# Saltwater aquarium and rust



## AquaticPulse (Jun 19, 2011)

Hey everyone, I'm thinking of getting into saltwater aquariums. My friend gave me his entire setup for the 55 gallon aquarium. 

Upon bringing it home, my father began to panic. He saw the rust on some of the equipment and tells me that the aquarium will rust all the metal in the house (electronics, etc). He states that the evaporated saltwater from the aquarium will corrode the metals, however, I had the notion that there needs to be contact of water and metal to cause rust. 

Is he right about evaporation from the saltwater aquarium rusting near by metal? if so, is there any way to avoid rusting? if not, is there a way i could explain it to him?


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## Ctp416 (Nov 23, 2011)

I`m pretty sure salt does not evaporate from the tank. Just the fresh water leaving the salt in the tank. Nothing in my house is rusting!


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## AquaticPulse (Jun 19, 2011)

i tried explaining to him that when water evaporates, salt doesn't leave the tank. In order for it to leave the tank, it salt would have to break down into sodium and chloride. However he is insistent that some sodium and chloride is released into the air and with the moisture, which thus causes the rust. I tried to explain that the moisture level has to be high enough to cause rust, but he argues that the air has enough moisture in it, and that's enough to cause rust.

Maybe it's just one of those futile arguments with a parent that you can never win... any suggestion on how i could explain it to him? I'd really like to have him understand


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

thinkshane said:


> i tried explaining to him that when water evaporates, salt doesn't leave the tank. In order for it to leave the tank, it salt would have to break down into sodium and chloride. However he is insistent that some sodium and chloride is released into the air and with the moisture, which thus causes the rust. I tried to explain that the moisture level has to be high enough to cause rust, but he argues that the air has enough moisture in it, and that's enough to cause rust.
> 
> Maybe it's just one of those futile arguments with a parent that you can never win... any suggestion on how i could explain it to him? I'd really like to have him understand


Head to aquariumpros, find my build thread there. Two computers sitting beside my 155 gallon tank. No rust yet!

Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


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## RR37 (Nov 6, 2012)

Depends, If the humidity in your house is really, really low it can lead to things around the aquarium oxidizing faster than they normally would. Especially if the surface water of the tank is heavily agitated . I had a a a few tools out, cutting blades and some fitting pipes that have began to "rust". However they are all unprotected for the most part. The steel studs in my basement are fine, duct work around the furnace, etc. For the most part you have nothing to worry about. Keep the creep to a minimum and you should be fine.


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

Splashing, and touching things around the area are the biggest problems. Salt on its own will not evaporate. We all did the experiment in grade school. Heavy salt solution, and left it to evaporate. It leaves all the crystals in the petri dish. Some teachers were even cool, and colored it!



> Maybe it's just one of those futile arguments with a parent that you can never win... any suggestion on how i could explain it to him? I'd really like to have him understand


Prove it. I would be happy to give you a gallon of saltwater (slightly used  ) and you can stick it in a pail with a power head. Leave it be for a week or so, and I bet it is all evaporated. Stick some metal near the pail, and wait!

I evaporate almost 3 gallons a week from my tank! My nano on my desk would run dry in a week or so if not for top offs!


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

I agree. Your parents worries are *completely *unfounded.

But the proof is in the pudding: For example, I have metal hinges on my tank canopy; one sits about 2 inches away from the water of the DT, near the light fixture, where most of the evaporation occurs. Other than where the overflow pours into the sump, this is probably the most humid part of the system. There is only a slight bit of rust there, and the second hinge sits about a foot above the water with absolutely no rust.

The only rust you are going to see come from an aquarium setup will be inside an enclosed sump cabinet or canopy.

And no more so than a freshwater tank.

For once you are right and your parents are wrong


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## CRJ (Sep 7, 2012)

i have a $3000 macbook sitting next to my tank daily, and its been there for a year, not a issue.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I'm curious, what "rust" are you seeing in the aquarium you got? I'd be highly doubtful that any equipment that goes into the tank would have rust, as I don't think rust is very good to corals.

Perhaps what you're seeing is just coralline algae? If the equipment is made of plastic, then it's obviously not rust.


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## badmedicine (Oct 27, 2012)

Scientifically, yes salt will corrode ferrous objects (iron). Yes having salt water tank will increase the rate of rust in your home. At what rate?

Roughly speaking about as much as:

1) owning a loaf of bread.
2) having a salt shaker in the kitchen
3) tears from your eyes
4)men missing the toilet/splashing urine onto the floor.
... in other words its not going to happen for a long, long, long time.

WATER EVAPORATES FROM YOUR TANK, NOT SALT. That's why we have salt creep on our surfaces. Also we top off our tanks with fresh water, not salt water.


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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

badmedicine said:


> 4)men missing the toilet/splashing urine onto the floor.
> ... in other words its not going to happen for a long, long, long time.
> 
> WATER EVAPORATES FROM YOUR TANK, NOT SALT. That's why we have salt creep on our surfaces. Also we top off our tanks with fresh water, not salt water.


Who knew bad aim can rust your house eventually?  Yeah, but I agree with everyone else, unless your tank is misting saltwater into your house-air, you will have no problems.


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## AquaticPulse (Jun 19, 2011)

solarz said:


> I'm curious, what "rust" are you seeing in the aquarium you got? I'd be highly doubtful that any equipment that goes into the tank would have rust, as I don't think rust is very good to corals.
> 
> Perhaps what you're seeing is just coralline algae? If the equipment is made of plastic, then it's obviously not rust.


My parents saw the hinges on the stand doors were completely rusted and the canopy had some rust. Also, what really concerned them was the rust my father saw on the two black metalbox that connects to the light fixture. The boxes weren't on the tank, they sit on the floor. I tried to explain it probably got a splash of the saltwater. I can't remember what the boxes are, but I think he said one of them was the ballast for the florescent and the other box was for the halide.



J_T said:


> Splashing, and touching things around the area are the biggest problems. Salt on its own will not evaporate. We all did the experiment in grade school. Heavy salt solution, and left it to evaporate. It leaves all the crystals in the petri dish. Some teachers were even cool, and colored it!


Maybe i'll do this to prove it to him. haha



50seven said:


> For once you are right and your parents are wrong


Now all i got to do is prove it to him and make a trophy for my first argument won against a parent haha


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