What you need to know about copper and coral
- Thread starter IridescentLily
- Start date
So vinegar bath and scrub clean and should be fine?
codydemmel4
Active member
any updates here on copper?
On my last triton test my copper was 7 ppb and I am not sure where it is coming from. I do not run any GFO, no metal corruding in any pumps, etc. I do have a lot of copper piping in my house as my house was built in the 50s but I run a RO/DI. Could some copper still get through the RO/DI?
Other high heavy metals:
Tin (Sn at 4.3)
Copper (Cu at 6.97)
Aluminum (Al 8.5)
Silicon (Si 273)
Lithium (Li 453)
I am just trying to figure out what is affecting my corals. It is causing very very slow stn till they completely die usually. Snails and fish look fine. SPS look great in my tank till about 2-3 weeks then they slowly get stn and look bad. My alk is very very stable at 7.7, I check everyday. Calc is 420, p04 is .02-0.05 and nitrate is between 4-8, salinity is 1.025-1.026. I dose flatworm stop, coral booster and 2 part. TDS was showing 002 but I changed all the filters on my 90 gpd spectrapure and I am also adding another carbon block and another DI canister. Will that help with making sure I am getting all copper out of the tap? My salt is instant ocean.
I was thinking of adding a polyfilter but it sure seems like that will do nothing, if anything could raise my copper level?
On my last triton test my copper was 7 ppb and I am not sure where it is coming from. I do not run any GFO, no metal corruding in any pumps, etc. I do have a lot of copper piping in my house as my house was built in the 50s but I run a RO/DI. Could some copper still get through the RO/DI?
Other high heavy metals:
Tin (Sn at 4.3)
Copper (Cu at 6.97)
Aluminum (Al 8.5)
Silicon (Si 273)
Lithium (Li 453)
I am just trying to figure out what is affecting my corals. It is causing very very slow stn till they completely die usually. Snails and fish look fine. SPS look great in my tank till about 2-3 weeks then they slowly get stn and look bad. My alk is very very stable at 7.7, I check everyday. Calc is 420, p04 is .02-0.05 and nitrate is between 4-8, salinity is 1.025-1.026. I dose flatworm stop, coral booster and 2 part. TDS was showing 002 but I changed all the filters on my 90 gpd spectrapure and I am also adding another carbon block and another DI canister. Will that help with making sure I am getting all copper out of the tap? My salt is instant ocean.
I was thinking of adding a polyfilter but it sure seems like that will do nothing, if anything could raise my copper level?
You could try a PolyFilter or CupraSorb. The PolyFilter might increase the copper level if too much of the media is added, but that's probably not that big an issue. I don't trust the Triton testing for trace elements due to problems detected with their results. There's some reading available if you're interested.
codydemmel4
Active member
But I am having tip down STN on my coral which makes me think that the high unwanted heavy metals are definitely doing something to them. especially since the other params are rock stable. It also is a very slow STN once the corals are added to the tank, they will look very very good with great PE for 2 weeks and then thats usually when they slowly start to STN on the tips and then die. The tips become very very brittle and look like theyre being eaten or something.
Better question is, do you think the unwanted corals would cause this very very slow STN, everything I have seen in the past is the tissue falling off like RTN. This is more like something is eating it/chewing it. I am very confused. It ALWAYS starts on the tips
Last edited:
codydemmel4
Active member
I know it is not a fish or crap eating it so unless its something I cannot see if the naked eye then idk what could be eating/chewing it. just looks like it. What type of disease are you thinking?
