Dead Rock, Copper!

[phases99]

I just got started in my fish hobby again and bought a new 46g bow front tank, 90 pounds of Argonite(for DSB) and filled with DI water. Stupidly I added some Tufa and dead corals from my old FO SW tank. After a week of just running the equipment (no life in tank yet) I realized I had once dosed my old tank with either Coppersafe or Seacure. I quickly tested the water for Copper and my Fastest showed .05 ppm. I removed the Tufa rocks and coral. Can I ever use this tank for a reef? or is my tank and sand ruined. Please help

Thanks
Stephen

 

[reefrunner69]

to AquariumAdvice.com!!!

Your tank should be fine, the sand is debatable. I would definitely do some large water changes and run lots of GAC or Chemi-Pure to remove any residual Cu, Test over the course of a few weeks (and verify the test kit, test newly mixed SW from RO water) and then look at it from there on whether the sand should be replaced.

 

[phases99]

I planned on buying some mail order live rock and curing it in a separate container for at least a month,so I was not planning on putting any life in the tank until then. That should be enough time to determine if I should replace the sand. I have also read that Poly-Filters remove Copper, any opinion on them? Could the sand really absorb enough Copper to leach it out in the future? I had done so much research and was so excited to get a reef going that I had brain freeze when I added the old decorations. Thanks for your quick reply! I think I will be spending alot of time on this forum.

Stephen

 

[reefrunner69]

In the span of a week, I doubt it, but copper is not something to be trifled with in a reef, so I would do as described above and test. More than likely it will be fine, and could simply have been the test kits, I've never been fond of fastest copper kits. And over the years have developed a strong dislike for there other kits as well, IMO, they are fairly unreliable.

 

[phases99]

I just performed a test on a new batch of saltwater (Instant Ocean) created from my Tap Water Purifier and got the same exact reading. The test kit is a few years old . I may be breathing a massive sigh of relief. Is there any Copper Test kit you recommend that could detect small amounts of Cu just in case. Thanks again.

Stephen

 

[reefrunner69]

LOL, I honestly haven't used copper in 10 years, so I haven't kept up with who has the best kit, but I highly recommend Salifert kits for everything, I have no doubt the quality of their Cu kit is as high as all the others I've used

 

[indy]

Go the all natural way. Drink a shot glass of tank water, if it tastes like a salty penny....

 

[vega]

Active carbon n lots of water changing is your best bet now.

HTH