Copper and Snails

[rjmang]

I bought a 125 gallon tank from a guy about a month ago. At the time I did not really know what he was talking about, but he said that he had used copper in the tank in the past. My question is: Can I put hermit crabs or snails in the tank? If so will the crabs clean up the fish waste on the floor? I got yelled at the last time I ask about suction techniques.

 

[texasranchers]

rjmang, Copper use in a sw tank is not good. I have heard that it absorbs into the seals and everything else, will not come out, and is a deathtrap for inverts. I don't know that they will survive. Good luck. Someone else will be around to advise you. Been in since 2000 and still learning, of course.

 

[dreeves]

Copper bonds to most elements within the tank...glass and everything...through time it leaches back into the water column which could pose a problem for most inverts, depending on how much and the duration the copper was used.
Without knowing which type of copper the previous owner used, testing for it within the water column would be hard.
Only other thing I could think of would be to introduce a couple crabs and a couple of snails and observe them...the results will speak for themselves.