Bucket safe to use after copper exposure?

Rukk · Jul 11, 2018

I have some white food safe buckets, 5 gals and smaller. One of the smaller buckets I have used with the fish QT tank which means that it has had salt water in it that had copper in it.

After rinsing and sitting for days, is it safe to use for main reef tank? Does the copper leach into the buckets or can it be rinsed out? Does the copper dissipate or does it basically permanently attach itself to the container?

I know the safe thing is to not use it at all, but I am curious if it is really an issue or no.

thanks.

TheEngineer · Jul 12, 2018

I asked the same sorta thing awhile back. Nope, the copper won’t leach in. Just clean it real well and you are good to go.

PatW · Jul 12, 2018

You can always acid wash a container. Acid will strip out positive ions like Cu++. I use muriatic acid added into a larger volume of RODI water. For something like a hard, food grade bucket that did not have prolonged exposure to copper, soaking and rinsing is probably enough.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 12, 2018

The sponges with the pot scrubber part on one side are a good way to clean it, since that will hep remove organic deposits that may contain substantial copper.

pdxmonkeyboy · Jul 12, 2018

side note... using scotch brite pads on plastic will create scratches in the plastic. Bacteria have been found to withstand 5x strength of normal sanitizers when inbedded in those scratches.

Kind of neat..but you will probably never look at your cutting board the same. lol

Rukk · Jul 12, 2018

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the input.

Acalin · Jan 21, 2022

reviving this one as I just rushed and didn't pay attention for a second and dropped a copper dose in my regular mixing bucket.
I only had the copper in there for 5 minutes tops so I don't know if it really had time to attach to bucket walls and everything else but my main concern is that I still had the pump in the bucket too. I can buy a new bucket, but I would rather avoid the cost of haivng to buy a new pump.
I rinsed both the bucket and the pump with luke-warm water (didn't use a sponge, just rubbed the palm of the hand over the interior of the bucket - I am sure I missed some spots when doing it this way).

Anyway, given that I only had the copper in there for about 5 minutes and then rinsed both the bucket and pump, do you think I should do anything extra to make sure I don't have any copper in it?

My backup plan is to do a test (I do have a Hanna copper checker) when I mix next time and see if it's showing any copper in the measurement.

PatW · Jan 21, 2022

Rinsing out the bucket in RODI should be enough. Rinsing it with vinegar and then RODI would be better. Vinegar is a mild acid and it is good at removing positively charged ions like Cu++. Dilute muriatic acid would be best (1/10 or 1/20). I used to work on nutrient cycling and we used to use dilute HCl (muriatic acid) to get all of the cations (stuff like Cu++, Ca++, Fe+++, Na+ and so on out of our glassware. Just dilute and use the muriatic acid in a well ventilated place (like outdoors).

Acalin · Jan 21, 2022

PatW said:
Rinsing out the bucket in RODI should be enough. Rinsing it with vinegar and then RODI would be better. Vinegar is a mild acid and it is good at removing positively charged ions like Cu++. Dilute muriatic acid would be best (1/10 or 1/20). I used to work on nutrient cycling and we used to use dilute HCl (muriatic acid) to get all of the cations (stuff like Cu++, Ca++, Fe+++, Na+ and so on out of our glassware. Just dilute and use the muriatic acid in a well ventilated place (like outdoors).

Thank you! I don't have muriatic acid, but I do have the vinegar. 5 gal of RODI is a small price to pay in order to know that I have a copper free pump and mixing bucket.
Thanks again!

JustaReefer1121 · Jan 21, 2022

Just asking, can copper get in my water if I have copper pipe that my water comes from

Acalin · Jan 21, 2022

JustaReefer1121 said:
Just asking, can copper get in my water if I have copper pipe that my water comes from

I'd say there is a chance if your water is corrosive. That would dissolve some of the copper in your plumbing.
However, if you are using RODI, I don't think that would be an issue because the filtration system would take care of any dissolved copper.
Not an expert, but just my thinking.

PatW · Jan 22, 2022

Copper is used commonly in plumbing and it can get into the water. We know copper is extremely toxic to marine invertebrates. Where I live they do various things with the water system that does affect the water on an episodic basis and those things are often announced just before it happens, I don’t know if what they do could affect my water from a reefing standpoint and I bet the people at the water system are not thinking of reefers.

I have always used 0 tds RODI in my system. I know that my plumbing did have copper. It has been replumbed (not because of my reefing) and it MIGHT be copper free. I have never had problems from the copper.

Having an RODI system is a pretty cheap fix for all sorts of water issues. My water has .1 ppm phosphorous and 1 ppm nitrates so topping off my system with that stuff would be asking for high nutrients. Anything in the RODI water will slowly accumulate in your system by way of evaporation. This accumulation can be mitigated and even completely forestalled by a good water change schedule, Remember if you have even unmeasurable copper in your top off water, it might accumulate in your system to toxic levels. Now that caution can lead to a level of reefing paranoia. But using RODI water did allow me to avoid copper issues.