Copper in my DT help!!

[Ralph823]

Hi all,

I'm in need of some help, I don't know how and I don't know why but there is 499.5 UG/L of copper in my DT. tank is a year and some change old and corals have been thriving and growing over the last year but in the last few months I noticed some corals start dying off started with torches then hammers and now zoas and leathers, surprisingly the only thing that is alive and keeping color are my gonioporas, anyway I couldn't figure out what was going on so I started heavy water changes and nothing, the API spin test and my home test said my PO4 and NO3 were a little high but nothing I normally worry about, PO4 2 NO3 75. all corals were thriving in the high nutrient tank I sent out and ICP test and my copper levels were at .5ppm and I don't know how to get it out.

so far I have lost
- all urchins
- most coral
- anemones
- starfish
- all nuisance algae

so far these are still alive and well
-fish
-mandarin goby
-eel
-shrimp
-crabs
-macro algae

all I dose is kalkwasser and Magnesium, all food is frozen foods or live black worms, and I never add fish bag water to my DT when I buy new fish. where is the copper coming from and how do I get rid of it?

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Where did you get the rock?

 

[Lavey29]

You can run cuprasorb to help remove it but need to check all equipment for rust somewhere inside or out.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yeah, figure out the source of the copper and run Cuprisorb and poly filters in the meantime.

 

[kvansloo]

How do you acclimate, my LFS runs low salt and copper on their tanks, so if I just float and dump I have interduced copper. Check your water to the RODI most houses have copper pipes also check your RODI for copper. Make sure you are not using Brass valves. Cuprisorb, Activated carbon and Poly filter is what I use. Activated Carbon is slow about it but still does remove some.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Where did that number come from? I would not assume it is accurate.

 

[Ralph823]

How do you acclimate, my LFS runs low salt and copper on their tanks, so if I just float and dump I have interduced copper. Check your water to the RODI most houses have copper pipes also check your RODI for copper. Make sure you are not using Brass valves. Cuprisorb, Activated carbon and Poly filter is what I use. Activated Carbon is slow about it but still does remove some.

I sent RODI in the icp test also everything was normal, I drip acclimate as to not get the tank contaminated. I am getting some cuprisorb and poly filers asap.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I sent RODI in the icp test also everything was normal, I drip acclimate as to not get the tank contaminated. I am getting some cuprisorb and poly filers asap.

Which company? You may be chasing a false number. Can you post the whole data set?

 

[Ralph823]

Which company? You may be chasing a false number. Can you post the whole data set?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Which company is that from?

As you can tell, zinc is also very high, which, if accurate, suggests that there may be a metal source in the tank. Check to be sure no brass fittings are used anywhere in the system. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Also check above the water line for any metal parts above it corroding.

 

[Ralph823]

Which company is that from?

As you can tell, zinc is also very high, which, if accurate, suggests that there may be a metal source in the tank. Check to be sure no brass fittings are used anywhere in the system. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Also check above the water line for any metal parts above it corroding.

The company is ATI, I did have some brass hinges on the canopy but I replaced those. Idk if maybe a screw or something from them popped off Into the tank but could a single screw cause that much damage?

 

[kvansloo]

The company is ATI, I did have some brass hinges on the canopy but I replaced those. Idk if maybe a screw or something from them popped off Into the tank but could a single screw cause that much damage?

Yes, it would take a very long time for a brass screw to dissolve. I done that also many years ago brass hinges and screws. I did not drop one into the tank though.

 

[exnisstech]

Not sure how much faith I would put in ATI. Post #15 in the thread below are the botched RODI test they did for me

EDIT thread added

What's your Preferred ICP test

What's your Preferred ICP test? Wondering what everyone uses and why.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Biokabe]

The company is ATI, I did have some brass hinges on the canopy but I replaced those. Idk if maybe a screw or something from them popped off Into the tank but could a single screw cause that much damage?

It could. An average screw is about 1.8g. If your tank is 500L, then a brass screw dissolving fully in your tank would give you about 240 UG/L of copper and about 120 UG/L of zinc (give or take depending on the exact alloy). How big is your tank?

That's not to say that it is caused by a screw. I'm not sure how long it would take for a brass screw to dissolve fully in a typical reef tank, assuming it even would. But it doesn't take much to do damage to inverts.

 

[Ralph823]

It could. An average screw is about 1.8g. If your tank is 500L, then a brass screw dissolving fully in your tank would give you about 240 UG/L of copper and about 120 UG/L of zinc (give or take depending on the exact alloy). How big is your tank?

That's not to say that it is caused by a screw. I'm not sure how long it would take for a brass screw to dissolve fully in a typical reef tank, assuming it even would. But it doesn't take much to do damage to inverts.

the tank is 200 gallons so like 750ish liters, the hinges and screws are brass plated and they do corrode as the new ones are already getting oxidation and rust spots. come to think of it the tank started to suffer about a month after I replaced them.

 

[Ralph823]

okay so I have removed all my substrate, done daily 10% water changes since the date of this post only missing one or two days and added cuprisorb pouches to my sump with a small powerhead pointing directly at them, my Hannah copper test is not picking up any copper, all my corals died from this except my gonipora so my next questions are.

1) will coral bounce back from copper damage? even though they are alive they don't look great
2) how long after the tests read zero would you start adding new coral?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

1) will coral bounce back from copper damage? even though they are alive they don't look great
2) how long after the tests read zero would you start adding new coral?

If the coral is alive, there's a chance.

IIRC, I think most people I've seen wait about 2 weeks.

 

[Ralph823]

okay so I cant get my copper below 0.2, I tested on API just to get an Idea of where I am at and have been getting the LFS to do my test with the Hannah checker once a week, I am doing daily 10% water changes running cuprasorb and carbon and removed all my sand. Gonis are still hanging in there all inverts are still alive all fish are doing well except a cleaner wrasse and scopas tang that have not wanted to eat the last few days. I am buying live black worms today to see if I can spike their appetite I usually feed the worms daily but ran out around the same time they stopped eating.

any other suggestions?

ive been reading that algae scrubbers can help export copper but all the turf algae in my DT died, I DIYd a 10x13 algae scrubber anyways lets see if that helps at all.

 

[Miami Reef]

Keep running cuprasorb and keep replacing/recharging it when it exhausts. I got all the copper from my rocks out with way.

The copper was from dosing it from when I had a FOWLR. If your source is still lingering, then you’d have to remove it.

If after a few months of running cuprisorb the ICP still detects copper, I think the source would still be there. That’s just my opinion.

 

[Ralph823]

Keep running cuprasorb and keep replacing/recharging it when it exhausts. I got all the copper from my rocks out with way.

The copper was from dosing it from when I had a FOWLR. If your source is still lingering, then you’d have to remove it.

If after a few months of running cuprisorb the ICP still detects copper, I think the source would still be there. That’s just my opinion.

I think the copper came from my hinges which were brass and rusted into the water, I may have also dropped a screw in the tank but im not sure but just in case I removed all my sand and rescaped, on the 10th it made a month since the ICP test showed copper and I started removing it it has cut in half. could the lingering copper be leaching from my rocks?