Is aluminum reef safe?

[Katrina71]

Maybe if you elaborate on your plan someone could chime in. There are some seriously brilliant people here that have done/can do just about anything.

 

[Neoalchemist]

Look at glass coil condenser on eBay. Would that work? Pretty inexpensive.

Not only would it work,it's nearly the cleanest, least reactive material you could use. Borosilicate "Pyrex" laboratory glass can be easily customized to your size and shape requirements. Search for scientific glass blowing shops in your area. Stop in, in person and talk about what you want to do and I'll bet they will help you out cheaply.
If you were in my area id tell you to stop by my shop, I could have it for you in an hour or so. I've been a scientific glassblower for about 25 years and have countless custom mods or helping tools laying around for aquarium use.

 

[Katrina71]

Not only would it work,it's nearly the cleanest, least reactive material you could use. Borosilicate "Pyrex" laboratory glass can be easily customized to your size and shape requirements. Search for scientific glass blowing shops in your area. Stop in, in person and talk about what you want to do and I'll bet they will help you out cheaply.
If you were in my area id tell you to stop by my shop, I could have it for you in an hour or so. I've been a scientific glassblower for about 25 years and have countless custom mods or helping tools laying around for aquarium use.

Now that's what I'm talking about!

 

[ourcoralreef]

Maybe if you elaborate on your plan someone could chime in. There are some seriously brilliant people here that have done/can do just about anything.

So i have been thinking about it for a while and being that i don’t really need a chiller i have been pushing it off for years i finally decided to give it a go and would like to document my work
its basically a flat coil of (i thought aluminum) and a couple peltier s cool on one side hot on the other with fans/heatsink can make it into a heater as well) on the other end of the peltier “block”

 

[ourcoralreef]

Not only would it work,it's nearly the cleanest, least reactive material you could use. Borosilicate "Pyrex" laboratory glass can be easily customized to your size and shape requirements. Search for scientific glass blowing shops in your area. Stop in, in person and talk about what you want to do and I'll bet they will help you out cheaply.
If you were in my area id tell you to stop by my shop, I could have it for you in an hour or so. I've been a scientific glassblower for about 25 years and have countless custom mods or helping tools laying around for aquarium use.

Thanks for the info
Im in ny maybe we can do something shipping etc

 

[GThompson]

Please elaborate

Is it because flow slowly breaks down anything like a drop on a rock eventually makes a hole? Orr

If there was zero flow the corrosion rate slows down due to saturation, but given a flow it will constantly eat away at the aluminum. One of the reasons chillers are so expensive is the titanium exchanger. Stainless will work but has a slower transfer rate

 

[ourcoralreef]

Not only would it work,it's nearly the cleanest, least reactive material you could use. Borosilicate "Pyrex" laboratory glass can be easily customized to your size and shape requirements. Search for scientific glass blowing shops in your area. Stop in, in person and talk about what you want to do and I'll bet they will help you out cheaply.
If you were in my area id tell you to stop by my shop, I could have it for you in an hour or so. I've been a scientific glassblower for about 25 years and have countless custom mods or helping tools laying around for aquarium use.

How hard is it to bend glass with a blowtorch
Im quite handy and wouldn’t mind testing it out in the garage (not saying that would be the final design but maybe some prototypes until i get it right)

 

[Neoalchemist]

Thanks for the info
Im in ny maybe we can do something shipping etc

Corning NY. Is the scientific glass blowing Mecca. You probably have a shop right down the street. Makes for an easier back and forth on design. But if you come up with something I can make it, simple = cheap, complex = expensive. And I mean lab grade expensive!

 

[ourcoralreef]

Corning NY. Is the scientific glass blowing Mecca. You probably have a shop right down the street. Makes for an easier back and forth on design. But if you come up with something I can make it, simple = cheap, complex = expensive. And I mean lab grade expensive!

Corning is about 4 1/2 hours away from me

Im going to definitely look into it see what’s available around my area Manhattan/Brooklyn thanks

I was thinking something like this but a bit closer together around 3” by 12”

 

[Neoalchemist]

How hard is it to bend glass with a blowtorch
Im quite handy and wouldn’t mind testing it out in the garage (not saying that would be the final design but maybe some prototypes until i get it right)

Put it this way, If you can do decent u-bends or coils within the tolerances need to fit into a cnc machined aluminum block you should be working in the glass shop.
Lab glass takes a lot of heat to work. Not saying it can't be done just difficult[emoji16]

 

[ourcoralreef]

Put it this way, If you can do decent u-bends or coils within the tolerances need to fit into a cnc machined aluminum block you should be working in the glass shop.
Lab glass takes a lot of heat to work. Not saying it can't be done just difficult[emoji16]

Challenge accepted lol
Would regular glass tubing work as well

I think i might give it a try i love learning new things

I probably wouldn’t do it in aluminum block it would be too expensive for people to replicate and wouldn’t help that much

im now thinking some plastic bracing (can be 3d printed) every couple of inches with insulating foam box around it (or even fill so it protects the tubes as well) just one side of the glass tubing would be in contact with the peltier (cooling element)

 

[Chad Sepulvado]

Heavy metals are toxic

 

[Neoalchemist]

Challenge accepted lol
Would regular glass tubing work as well

I think i might give it a try i love learning new things

I probably wouldn’t do it in aluminum block it would be too expensive for people to replicate and wouldn’t help that much

im now thinking some plastic bracing (can be 3d printed) every couple of inches with insulating foam box around it (or even fill so it protects the tubes as well) just one side of the glass tubing would be in contact with the peltier (cooling element)

For what is referred to as soft glass, you will need to find a neon sign shop it melts at a much lower temp. Soft glass's thermal transmission properties aren't as good and its chemical resistance isnt as good as pyrex, but it is much easier to work and will work for concept prototyping. I wouldn't use it long term though due to it's high lead composition and again it's not as resistant to chemical corrosion. Marine environment is very corrosive.

 

[HCl+NaHO=]

So this is a question for all of you with some knowledge on this
please elaborate or provide links etc not just a simple yes or no

Im looking into making a low power small chiller and want to use aluminum pipe or cooling blocks
so saltwater in direct contact to aluminum and then back into a reef tank

I had the Aluminum from the Kessil gooseneck mounting block get eroded by tank water. Probably over the course of 2 years.

Apparently softies and leathers have a big problem with Aluminum. But I don’t really go in for those corals.

Didn’t seem to affect the animals I kept at the time.

That said:
I do not recommend it. And will never have Aluminum in my tank like that again.

I’ll post a pic when I get a chance.

 

[ourcoralreef]

For what is referred to as soft glass, you will need to find a neon sign shop it melts at a much lower temp. Soft glass's thermal transmission properties aren't as good and its chemical resistance isnt as good as pyrex, but it is much easier to work and will work for concept prototyping. I wouldn't use it long term though due to it's high lead composition and again it's not as resistant to chemical corrosion. Marine environment is very corrosive.

Ok great thank you
Another question What other glass would you recommend for the long term besides for Pyrex

 

[HCl+NaHO=]

But is that reef safe as well or it just won’t rust etc

Stainless steel still rusts in salt

It’s made to keep salt water off of it. Not itself out of salt

Most of it is Iron(with Cr and C), which turns into what in salt water,,,,?

Ferric Oxide (you know that as what?)

 

[HCl+NaHO=]

Stainless steel still rusts in salt

It’s made to keep salt water off of it. Not itself out of salt

Most of it is Iron(with Cr and C), which turns into what in salt water,,,,?

Ferric Oxide (you know that as what?)

I had a girlfriend buy me a titanium ring. It oxidized with regular fresh water.

Stainless steel and titanium are not considered reef safe in my systems.

 

[road_runner]

one of the best aquarium chemists out there is randy Holmes. he wrote about many of the chemistry in aquaria topics. i strongly recommend people to read his posts when wondering about parameters and water chemistry.
this is his "Aluminum In The Reef Aquarium" article. great read.

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/7/chemistry

 

[Neoalchemist]

Ok great thank you
Another question What other glass would you recommend for the long term besides for Pyrex

Only other viable option is fused silica quartz. Very expensive, for extreme heat and chemically clean applications.

 

[tripdad]

Titanium is reef safe in the proper alloy as evidenced by the large number of titanium heaters. Stainless steel comes in a wide array of alloys. Not all are rust resistant, only specific alloys. You can search suppliers data sheets for corrosion characteristics and their rating in salt water immersion. That said if your just prototyping...do the coil in a stainless(annealed) and then send that off to be reproduced for the final product. The few weeks it is in your tank will not likely cause harm as long as the proper alloy is selected. This will keep development cost down, especially if you end up making several iterations to find the ideal configuration. Just my .02