aluminum pistons

[kenneth_kpe]

well a friend of mine really into cars just asked me a while ago if aluminum is aquarium safe ? he has a lot of spare pistons lying around and wanted to make a "car" tank theme hehe

 

[Dorkhedeos]

i dont see how you are going to clean the pistons, but it should be alright once its cleaned.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

ic ic, il tell him that thanks also that would assure the plants for my diy chiller haha

 

[Lateral Line]

Aluminium is biologically active, it is implicated in a number of neurological problems. It is, however, not very water soluable, the metal forms a fairly tough oxide coating which prevents corrosion in most regular setups.

I doubt it would presnt a serious problem in a tank as long as it did not have sharp edges and was properly cleaned.

I can't imagine it looking any good though.

 

[Opcn]

It should be fine, unless one of two things happen.

Firstly if you have any murcury in the water it will disrupt the processes by wich the very tough aluminum Oxide forms its shell that prevewnts oxidzation of the highly reactive unoxidised aluminum that forms the body of the part.

Secondly you need a gournding probe, Stray voltages can easily find there way into a tank of any size and stray voltage is great at disolving aluminum, Simply run a non reactive conductor (gold platnum or carbon) into the tank and run a wire from that to the gournded screw in the center of a properly installed outlet.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

wait wait... the stray voltage part has implications for my DIY so i should hook up something to ground the aluminum metal i am going to use ? could you explain this a little bit more ??

LL i know it wouldn't look good, but its his tank and hes doing a good job keeping the fish healthy hehe il try to get a pic of his tank with the lost car part hehahaha

 

[Yenko]

well a friend of mine really into cars just asked me a while ago if aluminum is aquarium safe ? he has a lot of spare pistons lying around and wanted to make a "car" tank theme hehe

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Al is non-toxic between pH 6.0 and 8.0. Although it probably isn't a good idea if there's any risk of a pH swing (If the tank is planted, especially if CO2 is in use). Because there would be so much aluminum in the water; a pH swing beyond those values would kill everything in the tank.

Actually, putting massive chunks of aluminum in a fishtank is a bad idea. A few fittings or something is ok; but I have no idea what the effects of the amount of Aluminum that would leach from a piston.

He could make casts of the parts and make exact models out of a non-toxic material, just not sure what.

 

[Dangerousdan]

Get the aluminium anodised. This seals the aluminium and stops it from oxydising.
Will look 100x better than mill finish aluminium and will not get the white fur on it that mill finish will.
There will also be no need to worry about stray voltage either as it a very hard protective coat.
Not to expensive either from what i remember.

 

[Paul_MTS]

you can even DIY anodise with a few dangerous chemicals!!

 

[Dangerousdan]

you can even DIY anodise with a few dangerous chemicals!!

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Lets try it then..... cant beat playing with dangerous chemicals. Any chances of explosions??
If so we'll do it at yours

 

[kenneth_kpe]

 

[Yenko]

Pfft. As long as you don't want to make it fancy colors you only need one dangerous chemical to anodize.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

really ?? do you have a link on a DIY anodization page or something ? this sparks interest for me!! (not for the fish hobby anymore )

 

[Lateral Line]

If you connect the Aluminium you want to protect to the anode of an electrolysis cell with say sulphuric acid as the elctrolyte, (doesn't need to be particulaly concentrated), and impress a DC current on it, it will anodise. Boil it afterwards to hydrate the outermost layer, this will make the oxide coating harder and less porous.