copper removal
- Thread starter 1clownman
- Start date
sly
Active Member
If you want to completely remove the copper you will most likely have to start over with your tank. At least replace the substrate. Copper is very hard to get out of a tank once it's been put in. The truth is that it won't hurt any of your fish but it will hurt invertebrates such as corals and snails. You can buy a copper test kit and see what your levels are. Do several water changes after you replace your substrate and keep monitoring your copper levels to make sure that they are low before adding inverts.
sly
Active Member
Once you put copper in a tank, you can pretty much guarantee that it will kill all invertebrates in your tank including live rock. Also a low dose is not enough to kill ich. It needs to be high enough to be effective (and high enough to kill off your LR). Yes it will kill your bio filter also. It's best to not dose your main tank.Simply set up a hospital tank if you want to treat your fish. This can be as simple as a 10 gal aquarium that you could buy from a LFS for $10. Get an air pump and a flower pot for the fish to hide in. Do a massive water change on your main tank to clean it while the fish are in the hospital healing.
If you want to treat your main tank in the future, invest in a UV sterilizer and an ozone generator for your skimmer. Other than that, it's never good to add medicines to your tank. You will kill all your inverts and cause the system to cycle which would probably kill all your fish.
If you want to treat your main tank in the future, invest in a UV sterilizer and an ozone generator for your skimmer. Other than that, it's never good to add medicines to your tank. You will kill all your inverts and cause the system to cycle which would probably kill all your fish.
loopy
Member
Have you already added the copper? If not, don't. If you have...heres my story.....
I added copper to the main tank. It killed my inverts and my tang. Other fish..damsels...still alive. But...in order to get rid of the copper, I 'raked' the cc..(I know..cc bad.) everyday, twice a day, changed the filter cartridges every couple days, and did 25% water changes every other day for two weeks. A lot of work, yes......way to much work, that's why I say don't do it. Got my live rock after all of this, and more inverts. Copper reads 0, and I test OFTEN, and everything is doing fine. It is just such a huge pain in the behind it's not worth it....at all. So if you haven't, don't. There are better ways and better products.
If you have already added the copper, start your water changes and if you have a tang......get him out of there asap or the poor thing will get ugly ulcer like things....just to name a few, and croak.
The only thing I can say about ALL of my mistakes, and there are enough of them to write a book, that at least people can learn from experiece....mine to be exact.
I added copper to the main tank. It killed my inverts and my tang. Other fish..damsels...still alive. But...in order to get rid of the copper, I 'raked' the cc..(I know..cc bad.) everyday, twice a day, changed the filter cartridges every couple days, and did 25% water changes every other day for two weeks. A lot of work, yes......way to much work, that's why I say don't do it. Got my live rock after all of this, and more inverts. Copper reads 0, and I test OFTEN, and everything is doing fine. It is just such a huge pain in the behind it's not worth it....at all. So if you haven't, don't. There are better ways and better products.
If you have already added the copper, start your water changes and if you have a tang......get him out of there asap or the poor thing will get ugly ulcer like things....just to name a few, and croak.
The only thing I can say about ALL of my mistakes, and there are enough of them to write a book, that at least people can learn from experiece....mine to be exact.
sly
Active Member
Originally posted by Loopy
I 'raked' the cc..(I know..cc bad.)
nooo... CC is better than LS and especially a DSB. You just have to do it right...
---> https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...hreadid=127216
snipe
Active Member
Originally posted by Sly
nooo... CC is better than LS and especially a DSB. You just have to do it right...
---> https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...hreadid=127216
I disagree with that post interly! Crushed coral traps stuff sand wont sand is so tiny that stuff cannot get stuck inbetween it like in CC. This is misleading by a long shot. To keep CC clean you have to vac it and when you vac it then you loose all the great bacteria that would be in a deep sand bed and a deep sand bed dont require vacumming.
sly
Active Member
Go read the post again. I addressed all of your misunderstandings. You are not seeing it yet. You do not use the CC to house beneficial bacteria. Housing your bacteria in the substrate is a bad idea and the post clearly explains why. This is a better way of bio-filtration that will also not eventually lead to saturation and a tank crash. Having a DSB is the WRONG way to go for long term viability unless you have a commercial aquarium that is something like a million gallons.
masala4080
Member
To add more detail on Snipes post....The silicone that holds the tank together absorbs and stores copper, eventually releasing it in the tank at any givin time. Which, I know, sucks.