copper in supply water

[reefyredfish]

I get my water from a reputable water company that filters
city water thru large expensive equipment. It was suggested by
my LFS. I have a 2 yr old 75 g ref tank and recently I have
discovered that there is a trace amount of copper in the supply
water I have been getting. About .05 ppm. I have a GBTA
and some mushrooms, frogspawn and xenia. I can't say
that it has affected any thing. I also have snails crabs and shrimp that
are all fine. Could there be a long term effect on anything?
Or at that low of copper should I not be concerned?
I do use poly pads but it doesn't seem to help.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

While it is hard to definitely say how much is OK and how much is too much, 0.05 ppm (50 ppb copper) is likely too much, IMO, to routinely use. It could build up with every top off you add. I'd look for a new source. I discuss copper in tap water here:

Tap Water in Reef Aquaria
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2004/chem.htm

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, is that value from a test kit, or from their reporting?

A test kit may be quite inaccurate at that level, and I wouldn't trust the level to not be substantially higher or lower.

 

[reefyredfish]

Actually it is from mine and its an instant ocean kit which is made by aquarium systems.
It registers .05 but the units marked on the test tube are mg/l.
Is that the same as ppm? I'm going to take a sample in and have it tested
at my LFS. Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, same as ppm. I'd be wary of accepting that result as totally accurate, but it is a warning flag that I would not ignore. An LFS will not be able to get a better test result. It is not possible for any kits to test copper low enough to guarantee acceptability, but most any real reading is too much.

 

[daven]

I had my water tested at aquariumwatertesting.com and my first result showed copper as high at .06. I was having trouble with my snails (though I didn't know it at the time). I started running cuprisorb and my next result was .03 and my snails are much more active.

I found the cerith snails to be most susceptible to the copper.

A note on cuprisorb. Don't try to run it in one of the phosban reactors, the media is so small that it goes right through the sponges and into your sump/display.

 

[reefyredfish]

I just want to make sure they get same results as me.
As I stated... there is no red flag in the tank. Cerith and all
snails are okay. But I'm definitely not going to ignore the situation.
Hey Daven.. what's cuprisorb and where can I get some.

 

[daven]

Cuprisorb is a resin that binds cooper. It can be regenerated. By Seachem. Carried in some LFS and I puurchased online at marenedepot.