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Rama 
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Joined: July 12 2004
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 Topic: Brass fittings on RO unit?
Posted: July 06 2005 at 11:25pm |
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Does anyone know if it is okay to have brass fitting on a RO unit that is attached to a reef tank. I just always thought that brass had copper in it, and I dont want to jepordize any life if I don't have to. Thanks
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Highland, UT
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jfinch
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Posted: July 06 2005 at 11:38pm |
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Brass does have copper in it (and zinc). It is preferred to have nylon/plastic fittings for your RO/DI unit. But in actuality, I doubt a few brass fittings will make much difference... but it's always better to be safe then sorry.
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atsuie
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Posted: July 06 2005 at 11:40pm |
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Don't use it. I made the mistake of using a "brass" check valve in my sump return line and almost lost all my corals after only a week. I quickly did some reading and from what I could find all brass has copper in it. I removed it added a polyfilter and almost everything recovered. Bottom line from my experience I would not get any brass close to a reef tank.
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MBX5
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Posted: July 07 2005 at 12:04am |
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How about on the CO2?
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Joe Barnas
Westminster, CO
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Aquarium Creations
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Posted: July 07 2005 at 12:57am |
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co2 you are fine
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Aquarium Maintenance,Consulting,Custom Built Glass Aquariums Rimless/Euro,24Hr Emergency Service 8015485201 Www.UtahAquariumDoctors.com [email protected]
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Rama
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Posted: July 07 2005 at 8:28am |
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My father-in-law has a RO unit that he got off of the board and the person installed brass fitting to replace the plastic ones. It is a 6 stage unit with a five gallon storage container. My question is do we have to chuck the whole thing or can he replace the fittings and the tubing and still use it? oh yeah will the storage tank have copper residue in it? Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Highland, UT
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jfinch
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Posted: July 07 2005 at 9:03am |
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There's a huge difference between a brass check valve on your sump return line and an RO line. NEVER put any metal, especially a yellow metal, in contact with your tank water. You'll end up killing the inverts in your tank. The RO line is just make-up water. It's a small volume and it's not nearly as corrosive as saltwater. There are many here on this board who use water straight from the tap (think hundreds if not thousands of feet of copper tubing) without issue. I don't think a fitting or two between the RO and tank will matter too much. But it's definately best practice to use plastic fittings everywhere on your RO water and I suggest you replace the brass fittings with plastics ones. Better safe then sorry.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: July 09 2005 at 9:57am |
 jfinch wrote:
 NEVER put any metal, especially a yellow metal, in contact with your tank water. |
That's the "First Rule of Reefkeeping" according to LeRoy Headlee www.garf.org
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INDIGO
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Posted: July 16 2005 at 7:17pm |
BRASS IS 60% COPPER, VERY DANGEROUS!
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Rama
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Posted: July 16 2005 at 10:31pm |
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Yeah thanks for the help everyone. We switched out to plastic and all is well. Thanks again.
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Highland, UT
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