Copper in Main tank
- Thread starter new2scene
- Start date
andrewsmart
New member
have you got a copper test kit are you reading copper in the tank.
fingersdlp
New member
What is the recommended dosage. If I recall it is like 1 ml for each 5 gallons? If so then you gave it a half dose? I use a 40 breeder that was treated with copper as a coral QT tank but it was drained, scrubbed and no sand or rock was used from it. My guess is that amount was quickly absorbed (adsorbed actually) by the sand and rock. There is a product called cuprisorb by seachem that claims it can actually pull copper out of a tank substrate. You could also put a poly-filter in to make sure any in the water column is gone (probably alread gone with the water change, carbon, rock and substrate).
I suspect you will be OK with keeping inverts but I would try a few snails first and see. If you are willing to change out the sand and rock then you can be pretty sure it will be OK.
I also have a fish only tank that was treated with copper and now has some corals, snails and crabs. But again the sand and rock was replaced before any were added. I still call it my fish only but it has a growing list of corals (that outgrow or are fragged from my reef) that are doing very well.
Long story short, any long sustained use and no way would I consider it safe unless you disgarded the sand and rock but a half dose one time might not be so bad.
Keep in mind that some people think a tank treated with copper is not suitable for reef use and I agree if it can be avoided it should be but I personally decided the tank is OK to use and have not had a problem.
I suspect you will be OK with keeping inverts but I would try a few snails first and see. If you are willing to change out the sand and rock then you can be pretty sure it will be OK.
I also have a fish only tank that was treated with copper and now has some corals, snails and crabs. But again the sand and rock was replaced before any were added. I still call it my fish only but it has a growing list of corals (that outgrow or are fragged from my reef) that are doing very well.
Long story short, any long sustained use and no way would I consider it safe unless you disgarded the sand and rock but a half dose one time might not be so bad.
Keep in mind that some people think a tank treated with copper is not suitable for reef use and I agree if it can be avoided it should be but I personally decided the tank is OK to use and have not had a problem.
what actually happened was i was doing a water change on my qt 10g tank. i had a wrasse with ich that has since died. the directions on the coppersafe say 5ml for 4g so i had put in 12ml. i did a 50 water change and told my 10yr old to dump it out. He dumped it in the main tank. i did a 50 change on my 45g and added the carbon for a few days. thats the story. My fault.
fingersdlp
New member
Oh, coppersafe and not cupramine? Then then your dose is even less of a problem. 4mm of copersafe is much less of a problem than 4mm of cupramine as the cupramine is much more concentrated.
I would get a polyfilter and/or cuprisorb and not worry to much. You could test for it but I doubt you will find any left in the water if you have sand and rock and did the water change and ran carbon already.
Good luck
I would get a polyfilter and/or cuprisorb and not worry to much. You could test for it but I doubt you will find any left in the water if you have sand and rock and did the water change and ran carbon already.
Good luck
