Help! 1.2ppm copper in my DT

Punchanello · Jul 6, 2019

Hi everyone. Over the past 3 days I have lost 6 acros. They literally STNd overnight. I tested for copper with my Hanna checker this morning on a hunch and got -

RODI - 0.0
Salt mix - .02
DT water .12

Last weekend I put about 1kg of formerly live dry rock from my LFS in the tank. Tank is 130 gallons with a ton of rock in there already so I didn't think much of adding a bit more.

I'm hesitant to blame the new rock because I've had the tank up for 18 months. I have occasionally lost SPS to STN and generally the tank has never really thrived. On the other hand, having 6 corals blow up in 3 days after adding new rock is suspicious.

This is what I've done this morning -

- Added carbon
- Removed the new rock
- Removed any equipment that isn't necessary in case there is rust somewhere.
- Checked my heaters
- Haven't changed any water because I was concerned my salt mix might be a problem.

Is there anything else people would recommend?
Is .02 copper in the salt mix acceptable or is there a problem here?
Can I reasonably expect to be able to remove the copper with carbon and water changes or do I need to start again with new rock?

Saltyreef · Jul 6, 2019

FWIW, i recently just went thru this but found the source was my store bought DI water.

My water samples were as follows and you can see about a .03ppm increase with my salt mix.

RO/DI sample from water store
TDS 4ppm
Cu- .20ppm

Red sea coral pro mixed with this RO/DI
Cu- .23ppm

Also, keep in mind natural sea water ranges from 0ppm to .10ppm depending on the region so I wouldnt be concerned with the .02ppm in the mix. It might be coming from the rock if it was ever used in a copper treated tank even if dried out or chemically treated.

.12ppm isnt insanely high but I would also add some poly filter to absorb most of it. Might be a long process depending how much the poly filter pulls out before exhausted.

EmdeReef · Jul 6, 2019

0.12 is too high for most inverts. You should look for a source while doing large water changes. Make sure to match alkalinity for your acros.

Anything rusting?

As stated above polyfilter, cuprisorb and metasorb are all good solutions to remove residual copper.

Punchanello · Jul 6, 2019

I can't find anything rusting but I've removed anything that isn't being used for basic life support to be safe. My Alk is a little on the low side (7.4) so will raise over the next couple of days.

This hobby is kicking my rear at the moment.

EmdeReef · Jul 6, 2019

Punchanello said:
I can't find anything rusting but I've removed anything that isn't being used for basic life support to be safe. My Alk is a little on the low side (7.4) so will raise over the next couple of days.

This hobby is kicking my rear at the moment.

We’ve all been there. There’s still lots of stuff I have no clue why/how it happened and that’s before accounting for equipping failures etc.

saltyhog · Jul 6, 2019

If the rock was in a tank the LFS used for fish it may have had copper in it. Could you take a piece of rock out and soak it in fresh saltwater for a few days (with a heater and power head) and then check it for copper?

Punchanello · Jul 6, 2019

saltyhog said:
If the rock was in a tank the LFS used for fish it may have had copper in it. Could you take a piece of rock out and soak it in fresh saltwater for a few days (with a heater and power head) and then check it for copper?

Will definitely do this if only to rule it out. I trust my LFS but it's possible they bought old rock from a tank shutdown and it had copper in it.

Billdogg · Jul 7, 2019

Saltyreef said:
Also, keep in mind natural sea water ranges from 0ppm to .10ppm depending on the region so I wouldnt be concerned with the .02ppm in the mix. It might be coming from the rock if it was ever used in a copper treated tank even if dried out or chemically treated.

.12ppm isnt insanely high but I would also add some poly filter to absorb most of it. Might be a long process depending how much the poly filter pulls out before exhausted.

^^^This^^^ Polyfilter is something that all of us should have on hand for just this reason.

EmdeReef said:
0.12 is too high for most inverts. You should look for a source while doing large water changes. Make sure to match alkalinity for your acros.

Anything rusting?

As stated above polyfilter, cuprisorb and metasorb are all good solutions to remove residual copper.

Anything RUSTING???? What does rust have to do with copper contamination? Rust, as we know it, is oxidized IRON and is often used in our systems to remove phosphates - you might know it better as GFO (granular ferric oxide) I have it running in both my DT and FT at this moment.

EmdeReef · Jul 7, 2019

Billdogg said:
^^^This^^^ Polyfilter is something that all of us should have on hand for just this reason.

Anything RUSTING???? What does rust have to do with copper contamination? Rust, as we know it, is oxidized IRON and is often used in our systems to remove phosphates - you might know it better as GFO (granular ferric oxide) I have it running in both my DT and FT at this moment.

Alright relax dude, anything corroding? (Happy now?)

Punchanello · Jul 7, 2019

Hi everyone, thanks for the help.

I added some cuprisorb yesterday (couldn't get hold of polyfilter). No further deaths. I filled a bucket with RO and put the suspect rock in there. Will test tonight and let you know.

Testing the rock may tell me otherwise but I am beginning to think this is a mistake on my end. I am newish to the hobby. I use Aquaforest's balling method which includes dosing a mix of trace elements which includes copper. My tank was fallow to deal with ich and my NO3 and PO4 were so low I slowed up my water change regime considerably. I wonder if copper and other elements have built up in my system over this period which has caused the problem.

This hadn't occurred to me.