a lot of people using stainless for light fixtures or for holding things together, when stainless is quite susceptible to corrosion in seawater. The best alternative, if you want to use steel, is "marine weathering steel" which is designed to resist corrosion in seawater or salt spray environments. The passivating layer is much more resistant to corrosion and will release fewer metal ions into the water. Unfortunately, this steel is difficult to obtain and thus people use stainless steel. Carbon fiber arrows, acrylic rod, PVC pipe, and zip-ties would all be good alternatives for holding rocks together.
ANGRY JOHN
New member
there are tons of grades of stainless, the stuff you will find in a local shop is not going to be what you want and there is stuff you can use but as said it would be very expensive. The best route might be a form of plastic. Nylon comes in many grades, and there are tons of themoplasics out there. call ridout or go to eplastics.com
MattAndKim
New member
Weathering steel is absolutely unsuitable and not intended for continual contact with seawater. Some stainless steel is inappropriate for marine service, but there are many grades that have been designed and are appropriate for such service. Specific alloys designed for long term exposure to seawater in high and low flow environments are Monel and Cu-Ni. If you use monel you must use it alone as contact with steel could cause severe corrosion. Monel was designed for continual immersion in seawater.
MattAndKim
New member
Superduplex stainless steels are available that will exhibit zero corrosion over several years. By zero corrosion I mean that the mass of contaminants released to the water will be insignificant compared to the background heavy metal contamination present in any source of food introduced into the aquarium. The rods he's talking about have low surface area and no potential for electrolytic or crevice corrosion. There are steels which would be fine, you just need to use the right ones.
