Stupid mistake...advice please!

[Mini Coop]

FREAKING OUT!

One of those stupid mistakes that I didn’t know I did until it was too late.

This is my clip I use to clip the heater on the side of the mixing station - I clip the cord to the side of the tub so that it doesn’t float up.

Well. It fell in and I didn’t know it until the 50% water change in the blue star leopard wrasses tank was done. . She is in quarantine and I’m doing 50% water changes to get the copper out.


I don’t know how long this was in there. Couldn’t have been more than a couple days. That’s when I made the water. And I’m praying I didn’t poison her. I’m mixing more water in a panic to do another water change as soon as it’s ready! Luckily I had RO water run for the main tank already.

Any advice is appreciated. And prayers. She has completed QT and is just in observation before she moves tot he main tank. I’m 1/2 tempted to acclimate her and put her in the main tank now for fear of what this water may have done to her. She has completed 30 days of copper treatment. No white poop but I haven’t run prazipro. Any thoughts?

 

[hdsoftail1065]

#reefsquad

 

[saltyhog]

I don't think that's likely to be a problem. Looks like just rust (think GFO). What is the clamp's manufactured application? That might help confirm what type of metal it's made of.

How does the fish look? Eating ok? Any abnormal behavior?

 

[HotRocks]

Are you running carbon in QT? Now that the copper has been removed?

 

[MTBake]

While not ideal, I think you'll be ok. Running some activated carbon and maybe even a poly filter would help pull out any unknowns.

 

[reefwiser]

This would only be a problem if it stayed in the tank for a month or more.
Just buy another clamp. I use one like that to keep the siphon hose in a bucket. Or hold a water line in a tank when filling up a tank.

 

[Mini Coop]

Thanks for your help! I’m running carbon! She ate just fine. So I think she will be ok! I heard of someone having screws in his tank and they rusted and killed everything. I was afraid I did the same!

 

[HotRocks]

I think you'll be fine!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Should be okay.

 

[Mini Coop]

Seriously. I love y’all! Just such an awesome group!

 

[Fin]

I agree. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[4FordFamily]

I agree you’ll be fine

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

FREAKING OUT!

One of those stupid mistakes that I didn’t know I did until it was too late.

This is my clip I use to clip the heater on the side of the mixing station - I clip the cord to the side of the tub so that it doesn’t float up.

Well. It fell in and I didn’t know it until the 50% water change in the blue star leopard wrasses tank was done. . She is in quarantine and I’m doing 50% water changes to get the copper out.


I don’t know how long this was in there. Couldn’t have been more than a couple days. That’s when I made the water. And I’m praying I didn’t poison her. I’m mixing more water in a panic to do another water change as soon as it’s ready! Luckily I had RO water run for the main tank already.

Any advice is appreciated. And prayers. She has completed QT and is just in observation before she moves tot he main tank. I’m 1/2 tempted to acclimate her and put her in the main tank now for fear of what this water may have done to her. She has completed 30 days of copper treatment. No white poop but I haven’t run prazipro. Any thoughts?

That's fine, iron for macroalgae. Your ok.

 

[ncaldwell]

Usually rust is more of a problem for coral but once removed it should be ok. I think you could try running cuprisorb for heavy metals if the fish is acting weird but carbon and a water change should be fine imo

 

[Dom]

Relax. You're good.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I know the crisis is over, but just wanted to point something out...

Many times people (my self included) freak out when something such as this happens. Many times freaking out and panicking causes more harm than the original issue could ever have caused.

Stay calm, think about what's going on and possible solutions and act carefully! Have RO, saltwater. Carbon, polyfilter etc and common sense on hand and ready to go.

I once did an emergency water change to combat a teensy bit of soap that entered the tank on my hands. I freaked out and changed water instantly, except in my haste I used RO instead of salt mix. Oops! Everything turned out fine despite my slopiness.

Hopefully, your crisis was harmless!