screwed up again.....copper...any solution? Help asap

loopy

loopy

Member
Against good advice, and in desperation, (don't get desperate, just take a breath...lol) I added copper safe to my main tank, I STILL have no qt tank....it did NO good. Thanks lfs guy...geez. He told me I would have to change the water to get rid of the copper. Now I am finding out the rock, and other decor will have absorbed the copper. We want inverts and such....so this copper is a huge problem. So.......and I'll try to make this organized...
1...can I get rid of the copper? Is there any product to get rid of it?
2. Is the copper going to be in my live sand, coral and live rock? ( will it hurt it?)
3. When I start a qt tank, Can I use some of the sand from the main tank, or now do I have to get new?
4. is my main tank NOW my qt tank.........geez, probably ha?
and finally...
5.....I got a snail with a tiny bristle star piggybacking on it. The snail died. (I had a temporary brain fart and forgot about the copper) The star is about as big as one of the smileys....it's still alive. It will probably die? Or is there a way to save it. I was even thinking....a jar temporarily...with salt water and a bubble stone? Any chance this would work for a few days? If it dies, I'll be sad, he's cute and tiny...but I did this to myself.
WELCOME TO MY WORLD OF STUPID. Thanks for ANY and ALL advice and comments. (Please be gentle!):scared:
 
pinktail

pinktail

New Member
I know my husband used a polyfilter to get rid of the copper. It will take several days, and several polyfilter. It will come out from the water, but the rocks and sands will absorb the copper. The rocks may come back live again, as our rocks are coming back live now. You really need a QT.
 
loopy

loopy

Member
So I'm screwed as far as ever ever putting inverts in THIS tank right? Geez...this is gonna end up my oversized qt tank I guess. Anyone else got advice?:notsure:
 
iwantacans

iwantacans

Member
copper will leach into your live rock and slowly leach out over time... boiling your lr and starting over might work... but copper also gets into the silicon and will slowly leach out. as drastic as it may sound buy a new tank, ls, and lr.. as this is the ONLY way to totally rid it from your system... DO NOT add anything but fish and UNMOUNTED corals into the new system.... sry but copper is deadly... othrwise enjoy your new fowlr....
 
iwantacans

iwantacans

Member
it the sence that all inverts pods ect that live in it will die... then yes it is killing it... but it also stores it and emits it slowly over time... and that will keep on killing snails crabs, pods ect ect
 
loopy

loopy

Member
crabs survived the copper.....?????? so my 'live rock and live sand' or now dead rock and dead sand? GEEZ.
 
fishnerd

fishnerd

Member
Easy solution...
Cuprisorb, Chemi Pure, Carbon or a Polyfilter will remove the copper from the tank water. Keep one of the above in your sump or filter and as the copper is released it will be adsorbed by the the above.
DO NOT BOIL YOUR ROCK!!!! Alot of life in your live rock is not gone, just injured. Copper will NOT affect your biological filtration, but boiling the rock will accomplish the same thing as clorox- kill everything, but keep the copper.
 
B

bigdogzack

Guest
I keep Cuprisorb in one of my wet/dry filters 24/7/365...just in case some cooper leaches out of water pipes...also, I don't think carbon will adsorb copper...
 
iwantacans

iwantacans

Member

Originally posted by fishnerd
Easy solution...
Cuprisorb, Chemi Pure, Carbon or a Polyfilter will remove the copper from the tank water. Keep one of the above in your sump or filter and as the copper is released it will be adsorbed by the the above.
DO NOT BOIL YOUR ROCK!!!! Alot of life in your live rock is not gone, just injured. Copper will NOT affect your biological filtration, but boiling the rock will accomplish the same thing as clorox- kill everything, but keep the copper.
actually copper is absorbed into your rock... it is stored there and will leach out over time killing inverts...
copper is slowly expelled not just pushed out at a fast pace... the process can take ALONG time to right itself...
and in actuality boiling wont even get rid of it, buy new rock n tank. start over... that is the only way to truely get rid of it... cuz it could take months even years to get it out of there..
 
loopy

loopy

Member
Thanks bigdogzack and fishnerd, makin me feel better. I am ordering the Cuprisorb today. I talked to the company that makes the copper safe and the fish guy I bought the sand and rock from. The copper safe guy was kinda not sure about anything and I wondered if he was wearing his Barney PJ's, but the fish guy from Minocqua said about the same stuff as bdz and fishnerd....but he also said it takes a lot of copper safe to actually absorb into the rock, more than just one time in the tank, and that if it did absorb, it will release just as fast. He's a former Marine biologist, so he is probably right. I am however, going to test test test for copper until I am absolutely sure, and then buy cheap inverts and see if the croak to then again be sure. Buy a new tank and start over? Ya, right....in my dreams. I am not a women of 'money' so that's a great suggestion but not possible, then again..........donations are welcome...lol. (I'd like a bigger one this time K? lol) Thanks for all the input. Like it says when you do a search, 'get at least ten opinions...blah blah blah.' :joy: :cheer:
 
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