Reef Emergency: Air pump fell in tank (Rust)

[cabrego]

OK, here is the deal an air pump fell into my sump sometime last night and I didn't notice until this morning. The good news is there was no fire.

 

After I unplugged the pump and pulled it out I did notice a brown fluid leaking from it (signs of rust). All of the live stocked seemed mostly fine (i.e., fish, shrimp snails are alive and eating) but I did notice my corals seemed to be saturated with color (e.g., orange digita looks more pink than orange). Maybe signs of bleaching. I see this in SPS, zoas, and paly.

 

 

I took the air pump apart and as expected the electrodes in the pump were corroded away, and all metal components showed signs of rust.

 

 

So far I have turned off all the lights taken the sump off line, running a dedicated canister of fresh carbon in the 90g display. Making about 20 gallons (max capability) of salt water. Dosed with prime to detox metals.

 

Is there anything else I can do? advice? comments?

[jtro]

Where you already running carbon?Careful carbon can clear your water up and cause bleaching from more light penetration.

[cabrego]

Where you already running carbon?Careful carbon can clear your water up and cause bleaching from more light penetration.

 

 

I was already running carbon for quite a while, I usually replace it every month. Lights are out, carbon is fresh.

[chucelli]

I wouldn't do anything drastic.

Rust alone won't really harm your tank especially in such a short period of time.

I knew someone who had been running a tank for a few years before discovering a rusty razor blade at the bottom of his skimmer...

Everything in his tank was fine and sps growing...

I would just do water changes and run carbon according to your regular schedule.

-R

Edited January 16, 2010 by chucelli

[dshnarw]

The biggest concern with iron in the tank is algae - the limiting factor in algae growth (despite what we've all been told) is not phosphate, its iron. The amount of iron that could be dissolved overnight is fairly small, so you probably won't even notice an algae bloom. Keep your magnesium relatively high and run carbon for a couple of weeks and you'll be fine.

[Coral Hind]

I argee with what has been said already as there isn't much need to stress here. I tore down a tank at a pet shop I worked at and behind the rocks were several rusted razors and a rusted wire nut. The tank looked fine and never even had an algae problem.

[flowerseller]

I'm assuming here,

 

you do not have a gfi

you will throw the air pump away

[cabrego]

Rusted iron in general is not a big deal, but the wires are copper and corroded away and the magnets are probably made of nickle who knows what other kinds of bad metals are in the air pump. I wasn't too worried about it until I stopped to inspect the corals and live stock and I noticed some significant changes in the corals as described in the first thread. This made me open up the air pump to find that everything metal was rusted/corroded and the copper contacts to the motor were completely corroded away.

 

 

The pump is gone the pump was not on a gfci.

[dshnarw]

Rusted iron in general is not a big deal, but the wires are copper and corroded away and the magnets are probably made of nickle who knows what other kinds of bad metals are in the air pump. I wasn't too worried about it until I stopped to inspect the corals and live stock and I noticed some significant changes in the corals as described in the first thread. This made me open up the air pump to find that everything metal was rusted/corroded and the copper contacts to the motor were completely corroded away.

 

 

The pump is gone the pump was not on a gfci.

 

 

define "corroded away"

[cabrego]

define "corroded away"

 

 

cor

Edited January 16, 2010 by cabrego

[Coral Hind]

I would put a Poly-Filter in as they remove meavy metals and others things from a tank very well, better then carbon. Every reefer should keep a few of those on hand for emergencies like this.

[chucelli]

 

cor

Edited January 16, 2010 by chucelli

[Jon Lazar]

I would put a Poly-Filter in as they remove meavy metals and others things from a tank very well, better then carbon. Every reefer should keep a few of those on hand for emergencies like this.

 

Another vote for poly-filter. You've already noticed a color change in at least some of your corals.

[cabrego]

Another vote for poly-filter. You've already noticed a color change in at least some of your corals.

 

 

OK, what size poly should I go with? I have a rena xp that I can run the micro filtration pads, not exactly sure what their ratings are.

Edited January 16, 2010 by cabrego

[dshnarw]

 

cor

[cabrego]

i didn't ask for you to define "corroded", i asked for you to define "corroded away". in other words...do you mean that the metal has oxidized (corroded) or that the metal is missing (corroded away)? next time, define "away" while you're at it...and then tell me if you meant to use the word

 

this would be important because simple oxidation would result in absolutely no cause for your concern. if, however, the metal is missing, you'll eventually see a spike in copper since it is still sitting in your tank (as a metal) and will eventually dissolve. in neither of these situations would you be able to detect copper yet due to the relatively slow kinetics of the copper dissolution reaction.

 

 

Both of the processes you have described have occurred, from the copper that was still present there was signs of corrosion on the pieces intact. Also, there was about an inch of wire actually missing, I am describing that portion of the wire with the phrase "dissolved away".

 

So are you saying that it is possible for the copper wire to completely oxidize but yet not have dissolved into the water?

[paul b]

Rusted iron in general is not a big deal

 

I agree, I dose my reef with iron. The copper coils in an air pump are coated with varnish and would need quite some time to leach out in any amount. If copper was present, your corals would let you know right away.

Most of the black you see coming out or an air pump is dust. They collect a lot of dust just from the air they are sucking in.

I would not worry about it.

[cabrego]

I agree, I dose my reef with iron. The copper coils in an air pump are coated with varnish and would need quite some time to leach out in any amount. If copper was present, your corals would let you know right away.

Most of the black you see coming out or an air pump is dust. They collect a lot of dust just from the air they are sucking in.

I would not worry about it.

 

 

The copper I am worried about is the 110v electrode wiring that corroded away. Also, note my first post, there is definitely something wrong with my corals.

[OldReefer]

I lost a 90 gallon SPS tank when I dropped the connector from a 12V power supply in the sump overnight. The copper and nickel came off in the water and killed almost all the SPS within 12 hours.

 

Do multiple big water changes and get the poly filter in now. Carbon will only take out the toxic components from the stuff that is dying.

[paul b]

Your first post reads:

 

but I did notice my corals seemed to be saturated with color

 

Sorry, I didn't know exactly what you meant by saturated with color.

 

If they seem stressed than, yes the copper from the 110 Volt wiring could affect them. Luckily, there is still only a small portion of exposed copper in a pump.

I am also not exactly sure about the copper disolving away. Copper could last for centuries in salt water. Anyway.

Cuprisorb is the best thing you could use to remove copper from a tank

[OldReefer]

I am not that far away. I have a 30 gallon Q tank cycled and empty with a couple of T5s. I also have room in my sump under a 150 watt HQI.

 

PM me if there are some colonies you would like to pull out to hedge you bets. I am sorry, but metal contamination can be catastrophic.

[OldReefer]

I also see you had a question about the polyfilter. I don't have any but Petland has big and small ones in stock. They may still be open. I would suggest you just buy a big darn polyfilter and throw it in a high flow area. It will turn colors depending on the type of contamination. If it turns green you will need to find another place to house your corals.

[dshnarw]

Both of the processes you have described have occurred, from the copper that was still present there was signs of corrosion on the pieces intact. Also, there was about an inch of wire actually missing, I am describing that portion of the wire with the phrase "dissolved away".

 

So are you saying that it is possible for the copper wire to completely oxidize but yet not have dissolved into the water?

 

 

yes, it is certainly possible that portions of the copper are still in the tank as copper metal surrounded by a thin oxidized layer. generally, the corrosion would utilize a weak spot in the wire and break it, while only surficially oxidizing stronger portions - and those may still be in the tank. based on that, i would recommend running a poly-filter (or cuprisorb, as paul mentioned) for an extended period of time - say 6 months or so in order to give any potential copper pieces time to oxidize completely and to catch any copper ions that may have dissolved during that time period.

 

paul makes a good point as well - the change in the corals is probably due to the electricity pumping through the tank. however, if the corals haven't shown real signs of death at this point, they'll likely be fine with good husbandry. in fact, some places pump low voltage electricity through piping in manmade reefs as a way to enhance coral growth - you may have gotten lucky with the amount of current going through the tank that it wasn't strong enough to kill the corals. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2004/08/64671

[cabrego]

Thanks for all the support guys! OldReefer, I appreciate your offer. I am probably going to ride this out though, my inverts are still hanging in there so I hope it is not a catastrophic situation. Are you suggesting I put the poly "bare" in the tank. There is quite a bit of circulation with in the display, I am not sure how I could just put a piece in the display and keep it in one spot, if that is what you are suggesting. I also had a grounding probe in place in the sump- so I am not sure how that could have affected the dynamics of corrosion, current in the tank, etc.

 

My wife picked up some poly at petsmart and I put it in my xp1, behind a couple of larger pore size mechanical filter sheets. Hopefully this will help too. The plan is to do a 20 g change int he display, and clean out a large volume water out from my sump that is currently offline.

 

Regarding, electricity for coral enhancement- I actually thought to myself "gosh the color on this coral is awesome". My orange digita looked very pink in color and then I looked at my normally brown/blue tip stag and it was very blue throughout the body. That's when I said oh crap! Never thought I would be disappointed with rapid color enhancement!

[OldReefer]

Just get the polyfilter into high flow. If you can put it in a canister instead of your carbon even better. Good luck. I hope this goes better for you than it did for me.