Abs safe ?

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

A plumber once told me that ABS pipe is treated with mould or bacterial inhibiting chemicals during manufacturing so he felt that it was a poor choice to use on an aquarium. However I, and many others, have used ABS pipe in moderation without any noticeable effects.

I thought that most of the plastic that our equipment is composed of was Acrylic or PVC. When did that change?

ABS has better resistance to chemicals which is why it's used for drains and such instead of PVC. ABS pipe/fittings are not treated with anything.

Most pumps, powerheads and other equipment will be made from ABS plastic. The only place you'll find acrylic is your skimmer for it's obvious clarity. This is not new and hasn't changed.

[whatcaneyedo]

Never mind I guess my system is just quite a bit different from what you would characterize as normal. I have a lot of acrylic equipment (skimmer, Ca reactor, kalk reactor) and PVC pipe and very few conventional powerheads or pumps. By weight or displacement the amount of ABS in my system probably accounts for less than 10% of the plastic present.

[1eyedjyde]

I ended up plumbing about a third of my system with ABS with no ill affects, the only issue I had with ABS was a threaded fitting at a valve broke at the base of the threads. PVC has a thicker wall and is much dencer and therefore stronger then ABS, so I would recomend using PVC if you have to use threaded fittings. Either way you choose to go be sure to rince the pipe thoroughly before adding it to your system as both the PVC and ABS cement are toxic.