how badis rust for fish

[im_a_clownfish]

HI All!

I was wondering how badis rust for fish?

I have a kettle I bought for my fish tank use that I use to heat up the RO water I buy in the big blue bottles so it doesnt go in my aquarium freezing cold.

I noticed it has a bit of rust in the bottom of it and try to clean it out every time I use it, but was wondering how bad rust is for fish and of course for inverts/coral which I think would be affected more.

Any ideas?

[vvolfe1]

I have no real proof but I dont think it hurts any. The sunken WW2 war ships have coral growing on them.

[Reefneck]

They also have a HUGE body of water around them! Kind of like the small tank argument. The larger the body of water the more stable and self maintaining it becomes.

As soon as I find a way to put a WW2 war ship on the bottom of my reef I will let you know.

[Damon]

Rust is extremely toxic to fish. It is nothing but oxidized metal. Heay metal for that matter. Deadly in salt tanks, very toxic in freshwater.

[Bear]

...if we have to get shots so that it doesn't ruin out lives and you can't give a fish a shot...I wouldn't think it could do anything, but hurt them

[vvolfe1]

Originally Posted by Reefneck

As soon as I find a way to put a WW2 war ship on the bottom of my reef I will let you know.

you'd just need to find someone with a bigger pool and alot more salt.

[Jonno]

My Cousin had a saltwater tank a few years back it was so nice , untill one day his 6 year old put a battery in the tank which, then woke upto to find his fish dead and corals. When it was emptying the tank and taking the rocks out he found a corroded battery behind all the rocks.

[vvolfe1]

I'll have to research on this today. Some of the debates do not make sense though. I doubt that the rust from the battery killed everything. It is more likely the sulfuric acid and the lead in the battery did that. And as for getting shot ie for tetnis well that is pretty rare. I fab with iron most everyday and have never had any ill efects from it other that splivers now and then.
Iron is one of the trace elements found in the oceans. There are supplements for reef tanks with iron in them. When these supplements hit saltwater due to the chemical make up of the atoms some have to turn into ironoxide in minute amounts.
A buddy of mine at work has been doing SW for over 20 years. Some of his practices I have never heard of that he does and some are a dirrect oppisite of what I have found on the web. I have been over to his place and have seen his tanks and one actually has iron slag in it. He says the tank has been set up for over 5 years. To me a novice all the fish looked healthy and all the corals were too.

[Ice]

I hear an echo in here , here ... here ... here ... here .......
LOL !!

[emc7]

I think it depends on the fish. We had rusty tap water with African cichlids and they were fine, but some fish are reputed to be extremely sensitive to heavy metals, enough so that we are advised not to use brass fixtures on our hoses and to add EDTA (its in novaqua) to chelate any metals in the water. If your fish are sensitive to iron, just removing the rust is not good enough, you should use an enamel lined pan.