Would this amount of rust kill all my corals in less than a month?

[Hannahmunt]

Last month I have someone. Frag rack. Today they have told me all their corals have died and that they have lost thousands worth.

they send me a picture of the rack with a small bit of rust, the size of a grain of rice.

I asked for his icp which shows his po4 at 3! I said his corals dying is probably due to the high po4 and his iodine being very high.

I have attached his icp from triton and a picture of the rust.

would this amount of rust kill ao many corals in less than a month?

 

[taricha]

PO4 = 0.3 not 3ppm.
I don't see anything obviously fatal for coral. I'm not sure exactly which metals on the ICP report could be tied to that small amount of corrosion in your picture, but none of the metals in the report look dangerously high, that I noticed.
(Corals die for many reasons.)

 

[mfsimmo1]

Copper does seem high. Phos is creeping up there too. The two combined could mean trouble. Any changes in flow or salinity?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree the copper seems high, but maybe not high enough to be a coral killer. One cannot tell for sure from ICP alone since it does not give info on the chemical form present.

I'd suggest removing the rack and anything that may possibly expose metal, especially copper, to the water, replace all of the water, then refill and use a polyfilter/cuprisorb/metasorb to deal with residual copper.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

It seems most magnets that are used these days for coupling things to our tanks are neodymium, and they're made up of various alloys.

It's not too far fetched to connect those rare alloys oxidizing in the tank with sudden coral issues.

 

[sixty_reefer]

It seems most magnets that are used these days for coupling things to our tanks are neodymium, and they're made up of various alloys.

It's not too far fetched to connect those rare alloys oxidizing in the tank with sudden coral issues.

neodymium magnets do have a copper and nickel protection layer although nickel seems ok in the icp unless this particular brand uses tin plating instead of nickel. I would still think it may be hard to do a connection with so many metal components present in our systems.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Setting aside the usual suspects that can be analyzed through available testing, the concern is the others that aren't.

I'd be curious how traces of Nd, Pr, Dy, Nb effect coral or even the effect on the biological balance of the tank. Are there ICP tests offered in the hobby to test those?

Understandable as to why they may not be part of an ICP for reef tanks. Perhaps they're left off because they're not a factor in ocean water. Or that those listed above have zero effect on our tank inhabitants.

On the other hand if it's unavoidable that occasionally we're to expose our tanks to a rusting neodymium magnets, shouldn't we understand the effects those elevated alloys have on a tank? and have a means to quantify dangerous levels?

 

[Hannahmunt]

I agree the copper seems high, but maybe not high enough to be a coral killer. One cannot tell for sure from ICP alone since it does not give info on the chemical form present.

I'd suggest removing the rack and anything that may possibly expose metal, especially copper, to the water, replace all of the water, then refill and use a polyfilter/cuprisorb/metasorb to deal with residual copper.

I’ve told him to remove the rack. He showed me his icp from before and his Po4 was even higher at 0.8. Surely that is the main cause of deaths for his torches?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’ve told him to remove the rack. He showed me his icp from before and his Po4 was even higher at 0.8. Surely that is the main cause of deaths for his torches?

Phosphate at 0.8 ppm generally does not kill most corals. Some great tanks have phosphate that high.

 

[Hannahmunt]

Phosphate at 0.8 ppm generally does not kill most corals. Some great tanks have phosphate that high.

Oh wow.m, did not know that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Oh wow.m, did not know that.

Skeptical Reefkeeping 9: Test Kits, Chasing Numbers and Phosphate

By Rich Ross and Chris Jury There are many standard parameters in the reefkeeping world that aquarists strive to match in their home reefs – water quality,

reefs.com

Rich’s 150 gallon display, on a 300 gallon system, is running a phosphate level of 1.24 ppm, a level at 24.8 times higher than the often recommended .05 ppm. Photo by Richard Ross.