Is black PVC bad? Does the color have anything to do with its composition? I just started using the white PVC for plumbing under my tank, but I'm building some sponge filters that will be seen and I want them to blend with the black back on the tank. The reason I ask is I've heard you can't use certain rubber and other materials ( they are usually black) in an aquarium. This may be a stupid question but I think using something that will kill my fish is worse.
Is black PVC toxic?
- Thread starter blue phantom
- Start date
Any color PVC pipe is fine, but typically you can't buy black PVC pipe except at a few specialty online retailers, and it isn't cheap. If you aren't gluing anything and just need a piece of black tubing for a lift tube, black poly pipe that is used for irrigation systems is a good choice. Black ABS is not toxic, but it floats and only comes (typically) in 1.5" and up.
Black PVC is not toxic, hard to find though. You can get ABS, (the black wastewater/drain pipes) which isn't potable water rated, nor does it have a high PSI rating, but I have heard of aquarists using it before. Krylon fusion has also been used to make white PVC pipes black in aquariums. Also you're not *supposed* to glue ABS to PVC, a fernco coupler is recommended. Shell out the extra couple dollars and get legit black PVC.
The sprinkler guys use nylon and it is usually black. Nylon isnt easy to glu tho. Like said, spring for black pvc, I think you can find it by the foot at www.flexpvc.com....good luk.
I boiled all the black pvc I had in the sw moray tanks. Everything seemed fine with no bad effects.