6025 impellar shaft rusting?

[ezcompany]

i just wanted to verify the information on this link

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/showthread.php?threadid=26457

i really CANNOT afford to have iron in my tank, is there any truth in this?

[rvitko]

Stainless steel will develop a surface oxidation, you can see this yourself when you remove stainless steel utensils from the dishwasher or even on the stainless steel shafts of other pumps. This oxidation can be wiped off with a cloth and will not progress beyond a surface disoloration. Iron is not a toxic substance and is fairly low in solubility so even if the entire shaft corroded it would not do any major harm to a reef short of promoting some higher algaes and octocorals. If it was toxic it would not be offered as a reef supplement and I doubt any one with a knowledge of reef chemistry could support his claim that it is toxic or damaging to his reef. The problem with his pump is that the shaft came free, it should be fixed in place and he should be able to get his pump replaced under warranty.

[ezcompany]

hi roger
the reason i'm scared of iron is because of the theory of Pinched Mantle disease on clams. after i placed GFO in my system, 2 of my prized clams have PM.
thanks for the info

[rvitko]

I have not heard of that theory before, is there somewhere I can read more about it?

[ezcompany]

the theory is iron, supposedly places the protozoans in a hyper active state, causing them to give the clams pinched mantle disease. where the protozoans came from is still unknown. they could be inactive in the clam or they could be found commonly on some other carrier.
in support of the theory, a handful of individuals claim success in removing PM after heavy water changes, carbon, and removing the GFO media after a FW dip. if you want more information, you can pm mbbuna (chris), and check this thread. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1039931

there is also a research that is awaiting a little more funds @ the University of Maine in regards to Pinched Mantle disease. http://www.clamsdirect.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1982
it would be wonderful to get Tunze USA to support :)

hope that helps Roger

[rvitko]

That is very interesting! I had always heard it was protozoan in nature and I know we had problems with it as hobbyists and in retail before the GFO medias were ever really on the market. The alternate hypothesis that strikes me is, what if it is simply like having any parasitic load, when the host is healthy the load is bearable but if something affects the health of the host the parasites endanger the host. I could see a situation where GFO could reduce the phosphate availability to the point that the photosynthetic activity of the symbionts is not sufficient to feed the clam beyond the load of the parasite.

[ezcompany]

hmmm. i don't quite understand what you mean by saying phosphate availability will alter the photosynthetic activity of the symbionts? (zooxanthellae?) i don't think phosphate availability will alter the photosynthetic activity at all, (especially of zoos) but may cause the parasite to start eating its host due to the lack of it. regardless it would be definitely interesting to see the results from the lab study at Maine.

[rvitko]

The three major nutrients of plants are Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium. If you limited the phosphate, and those very fine granulate GFO's can virtually eliminate it, you could limit the algaes growth and food production. I cannot find a logical reason why iron would accelerate the activity/life cycle of a protozoan. But I could see a nutrient starved animal being less able to fend off a parasitic attack. It is only speculation and I am not an advanced biologist, biology and chemistry are hobbies to me and not something I have an extensive professional knowledge of.

[mbbuna]

this is my theory, and it has nothing to do with the research being done, but from what has tricked out to me so far my theory is at least on the right track.

ive been tracking any post i can find on the net about PM for the last 3 years, trying to find some common denominator. a few years ago i came across this post by a physician


originally posted by Nuhtty
"I have studied the effects of heavy metal toxicity in humans and the role that iron chelators play (chemicals that "eat up" iron making it unable to form molecular bonds) so interestingly I was familiar with research that studied iron chelators and protozoal infections. In this case, P. atlanticus which affects the Carpet Shell Clams.

Below I linked a study from 2003 that investigates the role of 2 such iron chelators and their effect on the protozoal infections.

I dont know your scientific background so forgive me if I am speaking down to you.

Here is what the study showed:
- Iron chelators inhibited the growth of P. atlanticus
- No growth of P. atlanticus = no dead clams
- Removal of iron chelators (therefore the ability for iron to be used in the protozoa again) = protozoa grew more rapidly

So when you added the iron to your system you allowed the Perkinsus protozoa (difficult to tell which species in this case) to grow and therefore kill your clams.

There is no known "treatment" per se, but removal of iron from the system should be all that is needed.

I would recommend water changes and removal of all clams, abalone, scallops and other similar animals from your system.

Continue water changes until your iron readings are undetectable...then do MORE water changes. I would say a good water change per week for 2 months past the time when there is NO detectable iron would put you in the safe range.

From that point on be cautious in the livestock you choose. Try to buy farm raised clams as these specimens are less likely to be infected with the protozoa.

Here are 2 links for more reading. Again, I dont know your scientific background so if you need help interpreting any of the data or you want me to help "translate" some of the scientific jargon I would be more than happy to do so.

Hope I have been informative.

(this is a PDF file so you need Acrobat to read it)
http://www.ualg.pt/fcma/edge/Articles/Elan...20chelator'

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sci/shelldis/.../perkincc_e.htm"

quote from this thread http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74863&st=0


there has been a type of Perkinsus found, but DNA sequencing needs to be done to positively ID it so a treatment can be developed.

i believe that by introducing iron into the system, whether by GFO or chelated iron that its causing a similar effect as shown in the links/thread quoted. i have first hand experience with this as i have lost 12 clams to this condition. i tried every treatment out there with out success, untill i filled an old skimmer body with 2gal of carbon and ran about 800gph through it. with in 12 hours the clams were fine. but IMO finding out exactly whats causing this and killing it is still needed.

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9541612#post9541612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ezcompany
i just wanted to verify the information on this link

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/showthread.php?threadid=26457

i really CANNOT afford to have iron in my tank, is there any truth in this?

This just happened to one of my 6025's; contacted Roger and it is being handled under warranty issues. It sucks but at least tunze stands behind their product and are willing to correct the issues that we are experiencing with them.