Stainless steel

Is surgical grade stainless steel reef safe? My old man can make anything out of steel but before i give him plans i need to know if it is safe! I would also paint on a sealant to be extra carefull but will avoid if it is a bad idea!

any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

Safe for the inhabitants? Yes, it shouldn't be any problem at all. I would think the sealant is more likely to be a danger than the steel. I might skip that step if I were you.

Over time, though, evan stainless steel can corode from constant contact with salt water. That's why plastics are king in the aquarium trade.

 

Thanks for the advice! its just a can develop whatever i want out of steel but cant get my hands around acrylic (plenty of blood and wasted money though!)

 

I am curious - what are you going to make out a stainless steel?

 

Whatever he wants

John

 

Gee, thanks John. [smiley=whip.gif]
I am curious if he was going to make a tank out of it.

 

Was planning on making a sump come algae scrubber, and whatever i can possibly conceive! athe the moment my sump is a 80 ltr bin above the tank that is gravity fed back to the tank but i cant figure out how to put a top up system on as i want a tunze wavemaker in the tank!

so just wanted to know if it was safe to use!

to me it is cheaper than wood and far easier and cheaper than plastics!

 

[quote author=Matt Rogers link=board=General;num=1103505268;start=0#5 date=12/19/04 at 22:29:04]Gee, thanks John.  [smiley=whip.gif]
I am curious if he was going to make a tank out of it.[/quote]


OUCH!!

 

I don't know of anything except glass that doesn't sucumb to the corrosive properties of saltwater over time. And then even glass, when you add the scuffing of sand, grit and stone, over time succumbs to the forces of nature. Not that you would see a significant amount of the corrosion in you water at any one time, you would be certain to notice it on whatever device that was made.

The other thing to consider is what the weld is made of. What soldier is in the weld? Would the heat producing the weld change the properties of the stainless such that it was no longer stainless at the weld?

Those would be my concerns.

Cheers,
Ray

 

Good point, Ray.

If it's a true weld, the seams will be some stainless steel alloy. That should be fine. If, on the other hand, good old dad intends to braze the seams, you need to be extremely worried! Most brazing alloys contain brass which can leach copper into the system. (slowly) I doubt there are any plans to solder anything, but skip that completely. Solder almost always contains lead.

The heat you don't need to worry about. If it gets hot enough to alter the molecular structure of the metal, you have other problems!