Drill bit dropped into my tank

[Midway]

I know very dumb. was trying to unscrew something above the tank and of course, drill bit dropped into the tank. Now, it has been there for a week or so. The thing is that it fell right in the back of the tank where all my rock are. I have to remove a fairly amount of rock to get to it. Should I bother? I know that thing is gonna start rusting away soon.

Thanks for your advice.

[monocus]

try a telescoping magnet to get the bit

[paddyob]

I would remove it.

[e46er]

I would take it out

[gobytron]

you gotta do it...
LOL...

sucks, but I think we've all been there.

[Skimmerking]

use your floating magnet in the back that worked for me

[craigwmiller]

Even a magnet tied to a fishing line -- bob it, move it around, drag along the sand, you should be able to get it to at least move somewhere more accessible.

[Midway]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I will give the magnet thing a shot for sure.

[mike31154]

What manner of drill bit are we dealing with here, just a screwdriver type bit I assume? Not that large? By all means give the magnet method a try. If that doesn't work for you & it's just a small bit, I wouldn't sweat it too much. It's steel or iron & shouldn't be all that harmful as it slowly rusts away in your 240. GFO (granulated ferric oxide) commonly used to remove phosphate from out tanks is pretty much rust, sold to us at a premium price. If it had grease or other contaminants on it, that's another story, but it's been in there long enough now that there's little you can do about that short of water changes, fresh carbon etc.