copper & LR

[1990jpyj]

ok my father has alot of questions about his SWF that i cannot answer for him. he has got a 90g tank that he would like to get some LR into but, a few months ago he got ick from a pet store (etco) so he went to a real LFS and they told him to treat the tank with some copper. they did tell him he wouldnt be able to keep corals after that witch was cool with him at the time, until he saw my tank. so finally my question:
can we put in some LR even though the tank was treated with copper about 6 months ago?
thanks for the help

 

[geoj]

I have been testing the idea that copper would be a problem. I have used Seachem Cupramine in a tank with live rock and then remove the copper by resin and algae. I have seen no copper spike and I have invertebrates in the tank and all is well as of now. I would not recommend adding live rock without a brake down and cleaning of system to be safe but I also think that if Cupramine was used there will not be a prob. If you do as the directions say.

 

[1990jpyj]

is there a way i could test for the copper in his tank? and i i do find traces would it then be a bad idea to put the liverock into the tank?

 

[geoj]

There is not a cheep test that will read to .003 copper. So what I am doing is using macro algae and resin to maintain very low numbers and things look good so far. If it is not Cupramine copper then you may be taking a risk.

 

[1990jpyj]

ok well thanks for the help. i would love to see some more comments on this if anybody has some. i will find out tomorrow on what type of copper treatment he used and i will hopfully post it up here.
thanks again

 

[gsellers]

copper is absorbed into the sandbed, the glass and the silicone in the aquarium. IMHO if copper was ever used in a tank, dont take the risk of it leaching back out. I have all my qt tanks equipment labeled copper so i know what not to put in another tank including my filters, heaters, pvc and clay pots. it never hurts to be cautious

 

[kogle]

If tank or rock has been treated by copper it's not going to be a good tank for inverts and many other things. It's very hard to almost impossible to get all of the copper out of a tank that's been treated with it even if you tear it completely down, clean it and start it over with new rock and sand you will always have copper in the system.

 

[geoj]

Originally Posted by KOgle
http:///forum/post/2809339
If tank or rock has been treated by copper it's not going to be a good tank for inverts and many other things. It's very hard to almost impossible to get all of the copper out of a tank that's been treated with it even if you tear it completely down, clean it and start it over with new rock and sand you will always have copper in the system.
You dont need to get all the copper out you just need to have a copper reading that stays below .003 ppm.

 

[1990jpyj]

ok then i think i will try and get a copper test kit for my dad and see if we get it below that reading. thanks geoj