FriendlyLoach Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 I have some how removed the coating on my plant tweezers with hydrogen peroxide. The metal underneath is a bit rusty. Is it safe to use in my shrimp and fish tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 I would not take the risk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Intuitively I'm sure many people will say not to use them, and I'm not saying they're wrong, but I'm curious to know if anyone knows for a fact that using rusty implements in a tank will cause problems. I have doubts that it will. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 i would use them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 You could probably buff/sand the rust off the tweezers, but that would just further the wear on the coating. I doubt a small amount of rust would hurt. Are you leaving the tweezers in the tank for extended periods of time? The only experience I have with rusted aquarium tools is my scissors are a bit rusty on the inside of the blades and I can't say that I have seen a correlation between using them and anything negative in my tanks. Although the scissors are only in the tank for maybe a minute every couple of days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriendlyLoach Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 Okay, I got the plants in. I just did it by hand, not really worth it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 11 hours ago, FriendlyLoach said: The metal underneath is a bit rusty. Rust can be removed by soap. I have cleaned various metal items (pliers "frozen" because of rust, a cup damaged by baking soda, rusty old scissors) using just soap and water. Stick the rusty tool into a piece of soap or let it sit in a very thick soap solution for a day or two (maybe more if there is a lot of rust) and the rust comes off very easily and cleanly after that, just washes away with water. I don't know whether this method is safe for coated items though, soap might remove even more of the coating if it is already damaged. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Pearl Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 I'd be more concerned about the soap residue than the rust. ”Back in the day” people used to bury nails in their tank gravel to supplement iron. Wipe the rust away with a new scrubbie reserved for your tank with some water and keep them dry between use to help keep the rust from coming back. Have fun with your tank! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3vi1p3nguin Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 Unless the tools is extremely rusted, the rust is not going to come off and poison the water. If you're worried, tools are cheap enough to replace, and piece of mind is priceless. There is more iron in most well water than you could release into the tank from tools with surface corrosion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umfalcon Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 I use a razor blade to scrape algae off glass. The razor blade had some rust on it and I’ve never had a problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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