Copper absorption by brand

[mfinn]

Not sure if I used the correct word in the title but what I'm asking, does one brand of copper like Copper Power get absorbed in a substance like sand or rock faster than another like Coppersafe?
I always used Coppersafe until the recent controversy over the quality control.
I recently ramped up the copper level in my quarantine tank using Copper Power.
The Hanna HR Copper Checker showed the increase each day after adding approx. 5mls.
I stopped dosing on last Friday when the level was at 1.88ppm.
A couple days later I checked and the level had dropped to 1.61 so I added another 4 mls and that brought it up to 1.97ppm. ( maybe a ml too much, but still ok).
The very next day I tested and got a reading of 0.51, retested and got 0.50.
Used the other bottle in the kit and made sure all reagent got inside the bottle and got a reading of 0.58.
I did a separate test using un coppered water and a measured dose according to the instructions to bring it to 2.5ppm.
This test showed a reading of 2.29ppm.
So the test kit and reagents seem to be working.

I'm guessing that the 2-2-1/2 cups of sand in the tank caused all that loss of copper in the water.

Is this normal for Copper Power?
Would Coppersafe be more stable?

I did the API test the morning I got the low test results and it showed the usual pretty vague color.
But sure didn't look to be in the lower range.

 

[HotRocks]

I am not certain if one would be absorbed quicker than the other.

What type of sand are you using?

That is a ton of absorption. Are you running any filter floss or anything? I use copper power with Fiji pink dry sand and there is little to no absorption at all...

 

[mfinn]

I am not certain if one would be absorbed quicker than the other.

What type of sand are you using?

That is a ton of absorption. Are you running any filter floss or anything? I use copper power with Fiji pink dry sand and there is little to no absorption at all...

Just a Caribsea aragonite sand.

I do have a medium/large air powered sponge filter, and sponge material in a hang-on back filter.
A few large pvc fittings.
I posted yesterday in the Hanna Checker thread.

 

[HotRocks]

Just a Caribsea aragonite sand.

I do have a medium/large air powered sponge filter, and sponge material in a hang-on back filter.
A few large pvc fittings.
I posted yesterday in the Hanna Checker thread.

I saw your post, I am trying to wrap my head around it. It has to be absorption or bad reagents. It sounds like you tested out your reagents and they were fine.

Can you remove your filter floss or any sponge media? Then dose say enough to increase the level .25ppm, test immediately after dose, and then test again in 24hrs to see if level remains stable without the media in the tank.

 

[Rython]

Man that is a ton of absorption. I recently quarantined with quite a bit of sand and didn't measure any absorption with Hanna. But I used play sand. Aragonite is known to absorb a lot of substances (like phosphate too) so it doesn't surprise me that it absorbs some copper, but that is an amazing amount of absorption.

I used copper power, pvc, filter pads, small ceramic media, and silica based sand and no appreciable absorption was measured over the 14 day period.

 

[mfinn]

I saw your post, I am trying to wrap my head around it. It has to be absorption or bad reagents. It sounds like you tested out your reagents and they were fine.

Can you remove your filter floss or any sponge media? Then dose say enough to increase the level .25ppm, test immediately after dose, and then test again in 24hrs to see if level remains stable without the media in the tank.

Yeah, I tested 3 times and got in the 0.50 range all three times.
But when I did test with the API kit, the color was really dark. Not at all in the .50 color on the card.
I looked around at who had the Hanna reagents and had the best bang for the buck shipping, I ordered another box of reagents.

Ok, after thinking about it, yesterday afternoon I added 5mls. and I did test a hour later and got 1.05. Then I tested this morning and it tested at 1.06ppm.