Copper Safe Invertebrates

snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I got a new tank to take care of. The company that did maintenance on it previously dosed the tank with copper. I have been performing regular water changes on it and using poly filters to clean up a lot of it, but I know the tank will be retaining some copper in the substrate and live rock.
My question however is: are there any invertebrates such as shrimp etc. that can be put in tanks with really low copper levels?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I was told that there was a skunk cleaner shrimp that lived in the tank for about 6 months or so while copper was being dosed at a high level.
Copper is still present in the system, but is at .05ppm.
Anyone have an idea of any inverts that can withstand those levels?
 
teen

teen

Active Member
lol, dont they have copper in their blood? or something along those lines. thats why its blue?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
oh wow. I didn't know horseshoe crabs had blue blood. neat. I've never delt with one, I guess that's why.
 
teen

teen

Active Member
they normally dont do well in our aquariums. they get big, they are clumsy and get caught underneath rockwork, and we run our tanks too warm for the most part. they should be in water under 70*.
 
S

shark bait

Guest
If you even put copper in a tank it gets in everything, filter sand rock work. IMO You can not use the same sand rock work or filter in a reef. I would not even chance a small amount at all. so if you have a tank with copper in it and you want to reef it out I would say you need to start over.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
hmm, alright. I will consider it.
It is an acrylic tank. Does copper seep into the acrylic? Should the Acrylic tank be replaced as well? Should all of the pvc plumbing work, as well as the 55 gallon sump be throughly cleaned, (besides emptying all the water and getting rid of the lr rubble and filters? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33
hmm, alright. I will consider it.
Does copper seep into the acrylic?
Yes. And also into the plastic of powerheads and the inside of the plumbing. It is even adsorbed onto glass and into the silicon that hold glass together.
Should the Acrylic tank be replaced as well?
That's a more difficult question. The copper in the acrylic will not release fast enough to harm most inverts. The exception are snails, starfish, urchins, ets where the animal scrapes food off the acrylic and will pull some copper directly off the acrylic.
Should all of the pvc plumbing work, as well as the 55 gallon sump be throughly cleaned,
Same answer as above.
Muriatic acid (hydrochloric) will dissolve any copper on the plastic and safely rinse it away. I would test it on a small portion first though, I'm not sure if it will leave a haze on the acrylic.
 
netopr

netopr

Member
Originally Posted by turtlegirl933
No invert I know of can tolerate any copper.
In my personal opinion I don't think thats true at all. On my last tank I had a coral banded shrimp, 2 serpent starfish, 1 brittle starfish, around 20 hermit crabs, an emerald crab, corals and feather dusters with .25 ppm of copper. However, I did kill an anemone and most hitchhikers from the live rock.
I dosed my tank around 3 times (I didnt knew about the effects of copper) in a year with coppersafe from mardel. I heard that this copper treatment is not that concentrated.
 
S

shark bait

Guest
Netopr said:
In my personal opinion I don't think thats true at all.
each tank has it own random things..... best rule is to follow what has been tried and true. I say this as it is your buck$$$$$$$$ but the few fish i have lost i could not help but feal bad. it was my fault, and you can avoid that.
do not take my post by the small amount of post i have made but more as a reason of truth.
Click to expand...
 
S

shark bait

Guest
I ant no Bang guy, but he would have to say the same. that is what i was out to say.
 
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