Copper

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jamie907

Guest
Would 0.059 ppm of copper in my local tap water make it impossible to keep inverts such as anemones? If so, how can I treat this? Thanks very much
 
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xnikki118x

Guest
I wish I could tell you, but I have no idea. Kudos to you for thinking to test your water and ask such a question beforehand, though. :)
Where do you live? I'm in northeast PA, and I use boiled then dechlorinated tap water for my water changes, and I've never had a problem with any inverts. I can't afford an RO system or anything close to it. =(
Everyone is going to tell you to make sure you have proper lighting and to use RO/DI water, so I'll just say that now to get it over with haha.
If you plan on using dechlorinated tap water, I'd try to find a trustworthy product that claims to remove copper, and actually DOES remove it. (Just test the water before and after treatment.)
I'm curious to see what the big guys have to say about your question, because I've never seen it asked before and I have NO idea. Good luck!
 

txtwstr

Member
I have been using distilled water from walmart. .58$per gallon. I have been doing 5% week water changes. not to bad a price considering the consequenses of using tap water. Here in Texas the water is horrible for a tank. The purer the water the better.
 
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jamie907

Guest
Well, I didn't actually test it. I looked it up online, and the water table said that the measure of copper doesn't exceed the 0.05's range. I'm in Hollywood, Florida, and I know a lot of people around here use their tap water and are fine with it. All I'm using is dechlorinated water, and everything appears to be doing well so far. I know that my parents would -not- go for an RO unit; I already tried to talk them into that, even with my raising money to buy it myself. Not happening. But the good thing is, this is my first salt tank, and it's not that big, so if I really mess it up, it's not -that- big a deal... we're planning to go bigger once we "conquer" this size, lol. Something like 300 gallons. So, if and when we get there, then the RO unit will be re-discussed, because I'm not going to risk something that huge.
 

spyderreef

Member
My husband thought that he would do me a favor and installed a valve on my tank. He didn't know what a brass valve would do. It took less than 24 hrs for all of my corals to show the effects of copper leaching into my 125 gal tank. It took about a month to recover. You will always get better results having the right equipment. An RO/DI unit, for me, is a must.
 
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