HELP!! Accidently introduced copper!

[Dave Thebrewguy]

I took my LEDs down to make a few changes and when I came back to the tank an hour later I found that the wires from the power supply had fallen in! :worried: The power supply was live (48VDC) and the bare copper wire that had corroded back to where it entered the insulation. I've added roughly 5/8" of 16ga stranded copper to 85 gallons of water. I just did a waterchange last night and have no more saltwater mixed. Help!! I'm open to suggestions.

 

[sirreal63]

Poly filter and carbon.

 

[Dave Thebrewguy]

Thanks Jack, In my panic I didn't think of going for the basics. Poly filter and fresh carbon are in. Anything else I can do? I'm about to go make another 18 gal of salt water but I'll have to give it a while to mix.
Edit, Lights are back on and all occupants are responding normally to "sunrise." If it helps, the livestock includes a few small Zoa colonies, a few assorted Ricordias and mushrooms, a douple dozen polyps of Capt America paly. I don't expect problems from the fish but the inverts have me worried.

 

[sirreal63]

It happens, water changes will help. Are there any corals in the tank? If so set up a temp holding tank and get them out.

 

[downbeach]

Do you have a test kit for copper, i.e. Salifert or Seachem?

 

[Dave Thebrewguy]

Unfortunately, a temporary holding tank isn't really practical. The Zoas wer all frags that have grown into some very large rocks at the base of my "reef," getting them out may be as big a disaster as leaving them in. I have a 10 gal and a 2.5 gal that would be OK but I have no lighting or filtration for those. The 10 gal was my QT but it's not currently ready to use, even if I could cram all that rock into it.

 

[coralsnaked]

Likely, with little exception the copper is not as soluble as one might think. In liquid form it is deadly, but there is very little residual coming off a solid wire with exposure if only for a a few hours up to a day or two. I'd do a 30 % water change and change all filter media. Add some carbon and stop worrying. LOL

Merry Skerry

 

[Dave Thebrewguy]

I'm on my way out to see if my LFS has a copper test kit (I haven't needed one in 20 years. it's a little beyond expired).

 

[disc1]

I'm on my way out to see if my LFS has a copper test kit (I haven't needed one in 20 years. it's a little beyond expired).

Copper test is about useless in this situation. They're great for lining up copper meds for fish, but the lowest level they can typically read is still way above the toxic limit for inverts.

 

[disc1]

The power supply was live (48VDC) and the bare copper wire that had corroded back to where it entered the insulation.

Likely, with little exception the copper is not as soluble as one might think. In liquid form it is deadly, but there is very little residual coming off a solid wire with exposure if only for a a few hours up to a day or two. I'd do a 30 % water change and change all filter media. Add some carbon and stop worrying

Copper goes into water over time and normally I wouldn't worry much about something being in there for only an hour. There's one important exception there and that is a live wire. Now you've suddenly got a bunch of electrochemistry going on helping you to solubilize that wire. If the wire corroded back then the copper went into the tank. You've basically been doing an electroplating experiment in reverse.

The real worry is that the copper didn't stay in solution in the tank. Running polyfil and carbon is going to help pull out the soluble copper, but a lot of it may be sitting in the rocks and sand as copper carbonates or hydroxides. Removing that will require running polyfil for a very long time as it slowly leaches back into the water.

Really there's not a lot you can do other than that. Watch your inverts. If they do fine then don't worry no more. If you suddenly find that you can't keep inverts alive then it's time to have a FOWLR or start it over with new rock.

 

[Dave Thebrewguy]

DOH! This is especially true of the kit I was able to get. First LFS (1/4 mile) closed Mondays and Tuesdays, second LFS had only API kit in stock. I got that and a HOB filter to put on my 10 gal. I'll get that set up ASAP, the problem is getting good water ready fast enough, and do I use that first water for the 10 gal or for a water change?
When I first hooked the light back up everything started to open up normally. But now, only Green Rics look almost normal, my tricolors and blue are half closed up. Mushrooms and Palys are also half closed. Only a couple Zoa polyps are opened up at all.
I'm hoping my softies are a little hardier than LPS/SPS might be...

 

[Dave Thebrewguy]

The good news is that the API test came out 0.0ppm, the bad news is that the next step up is 0.25ppm, that's a heck of a gap.
More good news is that my wife reminded me of a 20H I had in the attic. The 20 gal has been scrubbed out. I have the first 6 gal of water mixing and I have 4-5 gal still sitting from my water change that I hadn't dumped yet.
More bad news, the lighting on that 20 gal is barely adequate for fish only. Time to get creative.

 

[disc1]

The corals you listed will be ok for a while without light while you get the water figured out in the other tank.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Put Cuprasorb in your tank in addition to the carbon. It works really well at drawing out copper.

 

[Dave Thebrewguy]

The 20H is mostly filled up and the heater and filter are running. The temperature is still low but it's coming up, another hour and I should be able to start moving what I can move. The waiting is killing me, I'm sure it's killing my livestock too.
I've tried wiggling a few things in the tank and it looks like the Rics and shrooms will come right out with a few small rocks. The Zoas will be an issue, they've grown to the point where they are connecting several large pieces of live rock together. I may have to find a crash course in fragging to get them out. Imagine 2, 10 lb rocks and 3-4 smaller rocks, all connected by 3 Zoa colonies. Another 10 lb rock and a smaller rock are connected by yet another colony. I could end up trying to cram 50+ lbs of live rock into a 20H. I haven't tried the palys yet...
I have 2 LFS within reasonable distance, the closer one is closed Mondays and Tuesdays(and I have a hunch that they don't stock anything that doesn't sayt "Elos" on the box), the second one is where I got the test kit and filter. We discussed Cuprasorb, the owner mentioned it, but he said he hadn't sold any in years and wasn't sure it was still being made. He checked to see if he still had any in stock but there wasn't any. It's unfortunate that he didn't stock it anymore, but I can understand that he wouldn't carry it if it wasn't selling. I checked when I got home and it's still being made (as you all probably knew) but I couldn't get it locally. I'll be near another LFS after work tomorrow and will try there, otherwise I will have to order it online. Chemi-pure may also be an option, if I can find it.

 

[Dave Thebrewguy]

I got all the coral out, plus relocated a couple snails that didn't look too good. I even found the starfish that's eaten a couple ployps and got him out of the tank for good (been trying to catch him for 3 weeks).
Some of my remaining CUC apear to be fine, are some snails and hermits OK with a little copper?

 

[Dave Thebrewguy]

I'm doing water changes and running carbon for now, Cuprisorb is on order. The question is, since the copper levels are below what I can measure, how do I tell when it's gone? Is there a test kit for such low levels of copper?
At least there's some good news Most of my critters seem to be making a comeback in the 20H, The Rics, 'shrooms and Palys are all open, along with a couple Zoa colonies. All of them have little to no color but I'm sure the lack of lighting has a lot to do with that. A Frag of Candy Apple Zoas has opened a polyp or two, they actually have better color then they did in the big tank. Only 1 colony has yet to open a single polyp, that was the largest colony and it took a bit of rough handling to get it out. It was also the last out of the other tank so it had the longest exposure. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.