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View Full Version : Copper in my reef!


lurshy
03/31/2007, 12:07 PM
All,

I have 75gal mixed reef, primarily mushrooms, xenia, some leathers, and some LPS. Also variety of small fish, snails, hermits and all kinds of life (some good and some bad e.g. fanworms, sesile snails, flatworms, aptasia, valonia) on about 100lbs of live rock. The tank has been up for about 7 years.

Lighting for the tank is a bank of 4x54 watt T5s in a tek light fixture.

Any way this morning, one of the endcaps in the tek light fixture shattered apart. scattering parts down into my rock. I recovered what I could, but I am fairly certain that I am missing a strip of copper that serves as a contact inside the endcap. I recovered one curved copper strip inside a piece of plastic that mad up half the end cap, but the other half which broke into smaller pieces looked like it should also have a strip and it was missing. hopelessly buried inside my rockwork. The strip I recovered is about 1/4 inch wide by abot an inch long (it was curved around inside the endcap). The missing one would be the same size.

So, while I know copper medication in suspension is a no no, will the presence of a strip of copper inside the tank remain stable, or will it defintely give off ions that will cause problems?

I really do not want to take the tank apart searching for the strip (the prudent thing but oh so much of a problem), but will do so if folks with knowledge know that it will cause a problem.

If it may cause a problem which invertabrates are most sensitive and will show signs of a problem 1st?

Thanks,
Michael

Boomer
03/31/2007, 12:35 PM
Dead shrimp will usually be first along with snails. Get a polyfilter and some activated carbon. If here is any copper present the poly will turn blue. Try and find the strip, in time it will release cooper if not already.

lurshy
04/02/2007, 10:29 AM
well, I took part of your advice and went rock diving. 15 minutes later, I found the copper strip.

It is amazing what find on the underside of rocks which you haven't seen in years. Sponges, tunicates, even an emrald crab (haven't seen one in the tank for about 2 years, before this).

Thanks for the reply. I haven't tested for copper, my snails are still hagging on the glass, and fiddlers crawling around.

- ML

Boomer
04/02/2007, 01:13 PM
:thumbsup: