copper sulfate

[szandor]

i have 55 gallon fw tank that i want to convert to sw. i treated the tank once with a snail treatment that contained copper sulfate. would i be able to clean out the tank and set it up as fish only, with live rock?

 

[tecwzrd]

Having used copper on the tank I would say its fine for FO/FOWRL but would avoid adding any mobile inverts/corals.

Copper is pretty persistent in getting into everything. The only way you could keep inverts/corals is to fully strip all the silicon and reapply, scrub thoroughly with a 1 part vinegar 5 parts water solution and let dry.

Even then I would run Cuprisorb for a week or two on a completely empty tank in a hob/canister filter before adding anything to the tank.

 

[szandor]

i had a ghost shrimp that was left over in the tank during this treatment. should it have been affected by the treatment? if so, how long would it take before it should die? it's still running around and i still have snails in the tank. i only treated the tank once and with 55 drops of some sail be gone stuff that contained copper sulfate. just curious as to how long it would be after adding a 'shrimp' before i should consider adding another one if the tank is 'safe'.

 

[tecwzrd]

If it contained copper sulfate and if dosed correctly they along with your snails should have died. I’ve never heard of any chemical additive that is used to kill or treat snails. Knowing the exact name of the product would help.

 

[szandor]

it was called 'had a snail' and it contained about 6% copper sulfate pasomethingol...

 

[tecwzrd]

Found the listed ingredients for Had-A-Snail

Looks like it contains 3.8% Copper Sulfate (anhydrous) and the rest is water. Also from this and a couple of other sites it says 1 drop per gal which is the correct dose.

I do not know how your shrimp/snails survived even a couple of hours using the recommended dose. It’s possible the product was defective or out of date but usually that isn’t the case. Also possible but unlikely the product and settled over time and if not shaken then you could have mostly just added the water and not copper.

To be on the safe side I’d still strip the silicon and replace, clean, and use Cuprisorb. You could add one shrimp after the tank has been running for 3+ months to test but most run $15-$35. If you do be sure to drip acclimate the shrimp for 2+ hours before adding.