Blown...yes it is essentially an empty glass tank. We have a plastic shelf hanging from the side with minimal filtration to catch stuff before it enters the sump (I say sump now..but hang on). This is simply hanging on the side. The rational for this setup was to make it a refuge in the near future. I simply wanted some small rocks, some macro algae (I have that now) in order to provide a little natural filtration along with a nice environment to grow a ton of food for my goby (and other new additions as time went on). The tank was brand new from a fish store. Now I can't be 100% sure as to the silicone used, but I am sure an actual aquarium manufacturer didn't make it with anything toxic (and yes, it was a fish aquarium, not a reptile habitat or anything silly like that).
Before the addition of the sump/fuge set up everything was great and I had a healthy population of inverts along with very sensitive creatures like scallops. To clear up a little confusion, I do realize I used terms like "a few days" that doesn't provide accurate timelines. I will elaborate now:
Within 48 hours of installing the brass valve the most sensitive creatures began to get sick and die. The scallop retreated into his little shell and died presumably within the first 48 hours (though it could be a little longer or shorter, as I didn't suspect at that time the guy was dead and didn’t remove him until at least a day or two later). I can't give you a copper reading at this point because I simply had no idea. But keep in mind, the entire tank was flawless before this new plumbing addition. About two days later (96 hours from initial installation of brass) all the coral was now dead. Within that first two weeks, the snails were all dead or dying (problem is, many of this was hidden due to the fact that they were in the sand, hidden in rock, etc. At the end of the first 2 weeks, the whole situation was understood after starting this thread. Trust me, I said all the same things you did. "No, copper wouldn't kill that fast," "the fitting was brass not copper" (face-palm after I researched brass), and "it was probably the glue" (go to my first post, that was my initial thought). Once I started testing for copper it was obvious. I didn't remove the valve right away. I tested for copper first. After that first two weeks the copper level was about 1ppm (remember, levels at the parts per billion can kill or harm the sensitive coral and poor scallop) I removed the survivors at that point and removed the dead creatures. I tested the copper again like a day or two later, with the brass valve still installed (I guess I was still skeptical myself). The copper was now around 2ppm… At that point I had to remove all the rock, scrape off dead material, the whole crappy process. There was no addition of anything else. The tank was brand new, the PVC piping was rinsed before use, and the pipe glue was food grade that a million aquarists use all the time. I am not leaving out anything. The pumps were made for aquariums (not ponds or anything). There was literally nothing else added that could have caused this. As the copper rates dropped and the tank fully cycled, I introduced the fish back in (remember, copper was still present at this point, the goby didn’t make it, but that was more likely due to the toxic ammonia and nitrites). When the copper rates reached 0ppm on my test but a little color was still present (indicating lower levels of copper, probably in the ppb) I added a few snails. They did OK. Now that the levels are even lower (crystal clear on two separate brands of copper tests) I have added more sensitive inverts (and more costly), including a star and some shrimp. While I don’t want to go as far as to re-introduce copper to prove this theory, I really think it is 99.9% positive that this was copper. And, just to let you know, I have been doing this addition of inverts crazy slowly. The first a couple snails I added, almost two months ago, are still alive and well. Plus, my clown survived this entire ordeal, so unless he is immune to the poison you are talking about…I think we can rule it out.
Now for Toke: Here is my question for you, what kind of filtration are you using? I am not ashamed to say I was a bit of a naturalist before this copper incident. All of my filtration was natural (tons of rock and sand, a huge clean-up crew, careful feeding, etc) and I didn’t run anything that might soak up copper (no poly, no carbon, no anything chemical). That essentially means, when I introduced this valve, the copper had free-range in my tank with nothing in its way. Also, my brass valve could have been made totally different. I can’t tell you for sure, but mine could be plated differently, could be mixed differently, not to mention a whole host of other factors. In addition, where is yours placed? Mine was placed in such a way that literally all of my water volume came into contact with that valve every hour (more actually). I flooded my tank quickly and painfully with excessively high amounts of copper.
If you do decide to remove the valve, test for copper first, please. I am really curious about your levels. And a side note, a hermit crab was the only survivor amongst my inverts…tough little bastards they are. My snails survived once the levels were low enough to be considered 0ppm, but still probably in the ppb range.
If copper is present, and at low levels, throw some polyfilter in and consider chemi-pure. That stuff is great. But if the levels are high, I recommend cuprisorb because it is mainly for copper…
One more thing…Blown, I am truly grateful for your concern. I was touched when you said you simply didn’t want me to waste more money and kill more fish. I don’t want to do either of those things…wasting money sucks, and killing fish is heartbreaking. Thanks for all of you and I really hope this helps others avoid this horrible mistake…
