copper

[cmunger]

I bought some live rock from my LFS and unfortunantly this time the guy i normaly talk to wasnt there. Turns out one of the rocks i picked out was from their treatment tank. I didn't find out until the next time i went there and tried to get another piece from that same tank, thats when i found out it was a treatment tank . Apparently they used copper in it at some point. Should i be worried about this one piece? I was told that the carbon filters would get it out,is this true? Also is all my other rock still ok? I am supposed to be getting inverts in a couple of days and was just hit by this news, am i still ok, or can someone help me out with any ideas?
thanks for your time
chris

 

[elfdoctors]

It is hard to tell what effect the copper will have. Many times, the copper is bound up in the rock and will not leach into the tank. I have heard of some people who have not had any side effects from rock such as this. However, I would be concerned about the invertebrates. I probably would move that piece into a quarantine tank. If you did that, you probably should not have to worry about any long term effects.
Carbon has a minimal effect to remove inorganic ions. It primarily only absorbs organic compounds. Therefore you should not expect it to do anything to remove copper from your tank.

 

[cmunger]

thanks for your time i appreciate it
chris

 

[fatpuffer]

If you move the rock into a QT tank, I rec. you get a filter pad called POLYFILTER. It's very effective at absorbing copper and will turn blue if copper is absorbed. If the filter pad doesn't turn blue for 2-4 weeks, then you're in the clear. A small pad is only $10 and well worth the investment. It also absorbs inorganics, proteins, ammonia and trates/trites. The drawback is that it also absorbs trace minerals so beware.

 

[fatpuffer]

If you move the rock into a QT tank, I rec. you get a filter pad called POLYFILTER. It's very effective at absorbing copper and will turn blue if copper is absorbed. If the filter pad doesn't turn blue for 2-4 weeks, then you're in the clear. A small pad is only $10 and well worth the investment. It also absorbs inorganics, proteins, ammonia and trates/trites. The drawback is that it also absorbs trace minerals so beware.

 

[bang guy]

Don't use the rock. Copper quickly adsorbs to Calcium carbonate (reef rock). It will be toxic to inverts whenever a snail scrapes off algae, PH dips low, worms chew on the rock, etc.
The only way to remove the copper from the rock is an acid bath but that would dissolve the rock also.