Lost a razor blade.. and CANT FIND IT :( !!

[Jynxgirl]

I have been digging for two hours and I am ready to give up. What will this do if I dont find it???

[cpreefguy]

Rust.

Obviously, be careful while digging around. Also, a magnet on a telescoping rod might fish it out.

[Jynxgirl]

I dont want to give up and wake up and my fish be dead and my corals goners ;( I have had enough bad luck and have only in the last month decided to start playing around with my tank once again.. I would be devestated if i had a wipe out again :(

It is a 180 gallon tank, prob with more like 200 gallons total water volume with sump minus rock displacing the water...

[cpreefguy]

I would definitely find it and get it out of there.

[Bill S]

Yeah, I'd try a magnet tool fisher - from an autoparts store. Or, run your magnetic glass cleaner around - much more productive.

As a last resort, it should be fine, decaying on its own. Won't take long...

[ReefLover]

hope you will find it. I personally wouldnt give up till i found it. It is scary knowing it is in the tank still.

[SoLiD]

Use a good magnet like Bill said to. Try a strong Earth magnet. If you open a broken old hard drive you will find a free neodymium magnet.

[jrsatx20]

ive done that. was in tank for a day. it started to rust and was easier to find

[Jynxgirl]

Got home, everything looks fine... still cant fine it.

[SoLiD]

Bummer... I think you'll find it soon... once it starts to turn brown :wink_smile:

[coraline79]

does rust have an effect on an aquarium? I had a pin I used to clean some small hole fall behind my rock, and It didn't seem to cause any problems.

[SoLiD]

I don't think so. It's basically Iron with a small amount of other metal alloys. I don't think they are the type to do harm in our marine aquariums. Heck, Kent sells Iron to dose our systems. I think Iron helps macro algae growth.

[RayAllen]

sorry about that Solid, accidently hit the edit button on you post when I meant to simply post this

I agree with Solid. The only thing I would worry about is cutting my hand when cleaning or maybe a fish rubbing against it.

[tropheusmaster]

how big is the tank? if large tank might not cause any major problems,

[cpreefguy]

No luck with magnets? It might not hurt anything, but I say better safe than sorry...

[bimmerzs]

Hi,

You have nothing to worry about, the stainless steel is reef safe, the rust that will happen is not hurtfull to corals or fish. Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO) is used for phosphate removal and is actually iron oxide, which is better known as.... rust. No immediate worries my friend and no immediate rush to remove it, as it won't hurt anything. Do a search around hyberspace and you will be able to confirm my rantings. :)

Cheers,

[cpreefguy]

I know people who ave dropped stainless screws in their tank with no ill effects. I dont know, I guess I'd just rather not have a rusty razor blade somewhere in my tank...

[jroescher]

If you've ever been diving or snorkeling around a sunken ship or other iron objects, it's pretty obvious that iron is not harmful to corals. They grow all over it. Look at recent photos of the Titanic. Real pictures, not movie stuff.

[bimmerzs]

I know people who ave dropped stainless screws in their tank with no ill effects. I dont know, I guess I'd just rather not have a rusty razor blade somewhere in my tank...

Oh course it's not what anyone want's, but I would rather not risk injury to myself or stress out my critters, as I plunder around trying to find something that won't harm anything. That's just me though.....everybody's entitled to their own opinion.:bigsmile:

Cheers,

[prof]

No one wants anything extra in their tank that could mess with water parameters. That being said, a small amount of metal won't cause a problem.

From experience, I can tell you that almost every tank that I have disassembled had some sort of 'lost' item trapped in the sand. I have seen nails, links of chain, razor blades, change...

I don't think I would want to try decorating a nano with rusty nails but a lost razor blade will be fine :)

[Richard]

It's no big deal. It will rust and in the process reduce phosphates a little bit. No need to worry.

[cpreefguy]

It will rust and in the process reduce phosphates a little bit.

It could be the new method of getting rid of nuisance algae!

[g-ray]

That is all really good info just watch out for it when you put your hands in the water.

[jrodriguez]

you should try the edges of the bottom of the tank usually they will get lodged on the edges of the tank

[chrissreefs]

cool