I saw a vid on FB from @CreamCityCorals. I think it was about tin in PVC but wasn't able to watch the whole thing. I'm putting together a new tank and was wondering if that was something to be concerned about.
Tin in PVC
- Thread starter cba191
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I’m on the No spectrum. Been using standard pvc piping from Home Depot and Lowe’s for years in my tanks with no issues. My current build probably has 100 ft of piping running to everything. Nothing abnormal has ever shown on a icp for me.
jamesdong009
Community Member
I saw that episode as well. Looks like I'll be wiping down my pvc more carefully on my next build.
Organotin (Tin) Stabilizers: Not a Health Concern for PVC Pipe
PVC pipe’s organotin stabilizers — not a health concern.
www.uni-bell.org
Bj’s Reef
Valuable Member
What’s the old saying. Believe half of what you see and non of what you hear. I’ve never heard of it before. But anything is possible. But just think of how many private and public aquariums are plumbed with pvc without issue.
This is a topic which has been discussed in detail by @Dr. Jim here:
Tin Leaching from Common Plastic Tubing and a Very Inert Tubing that I Found
I'm sure many of you are tired of me posting about tin leaching from plastic, but for those having "tin problems" this might be helpful. Although I found tin leaching from many plastic products, I found that plastic tubing may be the worst culprit. I performed "soak tests" where I would soak...
www.reef2reef.com
I would imagine that you are thinking of flexible PVC tubing, which can have tin-based plasticizers… thankfully, rigid PVC potable water pipes aren’t loaded full of plasticizers to make them flexible!
Rigid PVC may not contain plasticizers but may contain tin-based organotin stabilizers. In my "experiments," I found tin leaching from several types of plastic but I concluded that the plastics to be most concerned about are the flexible tubing which led me to find the relatively "inert" Tygon 2475 which I have been using ever since. I've had no tin problems since. But what is interesting, and curious, is that I'm sure a lot of reefers are using Lowes or Home Depot plastic tubing without a problem (or perhaps they haven't tested for it?) It is possible that perhaps I only had to replace the particular "green tubing" that I was using since that one leached the most. But I am content replacing all tubing with the Tygon.
CreamCityCorals
Well-Known Member
The problem we think was the sheer amount added at one time as far as building the pvc tree for the 210 gallon sps tank. We’ve used plenty of pvc in the past for all of our systems but that was a lot of pvc. We think it was the releasing agent the use when manufacturing the pipes. Not exactly sure. But it did spike the tin whatever it was.
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