Cuprisorb not working.

HD Reef · Mar 13, 2023

Hi all,

I have had cuprisorb running in my system for 6 weeks now and it doesn't seem to be working , not turning blue and copper levels are increasing ( leaching from the rock ).

waterbox infinia 276.5 and I do weekly 200 ltrs water changes.

should I use a poly filter and expect faster results ?

thanks

blaxsun · Mar 13, 2023

This might be helpful.

Is the polyfilter useful for removal of copper, mercury and nickel traces

A couple of years ago my fish only tank might have been exposed to copper, mercury and nickel from a in tank UV device that I removed for annual cleaning to find it flooded with water, the tube corroded and with water inside the actual UV tube (IE where the mercury is, not just inside the...

www.reef2reef.com

jjencek · Mar 13, 2023

What do you use to test the copper? The reason I am asking is because I had the same problem and it turned out to be false positive using one of the popular copper tests.

gbroadbridge · Mar 13, 2023

HD Reef said:
Hi all,

I have had cuprisorb running in my system for 6 weeks now and it doesn't seem to be working , not turning blue and copper levels are increasing ( leaching from the rock ).

waterbox infinia 276.5 and I do weekly 200 ltrs water changes.

should I use a poly filter and expect faster results ?

thanks

What form of copper are you dosing, and how are you testing?

HD Reef · Mar 13, 2023

gbroadbridge said:
What form of copper are you dosing, and how are you testing?

cupramine , and testing with hanna checker.
it fluctuates from 0.07 to 0.21 ......
I have just put 10 snails in there and they are fine .
whenever I have my lfs test he get a compledifferent result , with the same batch of water

HD Reef · Mar 13, 2023

jjencek said:
What do you use to test the copper? The reason I am asking is because I had the same problem and it turned out to be false positive using one of the popular copper tests.

hanna checker.

not really reliable , but the best we have other then maybe a icp

gbroadbridge · Mar 13, 2023

HD Reef said:
cupramine , and testing with hanna checker.
it fluctuates from 0.07 to 0.21 ......
I have just put 10 snails in there and they are fine .
whenever I have my lfs test he get a compledifferent result , with the same batch of water

The Hanna HR checker is useless at those levels.
It only really starts to give accurate results > 1.0ppm

My running reef has tested up to 0.2 even though the level is zero by ICP.

Your level is zero.

HD Reef · Mar 13, 2023

gbroadbridge said:
The Hanna HR checker is useless at those levels.
It only really starts to give accurate results > 1.0ppm

My running reef has tested up to 0.2 even though the level is zero by ICP.

Your level is zero.

your really believe it's zero ?
therapeutic levels for cupramine copper is 0.25.
I know hanna are very touch and go.

gbroadbridge · Mar 13, 2023

HD Reef said:
your really believe it's zero ?
therapeutic levels for cupramine copper is 0.25.
I know hanna are very touch and go.

I think in Saltwater the desired level is 0.5ppm.
If you've been running Cuprasorb for 6 weeks the copper is gone.

I switched to the Seachem copper test for Cupramine because the Hanna was not reliable.

You can get Copperpower on US Amazon store which works well with the Hanna.
You won't be able to find it locally.

HD Reef · Mar 13, 2023

gbroadbridge said:
I think in Saltwater the desired level is 0.5ppm.
If you've been running Cuprasorb for 6 weeks the copper is gone.

I switched to the Seachem copper test for Cupramine because the Hanna was not reliable.

You can get Copperpower on US Amazon store which works well with the Hanna.
You won't be able to find it locally.

I might look into the seachem copper test .

hanna is definitely not reliable, I actually emailed hanna in regards to the fluctuations in test results , 1 suggestion they had was to take multiple small samples of water from various parts of the tank (the must think fish tanks don't circulate)

That craziest reply I've ever had.

dwest · Mar 13, 2023

HD Reef said:
I might look into the seachem copper test .

hanna is definitely not reliable, I actually emailed hanna in regards to the fluctuations in test results , 1 suggestion they had was to take multiple small samples of water from various parts of the tank (the must think fish tanks don't circulate)

That craziest reply I've ever had.

The Hanna test kit is great for levels that are used with copper power (2- ppm ish). But it doesn’t have the precision you desire at lower levels so it can’t really be used to detect (almost) zero levels of copper. I think your snails are your copper test and you are fine.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 13, 2023

I agree with the above concerns. The Hanna copper checker is suitable for therapeutic levels of copper, but not for verifying that copper has been suffuiciently removed. Some folks have found levels of copper similar to what you report with the Hanna, but none by ICP.

jjencek · Mar 13, 2023

I have used Hanna with mixed results. When used in a glass only QT, it seems to give the right results, but when I used it to measure copper in my display tank, it gave me false positive results. I think (not sure) it was reacting to Bacto Balance product. I talked to a local Hanna rep and he told me I did not know how to use the checker. I then contacted the US headquarters, but never heard back from them.