Does a little rust really hurt your reef that much & do you worry about it?

[Javamahn]

I don't necessarily worry about it but I am not dropping a screwdriver in my sump either. If I see a faulty magnet rusting I will remove it immediately.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I think this requires a bit of common sense. Back when I had my glass 265, I would occasionally drop a single-edge razor behind the rocks. Often I could see but not reach it. I did not worry about that amount of steel rusting in a tank that big, though I do run polyfilters 24/7. In a much smaller tank, or with a much lager piece of steel/metal, I would try to remove it.

I dropped a razor blade into my 60gal a couple of months ago & couldn't find it. All that happened was some hair algae & Cyano growth. I don't skim or use GAC or any such. Turned up the photoperiod on my algae scrubber to 24/7, the hair & Cyano disappeared, no problem.

Razor blade steel is a martensitic stainless steel with a composition of chromium between 12 and 14.5%, a carbon content of approximately 0.6%, and the remainder iron and trace elements.[1][2]

 

[Devaji]

I guess I fall in the line of thought that a little rust, probably not, but a big cheap magnet with who knows what in it? - I say yes. and would replace it once I noticed it.

that said I have no real experience just my option ...

 

[brandon429]

reefbowls are shaving razor proof lol

lets make predictions about a bit of metal I put in my reef as a test

a poster at nano reef.com had dropped an exacto razor into a recess in their tank which was inaccessible as it slid right down in a pocket in surmising I don't think steel will be lethal, I figured the only accountability is to jump in as well. going to leave it in until I see something...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Keiki]

I have had slightly rusty hose clamps in my tanks for close to 2 decades. If it causes problems I sure can’t tell. However I do use expensive marine grade Sandvik clamps. Chinese junk...anybody’s guess, probably will kill stuff.

So these clamps are in your tank water? Where would you need a clamp that's in the water? I know we have the cheap ones, but they are on the outside of the tank.

 

[Softhammer]

Yes. They hold return tubing onto my pair of Eheim 1262 return pumps

 

[siggy]

Salty's tank took a turn for the worst until he found a rusty razor in the tank, I believe TIN is a known culprit and is used as a rust preventative in steel production.

 

[MnFish1]

Ok let me preface this by saying that I'm pretty clueless when it comes to the chemistry of what happens when you have rust in you reef tank. I know that certain "metals" in your tank are not harmful but rust is from the corrosion of metal and that can be harmful.

That being said I wanted to hear from you your thoughts and experiences with it. For example, how many of you have lost a tank due to rust or was that the real issue? How many of you have found rust in your tank yet your corals and reef is thriving? I don't know all the answers but I thought we could talk and think about it today. So here is the main question.

Do you worry about rust in your reef tank and if so how much does it take to get you concerned?

As per @Randy Holmes Farley - it depends: From another thread:

For this interested, the fundamental answer is that "rust" is not a pure chemical, but a mix of whatever is coming off of the metal that is corroding.

If you were rusting pure iron metal, there is almost certainly no problem in a reef tank. Many people dose iron, and many people using GFO, which is iron oxide/hydroxide.

If you were rusting a real metal alloy (e.g., some type of steel), then lots of different metals may be released and it could be an issue.

Wikipedia lists steel allow compositions here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alloy_steel

As can be seen from the list, steel alloys can contain nickel, manganese, molybdenum, chromium, copper, vanadium, etc.

Those are the ions that could be a concern from a rusting device of some sort.

So whether rust is safe depends entirely on what it is made of.

 

[MnFish1]

OH - and part of it also seems to depend on 'the amount of rust' and the volume of the tank. A metal Rusting lets say a screwdriver - in a 10 gallon tank would have a different effect than in a 500 gallon tank..

 

[evolved]

I think it depends on WHAT is rusting.

Exactly.
What exactly is rusting? That determines if I'm concerned or not.

 

[CorbetJackson50]

I am 100% convinced that a razor blade that got unknowingly dropped in my 25g nano crashed it.

 

[rossco]

I dropped a razor knife blade in my tank over a year ago and nothing has happened. MP 40 and other neodymium magnets on the other hand warrant keeping a close eye on , don’t trust that the neodymium or other heavy metals are safe.

 

[Cory]

If there is enough uptake of any metals released it shouldnt be a problem. Corals take up vandium. Algae tske up some tin. But we are taking tanks packed with coral.

I had a silver mirror i suspected caised my montipora to fade but its inconclusive if that or low nutrients.

Also it depends what organic molecules the metals get complexed with that determines their toxicity or not.

 

[jurgenph]

I think it depends on WHAT is rusting.

THAT!


J.

 

[Paul B]

I got tired of people saying they dropped a screw in their tank and it crashed. So I did an experiment and hung this cheap pliers in my reef for a couple of weeks.
Nothing happened. The fish continued to spawn and the corals continued to grow. I only took it out because my copperband got bored of looking at it.

 

[MnFish1]

I got tired of people saying they dropped a screw in their tank and it crashed. So I did an experiment and hung this cheap pliers in my reef for a couple of weeks.
Nothing happened. The fish continued to spawn and the corals continued to grow. I only took it out because my copperband got bored of looking at it.

Kind of depends on 'whats rusting' - and the duration. I dont think a couple weeks is enough to tell - copper band notwithstanding

 

[siggy]

I only took it out because my copperband got bored of looking at it.

Hey Paul how is chrome plating attached to steel?...its Copper plated first.
I think the Copper band was bored because its advances were not reciprocated

Fish nets are very pliable and I would guess contain a fair amount of tin. My Triton test showed elevated tin when my lps started croaking, the net sitting over the over flow was the only rusty thing around the tank.

Tin poisoning. Tin poisoning refers to the toxic effects of tin and its compounds. Cases of poisoning from tin metal, its oxides, and its salts are "almost unknown"; on the other hand, certain organotin compounds are almost as toxic as cyanide.
Tin is a soft, silvery-white metal that is very light and easy to melt. Being so soft, tin is rarely used as a pure metal; instead, it is combined with other metals in order to make alloys that possess tin's numerous beneficial properties. These include a low toxicity level and a high resistance to corrosion. Tin is also both malleable (easy to press and shape without breaking) and ductile (able to be stretched without tearing).

 

[MnFish1]

Hey Paul how is chrome plating attached to steel?...its Copper plated first.
I think the Copper band was bored because its advances were not reciprocated

Fish nets are very pliable and I would guess contain a fair amount of tin. My Triton test showed elevated tin when my lps started croaking, the net sitting over the over flow was the only rusty thing around the tank.

Tin poisoning. Tin poisoning refers to the toxic effects of tin and its compounds. Cases of poisoning from tin metal, its oxides, and its salts are "almost unknown"; on the other hand, certain organotin compounds are almost as toxic as cyanide.
Tin is a soft, silvery-white metal that is very light and easy to melt. Being so soft, tin is rarely used as a pure metal; instead, it is combined with other metals in order to make alloys that possess tin's numerous beneficial properties. These include a low toxicity level and a high resistance to corrosion. Tin is also both malleable (easy to press and shape without breaking) and ductile (able to be stretched without tearing).

There are multiple sources of tin - PVC, etc. - right - just curious

 

[Mjrdude1]

I've had hose clamps rust and leech into the water column with no ill effects, this was over periods of years where the screw on the clamp was almost erroded away. On the other hand I've had very brief and minor amounts of alloys of so-called stainless steel cause issues in a short amount of time. I voted no, but like others have said, it all depends on lots of factors.

 

[MnFish1]

I've had hose clamps rust and leech into the water column with no ill effects, this was over periods of years where the screw on the clamp was almost erroded away. On the other hand I've had very brief and minor amounts of alloys of so-called stainless steel cause issues in a short amount of time. I voted no, but like others have said, it all depends on lots of factors.

And I think there is a big difference between a tank that is using a 'no water change method' - as compared to regular water changes - if such a 'rusting element' exists in a tank