My rusty wavemaker in my mixing container

[Fishlover456]

As a beginner reefer, I have a FreeSea pump in my mixing container which is a 5 gallon bucket for about 3 month. Just yesterday, I found out that there was a rusty metal rod inside the power head. So, here comes my question, do I have to buy a new pump? Or, is there a way to prevent it from happening?

 

[Oropher]

Don't use rusty equipment as it would leech toxic heavy metal to the water.

Yup buy a new one. My cheap power head for weekly salt mixing is more than 2 years and it's not rusty. I always clean it with tap water after mixing and store it dry.