When people talk about rusted magnets...

[Bobblehead]

Would this be considered "bad"? I've been going through a decline in my coral health the past couple of months and am trying to eliminate possible culprits. Today I decided to check my pumps and this is what I found. I'm pretty sure this has to be a large part of the issue I've been having but was just wondering what others may think as far as how much rust would cause how much of a problem.

 

[lapin]

It depends on what metal is inside that is corroding.
Yes it could be the cause of your problem.

 

[Bobblehead]

It depends on what metal is inside that is corroding.
Yes it could be the cause of your problem.

Well I sure want this to be the root of the problem as it is an easy fix. The thing that bugs me though is that the corals started their decline almost immediately after I started dosing N and P back around Halloween. Even though I stopped dosing a couple weeks after I started and did many water changes, the STN is continuing to this day. Maybe a coincidence but who knows. Thanks for your input!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Is that plastic cracked and the magnet rusting? Or is that just algae? If rust I'd replace it for sure. But I'm less sure that it's the actual issue hurting your corals...

 

[Bobblehead]

I cracked it open and this is how it is. 99.99% sure its rust.

But yeah, I've read elsewhere that a little iron won't hurt the tank too much. My next step is to do an ICP test but again, if the corals showed an almost immediate reaction to dosing and the dosing has been stopped, would the tank health continue to decline 2 months later?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I cracked it open and this is how it is. 99.99% sure its rust.

But yeah, I've read elsewhere that a little iron won't hurt the tank too much. My next step is to do an ICP test but again, if the corals showed an almost immediate reaction to dosing and the dosing has been stopped, would the tank health continue to decline 2 months later?

I have heard stories about rusted magnets killing people's corals so I'd definitely get it replaced. and it may not be coincidence that your having coral problems and now you found the bad magnet. But I have also lost a pair of 12" metal tweezers in my tank and they almost completely rusted away and didn't hurt anything....

What are your parameters looking like these days? Have they been stable? Icp test is a good idea

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

A quick Internet search turned up this, “Iron is perhaps the most common metal used in permanent magnets, but alloys such as Alnico (Aluminum, Nickel, and Cobalt) can also make very strong permanent magnets.”

 

[Bobblehead]

I have heard stories about rusted magnets killing people's corals so I'd definitely get it replaced. and it may not be coincidence that your having coral problems and now you found the bad magnet. But I have also lost a pair of 12" metal tweezers in my tank and they almost completely rusted away and didn't hurt anything....

What are your parameters looking like these days? Have they been stable? Icp test is a good idea

Definitely looking into replacing the impellers.

My last test a couple days ago showed:

Salinity 35ppm
pH 8.4
Alk 8.5
Ca 430
Mg 1360
Nitrate 4-8
Phosphate 0.006

and have been fairly stable for the last couple of monthes. I know the P is low but I'm scared of dosing phosphates directly so I'm just trying to feed Reefroids more often. So far dinos haven't come back "knock wood", just a bit of cyano.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Definitely looking into replacing the impellers.

My last test a couple days ago showed:

Salinity 35ppm
pH 8.4
Alk 8.5
Ca 430
Mg 1360
Nitrate 4-8
Phosphate 0.006

and have been fairly stable for the last couple of monthes. I know the P is low but I'm scared of dosing phosphates directly so I'm just trying to feed Reefroids more often. So far dinos haven't come back "knock wood", just a bit of cyano.

Do you have any easy softies? How are they doing? I'm thinking the po4 is an issue here

 

[Bobblehead]

I have about 6 different kinds of zoas and all except one are doing well, with one doing too well. I have a Xenia that is growing well also. For LPS, Acans seem to shrivel up in my tank and a Leptoseris and Pectinia that were previously doing well are now not doing so good.

Trust me, I do want to get phosphates higher but I feel this current semi-tank crash was caused or started by dosing with the rust being another possibility. I'll try to keep phosphates measurable for now by feeding lots and using RR and see how it goes after I replace the impellers. Appreciate your input, thanks!

 

[Bobblehead]

What did that impeller come out of?

From one of my Red Sea Max pumps

 

[Cory]

Yes id guess that is the culprit!

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Good to Know, I will avoid that brand of pump. Of all the Different Mag Drive Pumps I’ve had over the years , none are constructed that way, with a plastic covering over the magnet.

 

[BYU]

send an icp test
i found my aluminum off the charts and found my pump rusted like yours
once i changed it out things got better
you can see the aluminum spike in my icp test

 

[Cory]

send an icp test
i found my aluminum off the charts and found my pump rusted like yours
once i changed it out things got better
you can see the aluminum spike in my icp test

I dont think thats the problem. .01ppm isnt a big number. It looks big because the others beside it are 0. Aluminum isn't inside of impellers. Iron, molybdenum, cobalt and neodymium can be.

 

[BYU]

don’t know if you see it but last oct 2019 the spike hit
now aluminum is normal
it was def inside my impeller that looked like that
it was smoking hit when i opened it
ecotech replaced it right away once i sent them pics

 

[ca1ore]

Running a split impeller like that certainly won't help. I have had splits like that on a few occasions without any impact on the tank .... but I run polyfilter 24/7 (always have) in the event any heavy metals try to invade. Replace the impeller; at some point it stops turning. As others have noted, the 'problem' with rusting magnets isn't the iron, its the other stuff.

 

[Cory]

don’t know if you see it but last oct 2019 the spike hit
now aluminum is normal
it was def inside my impeller that looked like that
it was smoking hit when i opened it
ecotech replaced it right away once i sent them pics

The aluminum was likely from marinepure bricks or aluminum oxide phosphate remover. Did you have any of those?

 

[BYU]

once i change the impeller it got better as you see in the graph
i read about that marine pure block too i don’t use them but
i do use maxspect blocks and i still have them in the tank now and my aluminum is back to normal
def from the impeller rusting and expanding
mine looked like op

 

[Paul B]

I would say that rusted magnet is no problem and may even be a good thing. I throw iron in my tank all the time and probably have 1 dozen nails and screws in there for decades. Iron is a necessary metal.
There is almost no aluminum in a magnet and even if there was, it wouldn't do anything in that trace amount.