Where is my copper going?

[kevensquint]

Hello, I have a 25 gallon tank that is a FOWLR. I've decided to use it as a quarenteen for my larger display. Last week I dosed about 30ml of Coppersafe (2.2% chelated copper sulfate). The reading on my Hanna copper checker was about 1.75 ppm where I want it. In the following days, the checker tested a drop until the reading was 0.58ppm. This without any changes to the system. Where is the copper going? I thought once the desired level is dosed. It will be pretty stable for weeks/months. Thanks

 

[Crabs McJones]

Did you leave your rock and sand in the system?

 

[kevensquint]

BB with LR. There is no other filtration, except a small skimmer. I will leave the LR for hiding places and to keep ammonia/nitrite away. I dont agree with a completely empty quarenteen tank. For both fish well being and constant WC requirements. I assume the LR absorbs copper?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Correct. Your copper is getting absorbed by your live rock. If you want places for your fish to hide, PVC fittings work great. They don't absorb, are safe, and provide hiding places for your fish.

 

[piranhaman00]

And do not re use that rock again! Especially in invert tanks.

 

[kevensquint]

Yes this is a permanent and dedicated tank for new fish. With only PVC fittings....how do you bio filter?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Yes this is a permanent and dedicated tank for new fish. With only PVC fittings....how do you bio filter?

Hang on back power filter with filter floss. It'll house the bacteria but won't absorb any of the copper

 

[ingchr1]

I had a similar issue with rock I was using in my QT. I replaced the rock with fake decorations. Once I did that the copper has remained stable. The tank still has a small layer of crushed coral substrate in it. I think the fish are happier in there than they would be in a bare bottom with PVC pipes. Here's a post from my build thread discussing it.

Fish update:

I added the fish directly to the tank on 1/2, no quarantine. On 1/11 I started to notice spots on the Firefish. The other fish didn't have any visible spots, but the Chalk Bass and Blenny were flashing. The Blenny was also swimming into the powerhead flow. I was concerned this may be a sign of velvet, as posts on the forum indicate that swimming into powerhead flow is a behavior specific to velvet. But I also thought the fish my have just been picking off algae from the powerhead.

I decided it best to setup the QT and transfer the fish to it. On 1/12 I transferred the Firefish and Blenny to QT. They were easy to catch. The Chalk Bass and Possum Wrasse on the other hand were quit a challenge. After several days of trying to catch them, I decided to just drain the tank down to get them. This was on 1/19.

My QT is 10 gallons, Seachem Tidal HOB with Matrix, Tetra Whisper air pump, 100W Aqueon Pro heater backed up by a Cobalt Neostat, ground probe, JW thermometer and Seachem ammonia alert badge.

I'm using crushed coral as a substrate, saved from when I had a fish only tank 20 years ago. I also had two pieces of tuffa in there, also from 20 years ago. I ended up removing the tuffa though. I could not maintain copper concentration with it in there. Once I removed it, the copper concentration has remained constant. I'm using Cupramine targeting 0.45 to 0.55PPM, using a Hanna Checker. The past week or so concentration has measured 0.50 to 0.55

Since I removed the tuffa, the fish needed some structure. So I went to the fish store and grabbed a couple of plastic decorations. The fish seam to like them. The Wrasse swims through the fake reef and the Blenny perches on it. When I just had the tuffa in there the Wrasse had no place to swim though, a behavior I noticed in the DT. In the DT the Wrasse was constantly swimming through the rock structure. With just the tuffa in there the Wrasse also had no place to sleep. The fish would float at the top tucked into the HOB at night. The first few nights I thought the fish may have been dying, but I guess he was just playing possum. The firefish sleeps in the plane. I'm not quite sure where the Chalk Bass sleeps. Along with the tuffa I also had a piece of PVC elbow in there. None of the fish bothered with it, so I removed that as well.

The fish have been at therapeutic copper since 1/30. All seam to be doing ok.

I plan on running Prazi after the copper, as a couple of flukes came of the Blenny during freshwater dip. All fish got freshwater dip upon removal from DT.

In the end I'm gussing it was ich and not velvet. I'm not sure if the fish came with it or if it was from amphipods and copepods I added on 1/8.

Looking forward to getting them all back into the DT.

Here's the QT:

Here it was with the tuffa:

 

[mfinn]

Yes this is a permanent and dedicated tank for new fish. With only PVC fittings....how do you bio filter?

I use air powered sponge filters that I usually have in my display tank sump so they are ready to go when needed.
THese do seem to absorb some copper but not as bad as live rock, so you do need to keep track of the copper levels.