- Location
- Houston, TX
Yo dudes and dudettes,
This might be geared more towards professional aquarists like myself but here is a little advice that I have found handy. When you do this for a living, you have tools. Many of those tools are metal. Metal rusts. You could spray things on those metal tools to protect them but those things would be toxic to aquariums. You could just let the tools rust away and get new ones but that is wasteful and expensive. Years ago I started using Molykote 111 that I got from Bulk Reef Supply on my metal tools. Why this one? Because it was developed for the food industry and is safe for human consumption. While that doesn't mean it is safe for corals and sensitive invertebrates, I am pretty damn sure it is because A) I have never seen anything on the interwebz saying it caused harm to saltwater invertebrates, and B) I have not witnessed it myself and I have done this extensively, for years.
I'll scrub the metal with a green scrubby pad, apply the Molykote liberally all over the tool, and let it sit in the sun for hours. After that, I'll take a work towel and wipe off any excess. Be sure to go back and repeat this process after a while when water stops beading on the surface of the tool. I haven't bought a new crescent wrench in 10 years and likely won't ever have to.
That's it. Have fun and hope this helps.
This might be geared more towards professional aquarists like myself but here is a little advice that I have found handy. When you do this for a living, you have tools. Many of those tools are metal. Metal rusts. You could spray things on those metal tools to protect them but those things would be toxic to aquariums. You could just let the tools rust away and get new ones but that is wasteful and expensive. Years ago I started using Molykote 111 that I got from Bulk Reef Supply on my metal tools. Why this one? Because it was developed for the food industry and is safe for human consumption. While that doesn't mean it is safe for corals and sensitive invertebrates, I am pretty damn sure it is because A) I have never seen anything on the interwebz saying it caused harm to saltwater invertebrates, and B) I have not witnessed it myself and I have done this extensively, for years.
I'll scrub the metal with a green scrubby pad, apply the Molykote liberally all over the tool, and let it sit in the sun for hours. After that, I'll take a work towel and wipe off any excess. Be sure to go back and repeat this process after a while when water stops beading on the surface of the tool. I haven't bought a new crescent wrench in 10 years and likely won't ever have to.
That's it. Have fun and hope this helps.
