Rock with Copper in it???

[shorty53538]

Ok, so we got some rock that we think might have been treated with copper... its in our sump though... Is it possible that it will come out sooner or later from the rock and possibly hurt our reef tank? We have a 144 gallon half circle with a 150 gallon sump.... lot's of items I would rather not lose... Clam's, chalice, candy cane's, mushroom's, leathers, brains, duncan wiskar's, and much much more....

[L8ndeb]

I vote yes it will leach. Dump it.

[sedor]

Yes it will almost certainly leach out of the rock. Best thing to do would be to QT the rock for a couple months and perform copper tests on the water.

[Dave VG]

I would move it right now till you’re sure it’s not leaching out copper. Put it in a tub filled with saltwater and leave it for a few days and then test for it. Why take a chance. It could take out your whole tank.

[shrimphead]

i say don't use the rock at all

I read the copper test kit's aren't nearly accurate enough and don't read low enough to test for levels of copper in an aquarium (might be wrong on that) but either way the copper will take ages to leach out so you'll be trying to get rid off the copper and testing it for ages. also i think i read that cleaning an aquarium (just the glass) thats had copper in it is very time consuming and DANGEROUS, maybe you need some sort off chemicals to get rid off the copper???? get rid of the rock

[tkeracer619]

Salt mix has copper in it and a tank that has had copper in it not being safe after a simple wash down is an urban myth.

That said, pull the rock out and put it in a tub with a power head. Throw a poly pad from the fish store (treated one) and it will change colors if there is copper present. I would probably do this in your reef as well to catch anything that might have leaked out.

If the pad doesn't change and your copper test kit says zero after a week I would probably use it.

[Makenna]

My current 220g tank is running with 125# of rock that was once in a tank at a full copper dose of .5. The tank was then run with cuprasorb for a month and then high quality GAC for an additional 3 months prior to coral being introduced.

testing was done regularly until the levels read 0. Carbon continued to be run on the tank.

Corals currently in the tank have no issues nor does the pod population that is and has been growing. Also, clean up crew has is doing fine as well.

I will say that the copper used was cupramine which is said to be easier to remove.

That being said there is no doubt that copper will harm inverts, but I think there is a lot of myth out there as to how difficult it is to remove.

Just my experience.