Help Please!!!!

[lawnmowerbully]

So about 3 months ago I decided that I wanted to upgrade to a larger system. I previously had a 55g reef system for 2 years that I had no troubles with except for one little bout with cyanobacteria. Well I saw a posting for some liverock/baserock in my area that was a good deal so I bought it. I asked the previous owner if he had ever used any medications in the tank and he said no. Well come to find out he might have had used some copper products and just not told me. So after 3 months of struggling with my new tank and losing almost my entire interverabrate population except for my hermits and almost all my corals except for my mushrooms I am looking for any other possible explainations. However my fish have been fine through the mess and I didn't lose any during the move.

Copper tests have come up negative but from what I have heard there can still be traces below detectable levels.

All my parameters are normal. I have had it checked by two LFS and they came to the same conclusion.

1)My first question is has anyone else had this same experience with copper "poisoning". (Aka, mushrooms live, hermits live, a leather hanging on for dear life but all other intervertabrates die)

2) Any other suggestions on what it could be if you don't think it is copper.

3)Also has anyone on had any luck with the Cuprisorb product, if so what were you able to have in your tank after treatment? (I really want to have my reef back), what were you able to keep afterward and how long did it take to get it back to "normal"?

Thanks for your help!!!

PS lesson learned be very careful of good deals on liverock/sand etc.......unless you know who you are buying it from.

 

[newb]

how a hobby can be so frustrating and rewarding at times...
it is my unerstanding that a polly pad will pull just about anything out of the watter and will turn a different collor as to wich is the dominant element it is absorbing. good luck

 

[tkeracer619]

It is possible but I would think if copper is present in enough concentration it would be detectable.

Did you find some posts that made you think you baught tainted rock or just because stuff is dying you are assuming copper?

 

[lawnmowerbully]

No I bought it off of craigslist so there is no way to see other posts that the person posted. Trust me I wish i just knew either way just so I could put an end to it.
After reading and reading posts after posts it just seems like something that I might want to consider. My LFS said that all my invertabrates would be dead and that it couldn't be copper because my hermits and mushrooms didn't die. I just wanted to see if this is true or if it is just that some invertabrates are more sensitive than others.

 

[lawnmowerbully]

No other ideas?

 

[omni2226]

Do you have snails? they are really sensitive to copper. If they bit the dust I would be thinking copper maybe.

Like stated buy a polypad and drop it in. It will turn color to match whatever is being adsorbed.

 

[lawnmowerbully]

Yeah a group of snails (turbos and astras) I moved from my 55g died within a couple days of the move. Then I thought everything was ok and so about 8 weeks after the move I bought some new snails (trochus) and they all bit the dust (sand) within about a week. I do have however a couple of snails that dig into the sand (the ones that are like little submarines I think they are nassarius) and they have made it.

How long does it take for the poly-filter to start changing color. I picked one up this afternoon. I haven't noticed any change yet. Will it take a couple of days to notice a difference. Also how blue are we talking? light blue, royal blue, navy?