Is rust bad for aquariums?

[Blue Cheese]

I was in the hospital for 6 days I came home to my tank 90 % wiped out and couldn’t figure out why,UV leaked into bulb,bad rust has electricity on it

 

[Paul B]

It’s likely a steel alloy that is mostly iron. Iron is not a concern. The other metals in a steel alloy can be a concern.

Wow, Randy agrees with me, somewhat, which is more than most times. And I agree with him. Most things are not pure iron which is to soft to be any good for most modern things. But the other metals are from things recycled with them in "trace" amounts and could be anything.

It won't be much copper because copper costs much more than iron. Nickel won't be a problem and any other metals in normal things we could use near our tank that we feel is iron is in the metal in very small trace amounts.

Sea water has trace amounts of everything on Earth in it and is needed for fish and corals especially if we use ASW which contrary to popular belief is not real sea water but a suitable "substitute".

The title of this thread is if "Iron" is harmful and "no" it is not which is why iron shipwrecks are loaded with corals.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I was in the hospital for 6 days I came home to my tank 90 % wiped out and couldn’t figure out why,UV leaked into bulb,bad rust has electricity on it

I don’t believe that’s a correct characterization of “rust” unless it is attached to an electrically live wire.

A broken UV bulb can be a problem for a variety of reasons, including that they typically contain mercury.

 

[Leo.L]

I have a small jar of rusty nails. They are sitting in tank water and every couple of days I "shoot" about an ounce of that brown, rusty water in my reef.

So far, no problems but I have only been doing this for maybe a decade, but thats just me. According to these forums just about everything is bad

Hey, interesting pls educate me on this topic.

The reason I'm so interested is, I've got a concrete background I made, ( thought it was a good idea to add galvanized wire ot top of each end of background to keep from falling over) lol now I have rust on both of them. My corals look good but I've just noticed this two weeks ago. Like everyone here, I'm worried as I only have been in the job y for a year. Everything I read says it's bad. But would love to know all about what you do with rust and why, benefits ect. Pls and thanks in advance.

 

[62518161]

Asking for a friend what is pure metal