coppersafe in reef tank!! please helppp

egybels · #1 04-12-2010, 12:48 AM

this morning i put coppersafe in me display tank with live rock. i thought i did my research but i guess not. is my live rock garbage now? what should i do?!?!

intarsiabox · #2 04-12-2010, 12:57 AM

Live rock should be fine, it is corals that will perish when exposed to copper.

egybels · #3 04-12-2010, 01:00 AM

luckily i just started this tank and dont have any corals but i do have hermits and snails how long before i can add them back?

JenniferL · #4 04-12-2010, 01:02 AM

I thought that the live rock would absorb copper and then leech it into the water afterwards?

egybels · #5 04-12-2010, 01:04 AM

thats what i thought! so is the live rock ruined?

corpusse · #6 04-12-2010, 01:06 AM

IMO you should throw the rock out at this point.

I'm not sure if it would be safe for a fish only tank but it won't be safe for a reef. Inverts such as your snails and hermits would also perish they are very sensitive to copper.

If you really want to save the rock I guess you could cook it, which involves drying out the rock and washing it over and over again. Someone who's actually done it can explain it to you better if this is something you wish to pursue.

egybels · #7 04-12-2010, 01:09 AM

damn man i just started my tank and added new fish. i have over a 100 lbs of lr.

corpusse · #8 04-12-2010, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by egybels

damn man i just started my tank and added new fish. i have over a 100 lbs of lr.

If you're never going to have corals ever. It might be okay. You're still going to have to soak it out if you want to keep snails hermits or other inverts.

I know it sucks but at least you found out now before you bought 100 snails and they all dropped dead, or spent months if not years trying to figure out why you can't keep corals.

egybels · #9 04-12-2010, 01:16 AM

its just pretty discouraging being new to this hobby and the amounts of money i keep having to waste.

MikeInToronto · #10 04-12-2010, 01:18 AM

Your live rock is dead but that's not the problem. The problem is copper is adsorbed on calcareous substrates and is slowly released back into the water column. Fishes will be fine in the tank but inverts will never be. Some may survive for short periods of time but they will be slowly poisoned.

I'd throw away the live rock. Even if you think there is the slightest chance the copper can be removed from the rock, the cost of replacing the rock is worth your piece of mind.

I won't comment on copper adhering to glass or silicone.

I think if you want to recover the rock you have to wash with HCl and acetone and all sorts of other stuff that makes it not worth the trouble.