# Is brass safe in an aquarium?



## Aulonocara_Freak

*Is it SAFE?*​
Yes531.25%No1168.75%


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## Aulonocara_Freak

Hey I got a brass pipe adapter to connect my spray bar to a hose but is the brass fitting safe to use? I know brass is a mix of copper and zinc but i'm not sure!

TIA (Thank's In Advanced)


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## frank1rizzo

brass will react with water over time. The zink component of the brass with dissolve. I am fairly sure that with regular water changes the zink addition to the water will have minimal effect, but I am not 100% sure about that.


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## PfunMo

Higher quality faucets are made of brass with little trouble seen.


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## Aulonocara_Freak

ehh ok i wont use it


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## tim_s

Brass will dissipate over time bonding possibly to rocks and even glass if conditions are meet.


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## Azballa7

Aulonocara_Freak said:


> Hey I got a brass pipe adapter to connect my spray bar to a hose but is the brass fitting safe to use? I know brass is a mix of copper and zinc but i'm not sure!
> 
> TIA (Thank's In Advanced)


Aulonocara let me know what you end up doing....I think the piece I used for my flow bar to attach the pipe to metal is brass too :?


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## Narwhal72

Brass is a copper alloy and copper will dissolve in water.

Copper is useful as an antiparasite medication because it is lethal to invertebrates at low concentrations but not to higher vertebrates such as fish.

Chronic exposure to copper will cause liver damage in fish.

Faucets, and copper piping are used for household use because they hold up better than the previous alternative (pvc and galvanized steel). Household systems are not recirculating systems like an aquarium and the water has a much shorter contact time so it does not pick up as much copper as it passes through. Even so PEX tubing is being used in place of copper in newer home construction to further reduce the amount of heavy metal exposure that drinking water is exposed to.

Andy


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## prov356

Non fish related posts have been removed. Let's keep it fish related please and thanks.


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## prov356

Aulonocara_Freak said:


> Hey I got a brass pipe adapter to connect my spray bar to a hose but is the brass fitting safe to use? I know brass is a mix of copper and zinc but i'm not sure!
> 
> TIA (Thank's In Advanced)


If there's a brass adapter, there's a plastic one. Why risk it, I'd swap it out.


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## Aulonocara_Freak

I don't need it anyway, i diy'ed it up.


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