Removing copper treatment

[Maridia]

Hey all. Just had a question on how to remove copper from my system. 1 of my fishes got ich about 8 weeks ago and I treated my whole tank with copper treatment. Unwise since all my snails died. You live and you learn. Do you just put in a bag of AC? For how long? Or do I need to do a 100% WC?

 

[bribo12]

With your liverock? It will stay trapped in the rock and sand and you will need to start over.

 

[Bectan01]

Agreed, you can't get copper out of your tank, that's why it's recommended to treat in a hospital tank. It stays in your rocks so any coral or inverts you add from here on in will be in danger. I have no idea how long it stays there for (forever maybe?) maybe someone can chime in with that. If you plan future reef or inverts I would ditch the live rock and sand you have and start over. I did hear too that copper can leach into the tank seals? Not sure of that tho...

 

[Sniperhank]

Copper bonds GREAT to rock and quite poorly to glass and silicone. It takes a ton to get glass and silicone filled with copper.
In terms of copper removal from the rock work...well, good luck. Most people end up deciding to just pitch all the rock and start all over.
However...there is a product called Cuprisorb made by Seachem. They report that it removes copper. Supposedly can be regenerated. Basically, you'll have to run it on your tank for the entire length of the tank's life as long as you have the pieces of rock you treated...which is why we normally use pieces of PVC for fish to hide in/around when we QT and treat with copper.
Here is a link: Seachem. CupriSorb

 

[Maridia]

Hmm... So no amount of water changes or sand siphoning will make a bit of difference?

 

[TheTodd]

If this is not ever going to house corals or inverts, you are okay. You don't really need snails or crabs.

 

[Maridia]

If this is not ever going to house corals or inverts, you are okay. You don't really need snails or crabs.

Forgive my persistence. I had 10 snails and 10 crabs. All the snails died, and about 4 crabs died. The six that remain have been doing great and even growing! Some have moved in to the snail shells. This has been going on for about 2 months. I can't help but feel that the copper effects either die down or can be partially filtered out using AC.

 

[Sniperhank]

Carbon doesn't filter heavy metals. More specialized media is needed. It is odd that you have inverts alive at all though.

 

[Maridia]

Carbon doesn't filter heavy metals. More specialized media is needed. It is odd that you have inverts alive at all though.

That's what I keep hearing. The recommended dosage may not have been enough to slaughter everything.

 

[Sniperhank]

That would be my assumption, but that amount will continuing to do what it does. With a small dose, it might easily be managed by the seachem product I linked above.

 

[Maridia]

I'll take a look. But if I look at it from a positive point of view, do I have a permanent ich killer in my tank? Lol. Thanks for all the help everyone.