Broken drill bit lost behind rocks

[rwb500]

i wouldn't worry about it. it's very small and any heavy metal that does dissolve will likely be incorporated into organic compounds (and thus detoxified) as quickly as it dissolves.

 

[Gorgok]

Im no chemist either but even if you drop a metal piece of whatever in the tank with copper content, would it dissolve in water that has a pH of 8.0? Since copper doesnt really rust away would you not have to get the pH low enough to dissolve the copper into solution for it to cause trouble?

Not sure if you mean the coating on those bits, but if you do its titanium nitride most likely. I don't even think it needs an undercoat like chrome does (where copper is usually found).

 

[Fishmommy]

Ti nitride has no undercoat.

 

[DaveRaz]

Always a good idea to put some kind of cover over the tank when working above it. Although razor blades have proven benign, I did drop a drywalls screw into one of my clams one time. The thing snapped shut and I could not retrieve the screw. Eventually it spit it out, but I was sure I'd killed it for a while.

Dropped a screw into a clam?! Murphy's law at work there huh? Haha

Thanks all for the feedback.

 

[Breadman03]

Dropped a screw into a clam?! Murphy's law at work there huh? Haha

Thanks all for the feedback.

I know. There's so many UA unfriendly comments that could be made.

 

[ca1ore]

I know. There's so many UA unfriendly comments that could be made.

Did occur to me after I wrote that that all the sub 15 year olds here on RC might read it the wrong way .....

 

[DaveRaz]

Did occur to me after I wrote that that all the sub 15 year olds here on RC might read it the wrong way .....

Never ever thought when starting this thread that I would laugh out loud and have to explain all this to mrs raz.

 

[Puffyluv]

Are we still waiting to hear tank size? Or did I miss it?

Old owner of farm used to scrape the rust off our table saw into the farm water. I mean, I get it...but I always thought that was going a lil' far!

 

[BrentH]

you ever get out the bit ? I had a screw fall in today in tank its frustrating

 

[DaveRaz]

Nope. It's behind a huge rock wall somewhere. Its swimming with the fishes. :fish1:

 

[Paul B]

Rust is fine, I throw nails in my tank to dose iron and I have screws in there from when Nixon was President. Don't worry about it. It is actually a good thing, throw another bit in there.

 

[Squidmotron]

Years ago I lost a screw in my tank. Everything was fine.

My reef octopus skimmer has metal screws in it that sit in the water.

 

[Puffyluv]

Those are stainless steel...doesn't rust unless you touch it to something not stainless.

 

[CuzzA]

Actually, just to clarify, stainless steel will rust "because" of being under water. It takes a long time, but because stainless requires oxygen to create a protective barrier, under water it doesn't have the ability to maintain it's protective barrier and "eventually" will rust. Of course then there's the whole quality of stainless too.

 

[Puffyluv]

Thanks, CuzzA! "Won't" was actually really incorrect!

Stainless has been deemed safe for reefs...but this wasn't a stainless bit. Think we determined earlier it was probably mostly iron.

 

[FraggledRock]

instant GFO

 

[Puffyluv]

instant GFO

Lol, yup! [emoji1]

 

[disc1]

Thanks, CuzzA! "Won't" was actually really incorrect!

Stainless has been deemed safe for reefs...but this wasn't a stainless bit. Think we determined earlier it was probably mostly iron.

There are lots of different kinds of stainless. Some are OK and some are definitely not. Not all stainless steel is equivalent.


And to all the folks making comments about GFO, please understand that GFO is very pure iron oxide. It is pure iron rust. If the piece of metal in your tank is ultra pure iron then yes that's all it will make. But chances are that the piece of metal you drop in your tank isn't going to be ultra-pure iron. And there are LOTS of kinds of "rust" besides iron rust. Most any of those metals will make an oxide and most will dissolve to some extent in your tank water.

So the link between the piece of metal rusting in your tank and the GFO you put there on purpose is very naive.

 

[dkeller_nc]

But chances are that the piece of metal you drop in your tank isn't going to be ultra-pure iron.

Indeed, it isn't. At the very least the drill bit would be high-speed tool steel, which generally includes alloying elements of chromium, vanadium, molybdenum, and tungsten.

 

[Chetna]

I'm a metals inspector in refineries, what about trying an inspection magnet, kinda like a flexible rod with a strong magnet on the tip?