gopens Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 well i have some bad news. i went to the lfs today, and we tested my water. i have a slight tinge of copper. i thought maybe that the slight tinge was common, so i had my lfs guy test his water in front of me and his was perfectly clear with no signs of copper at all. so now that i have this problem, i have some deciding to do. is there any possible way i can get rid of this problem so i can have inverts and corals. i have read of a fe different ways to remove copper (via carbon), but they don't work 100%. i am sure i know what all you guys and gals are going to say. but i was just making sure that there is no help for me and this LR and subsrate. i just spoke with a and he told me that with such a tiny tiny trace like i had, that some water changes should put me back to normal. he told me that his son has put pennies in his tank and found them months later. and his lr is fine. i don't have a problem with replacing all my lr and substrate. but i honestly don't want to spend 700.00 more dollars on lr and substrate. i was thinking of removing the live rock, and putting them in a 55 gallon tank with fresh saltwater, heater, and a powerhead and cure the rock. than i was going to remove and trash all my sand (in the main tank and in the sump). then clean my main tank and sump with a vinegar and water solotion. do this a few times over a few days. than set the tank back up and use fresh sand. than add my old live rock. please help. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronjunior Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Were you the one in the chat last night that kept having snails keel over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbrownies Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 there are copper absorbing resins just like for phosphates, so that would be a good start, then use the resins to catch anything that might leach out of the tank or rocks BTW, what kind of tank is it (glass or acrylic)? and was copper ever used in it to treat the fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopens Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 yes i was. but i had checked for copper yesterday with my test kit and saw no traces. even today when i went to my lfs and had him check it. the only way to tell that i had any traces was because he also tested his and compared the two. only then you could see a tiny tiny tiny difference. i mean there is onle a trace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbrownies Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 are you using ro water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Supposedly if copper was EVER introduced to the tank, it is useless for corals or inverts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopens Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 Supposedly if copper was EVER introduced to the tank' date=' it is useless for corals or inverts.[/quote'] yeah i know. thats why i am so upset. but i have already ordered 400.00 in live rock. its a shame that this happened. i did everything to prevent this or shouls i say i thought i did. i have NEVER treated any fish in the tank. to be honest, i have never treated a fish, peroid. but hey what am i going to do. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 As oldbrownies mentioned, absorbing resins may be very helpful. You might give SeaChem "Cuprisorb" a try. http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/CupriSorb.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Have your LFS test some of your freshly made saltwater, rather than your tank water and see what the results are. Also you might try testing your tank water with another brand test kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H20cooled Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 You will never get rid of it complely if it was ever used in the tank, you can use things like the sponge material that will help with it but it will always be there. It binds to anything that it touches. So if you put rock and sand in there guess what its now on them too... Sorry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Would one of those 'PolyPads' do any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Make sure though that copper is actually in your tank. Don't go by the results of that one test at your LFS. The real question is why there would be copper in your tank if you have never used any? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H20cooled Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 The pads will stop it as long as they are still good and always in the tank. The problem is. Is the tank really worth what it will cost you on pads and dead inverts, and headache... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 There are small amounts of copper found in Seawater also so it would depend on what level of copper you are experiencing. I would put a polyfilter in and see if it turns blue. The blue color is an indication that it is absorbing copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefboy Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 so your the one i talked to kenny last night i told him sounded like copper but he said the rock was great looking untill you moved the tank so to me sounded like it got contaminated after the fact have you tested your drinking water if your house is old you may have copper pipes and the only way to rid is ro/di or other filtration plus prbly not good to drink and i also told him to have you pull the rock put in bin with water from tank with power head replace water taken out to submerge rock with new saltwater then give a day then try a few snails if they live then you know its your rock.the guy you bought tank from may have treated tank and its in your rock but just gessing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbrownies Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 maybe its just your water source? is it tap or RO water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopens Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 i bought the tank brand new. but i did buy the LR from a guy that lives between grants pass and medford. that all he does is sell LR. the rock looked awesome when i bought it, than slowly died off. i was going to put the rock in a 55 gallon tank and a heater, powerhead, and some fresh saltwater. than drain the main tank. completly break down my system and clean it extremely good. oh and i am also going to add new substrate. its a shame that this might get me out of the hobby. i truley love reefing. i just spent 3000.00 2 months ago to get started. i am not going to repeat that amount again. people are saying that if there is any copper in my tank, that i could not get it out of my tank, sump, skimmer, all my plumbing etc. basically i would need to toss everything accept my stand, canopy, and lights. whats your thoughts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefboy Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 thats not true ive fliped many fish only systems that used copper heavely and still used most of the equipment copper will only be in sand and rock so you will not need to replace equipment. id just pull rock first if its not to much of a hassel to see but up to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopens Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 well to be honest, i was looking for a reason to get new sand. i have sugar sized sand now, and i don't like it. so if i am going to remove the rock, i am going to do the sand as well. so you are saying that i can keep all my equipment including my tank and i will be able to do a reef tank as long as i get new rock and sand. again, i have heard people say once copper gets in there, your tank is jumk. but i have also heard that is not true as lone as i address my rock and sand and do a deep cleaning with vinager/water. thanks to all and the local reefboy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefboy Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 yep ive got two clients currently and there reefs are doing great one ive got alot of sps have never had a prob just remove sand and rock youll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopens Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 thanks. that is great news. i have never had a man make me smile like i am now. hopefuly the girlfriend doesn't see my smile... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Let's say you have a quarantine tank and you treat it with copper, fish gets netted back and forth all the time...would the net transfer the copper? Or does it have to be in high doses to be lethal? What I would do is throw some inverts in there. See if they live...that's what I did to the freshwater tank that was treated with coppersafe. If the snail is still alive for over a month, wouldn't it be safe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopens Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 Let's say you have a quarantine tank and you treat it with copper, fish gets netted back and forth all the time...would the net transfer the copper? Or does it have to be in high doses to be lethal? What I would do is throw some inverts in there. See if they live...that's what I did to the freshwater tank that was treated with coppersafe. If the snail is still alive for over a month, wouldn't it be safe? thats the kicker, i have hermit crabs that have been in my tank for months and they are doing great. but snails only last about an hour or so in the main tank, than they close up and will go into some form of shock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Like reefboy said, your tank and equipment will be fine to reuse in a reef system. Copper binds only with the carbonate and can be released back into the water column, especially during drops in pH. Be sure to check your tapwater, R.O. water,whatever your water source is. Even some distilled water can have copper in it if it was distilled with a system having copper pipes. Have your LFS store test it for you, since it showed up on his test kit. It would be a shame to go through this whole process then find out copper was in your water source! What brand of salt mix do you use? According to this survey, Omega and Tropic Marin brands have high concentrations of copper.(not necessarily harmful levels) http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopens Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 i am useing coralife (you know the one with the free shirt). i will check my ro water. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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