Hey there 
. I realise there have been posts like this in the past, but I have heard so many conflicting opinions I just wanted to ask again to see if someone could give me a final true one.
A few months ago I was just about to convert my FO to a reef. The return pump in my sump decided to stop working for no reason, so we quickly went searching for a spare one in the garage. We had a couple, and just decided to use the biggest one as it was emergency. We had forgotten that it was an old pond pump used years ago and unfortunately contained copper
.
All of my inverts died within a couple of weeks, my two tangs got HLLE and I lost one of them. Everything else is ok for now, but I know copper is not good for fish long term.
I have been using polyfilters to try to remove the copper, but in the long run will it do any good?? I have heard that the rock and sand and even the tank itself absorbs all the copper and can never be used in a reef tank again as it will continue to leach back into the water. If this is true I'll be pretty gutted as a few days before I had just added about $400 worth of live rock.
I am now planning a tank upgrade but that wont be for a good few months. In the mean time, is there anything I can do to remove the copper from the tank for good?
I am most concerned about the live rock. The tank can go on to be a vivarium, the sand can be dumped, but the live rock is very very expensive here in the UK and if possible I would like to save it and use it in my future reef.
Is there any way I can treat it to solve my problem?
thanks very much, I would really reaaally appreciate some help and to understand where I really stand here.
Casey
. I realise there have been posts like this in the past, but I have heard so many conflicting opinions I just wanted to ask again to see if someone could give me a final true one.A few months ago I was just about to convert my FO to a reef. The return pump in my sump decided to stop working for no reason, so we quickly went searching for a spare one in the garage. We had a couple, and just decided to use the biggest one as it was emergency. We had forgotten that it was an old pond pump used years ago and unfortunately contained copper
.All of my inverts died within a couple of weeks, my two tangs got HLLE and I lost one of them
. Everything else is ok for now, but I know copper is not good for fish long term.I have been using polyfilters to try to remove the copper, but in the long run will it do any good?? I have heard that the rock and sand and even the tank itself absorbs all the copper and can never be used in a reef tank again as it will continue to leach back into the water. If this is true I'll be pretty gutted as a few days before I had just added about $400 worth of live rock
.I am now planning a tank upgrade but that wont be for a good few months. In the mean time, is there anything I can do to remove the copper from the tank for good?
I am most concerned about the live rock. The tank can go on to be a vivarium, the sand can be dumped, but the live rock is very very expensive here in the UK and if possible I would like to save it and use it in my future reef.
Is there any way I can treat it to solve my problem?
thanks very much, I would really reaaally appreciate some help and to understand where I really stand here.
Casey
