~MD~Reefs~
Active Member
Did you use live rock from a tank that had been treated with copper? Or any idea how you have copper in your system? If accurate, that would not be a safe level. But I know Randy has mentioned multiple times before that the Hanna Copper test kits at low levels aren’t very accurate and recommends ICP testing
~MD~Reefs~
Active Member
Do a large water change and get some Cuprisorb and a poly filter. You will want to run both for some time because even if you start reading 0, it can be absorbed by your rock/sand and leach slowly over time
If accurate, yes, that would kill your corals.Will this kill my coral?
.16 copper reading
Naekuh
Valuable Member
no one can tell you...
does everything look good still? or do you see things starting to melt?
I think if your have SPS, they will be the first signs of a afternuke, as they will start to RTN.
I would leave the cuprisorb in for a a few months and replace it every week just to be safe.
If you have like banana torches, or scolies.. i would move them out now into a different tank.
If you have a friend thats a reefer, you can move the expensive stuff out temp, until the copper bottoms out.
Naekuh
Valuable Member
then your probably safe... zoa's will let you know as well if they are ticked really quickly.
Use them as a canary.
Zestfullyclean
Community Member
I’m dealing with something similar. Went on vacation for three weeks and just got back to a few SPS with STN. Ran all major tests and all checks out. Had the Hanna copper test on hand and ran that and it showed 0.35. No idea though how copper could have entered the tank and haven’t done anything different in a couple months. Sent in a ICP test too but do not have the results back yet. I’ve read Randy saying the Hanna copper test can be inaccurate at lower levels. Just not sure if I should do anything more to address the Hanna copper reading now or just wait for the ICP. I did add activated carbon to see if that will help. Most corals are okay just a few that are having STN issues.
~MD~Reefs~
Active Member
I would start with cuprisorb and a poly filter. Best case, they won’t cause any harm. Worst case, they’ll start working on the copper
Randy Holmes-Farley
Reef Chemist
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FWIW, The Hannah is clearly known to give false high readings at the low end and and may well be inaccurate here given the scenario. A number of folks got scared into icp testing from this result, and found none.
gbroadbridge
2500 Club Member
Will this kill my coral?
.16 copper reading
I would say that is an inaccurate reading from the Hanna Checker.
They are unreliable under 1ppm.
Have you tested with a different test kit?
