# Rust and an Aquarium



## kkau1 (Jun 22, 2006)

Hi,

Hope this is the right place for this question. But can rust negatively impact water quality? I had used a nail to hold a tube inside the aquarium in place... but an hour later it looks like there's rust begining to form. Also, i know i dropped a nail somewhere in the tank, but flipping through the substrate i can't find it. These are really small nails, maybe 2-3 cm long, in a 20 Gal planted tank.


Thanks~

Kkau1


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

It doesn't hurt anything in my experience.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Probably not the same, but I had kids dropped a couple of coins inside my tank that I found rusted/worn a few months later. Darn kiddies. Nothing major happened as a result. I just picked them out when I found them. There's probably still a couple in there. 

Since it's a large body of water, and waterchanges are occuring, then any impact will likely be minor.

-John N.


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## kkau1 (Jun 22, 2006)

Thanks for the responses~

Whew, that's a relief. Kept digging around in the substrate looking for that one nail i dropped... still can't find it. But at least i can sleep better without thinking of a tank of dead fish.

Thanks guys~

Kkau1


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## anthonysquire (Mar 15, 2006)

If you are really concerned about that nail in the substrate try getting a magnet off the fridge. The more powerful the magnet the faster you will get the nail.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

> If you are really concerned about that nail in the substrate try getting a magnet off the fridge. The more powerful the magnet the faster you will get the nail.


Great idea! I remember reading somewhere in the past that if the nail rusted, you would just be making the iron available to the roots of what ever plant happened to be in the vicinity. As Cavan said, don't worry about it.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

anthonysquire said:


> If you are really concerned about that nail in the substrate try getting a magnet off the fridge. The more powerful the magnet the faster you will get the nail.


Fantastic Idea! Hmm I don't think coins are attracted to those magnents. But great idea for the nail problem.

-John N.


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## queijoman (Jun 23, 2008)

I would hate to resurrect this old thread, but how did the nail thing go? I am thinking about adding some rusty nails to my 30g as a fertilizer and want to know if it is "theoretically" safe. Has anyone tried this intentionally?


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I am not sure if rust is directly picked up by the plants. It might have to be changed by microorganisms and bound up some other way that plants can use. 

I have heard of doing that sort of thing to trees:
Feed them Zinc by driving a few galvanized nails into the trunk. Zinc is much more toxic in aquariums, so don't drop galvanized nails in there. 

I have heard of bad consequences, too. There are several fountains with fish that have signs asking people not to drop coins into the fountains. The copper is bad for the system. I suppose if a lot of people dropped pennies into a fountain there could be quite a bit of copper in the water.

There are glass thermometers with beaded weights at the bottom. These have broken in many tanks, I am sure. I had one break several years ago, and the beads rusted. No problem with the tank. That small an amount in whatever size the tank was is nothing, when the material is not very toxic. I suppose there is some upper limit where rust could start getting toxic, but these small amounts do not seem to be.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Rust (iron oxide---Fe203) is very insoluble, but if it gets down in the substrate where O2 levels are low, it can be reduced to various iron compounds that are much more soluble and available to plants.


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## aquatic_clay (Aug 17, 2009)

I've heard of people trying this with some success but not much. I understand the appeal of using nails as a fertilizer since it could be a cheap way to help your plants but you would be much better off with root tabs since they will release more than just iron and are still pretty cheap.


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## timwag2001 (Apr 15, 2009)

i think i remember someone saying that they threw nails in their filter to increase fe.


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