copper in a reef tank?!?

[kevin adams]

i know it's an obvious no but i have a problem, im a plumber by trade(commercial new construction) and i deal with copper on a regular basis, for those who have never dealt with copper, before you make a solder joint, you must clean the surfaces where you need the solder to adhere with a wire brush or sand paper... in the process, your hands get covered in copper "dust".

i've had reef tanks in the past but havent had one in about 4 years, right before i started my apprentice-ship so i didnt have this issue. i wash my hands religiously everyday when i get home from work but is this going to be enough?

thanks

[jansenwrasse]

It should be fine just ensure that you wash them well. If you have all of the "oil" off your hands from the copper pipe then the copper dust should also be off, and wash up to the elbows ;)

OH by the way welcome to reef central !!!!!

[jansenwrasse]

http://reefcentral.com/images/welcome.gif


Ha I found it :D

Welcome friend

[Boomer]

It took you long enough :)

[jansenwrasse]

:lol: :rollface:

[kevin adams]

thanks for the welcome

what "oil" from the copper are you refering to?? the oil that your skin produces?? or flux? sometimes(if i've been running copper all day long) even after washing my hands with gojo or another pumice cleaner my hands are still green from the copper, do you think this could cause a problem??

[jansenwrasse]

That green is no good.. The flux is what I was refering to once that stuff is off I would say you are good.

Best of luck and welcome back to the hobby :)

[suphew]

Why don't your wear reef gloves, then you know for sure your okay. I don't think it would take much to be a problem, just some dust under your nails.

[atvdave]

In your trade I'd also run some Carbon.

I also handle a lot of copper working with electric motors. I run carbon and never had a problem.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13075993#post13075993 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by suphew
Why don't your wear reef gloves, then you know for sure your okay. I don't think it would take much to be a problem, just some dust under your nails.

I second this---the gloves would solve your worries==that way you don't have to worry about copper dust under your nails which would be really hard to scrub out

[jansenwrasse]

Also note Copper in your blood is exceptionally harmful to you also!

[kevin adams]

a buddy of mine just opened an LFS recently and i was talking to him earlier today and posed the same question, he said that the copper has to be chelated with citric acid before it will affect inverts, i trust his advicec as he takes mine as well but he is no chemist, and im not either. however much i hate it, i think my best bet would be to just get some shoulder length gloves. thanks all

[bertoni]

Copper doesn't need to be chelated to affect inverts. It's just more long-lived in its effectiveness if it is. Common marine ich remedies are examples of this.