Question On Live Rock And Copper

luistwentyone · 02-16-2005, 04:01 PM

Some time ago I had an outbreak of ich in my tank. I wasn't about to take a chance with my prized Clown Trigger, so I treated the tank with copper, thereby killing all of my live rock.

Question I have is, I know the live rock absorbes the copper, will it always remain in the rock ? Can I clean the rock of the copper ?

FYI, my nephew killed my prized Clown Trigger (he was bout 11 inches) last month, he fed it raw shrimp from Seafood City. Not good.

Brucey · 02-16-2005, 04:05 PM

Sorry bud . . . . the copper will ALWAYS be in there. You can not clean the rock of the copper. You can only use that LR for FO tanks now . . . . . you can never use it in a reef. The inverts are too susceptible to it. That's why 99% of people with a reef would never treat with copper. The best method is to remove your prized clown trigger and treat him in another tank . . . . . with a machanical filter system
Sorry for the bad news
Brucey

luistwentyone · 02-16-2005, 04:46 PM

that's pretty much what I thought, but I was hoping there was some magical method.

Gina · 02-16-2005, 06:09 PM

Brucey is right on. Sorry! Also, sorry to hear about your trigger!

mps9506 · 02-16-2005, 06:57 PM

What type of copper medication did you use?

ScottT1980 · 02-16-2005, 07:05 PM

Not that I would ever, ever condone it but my 55 gallon tank had LR in it that had been exposed to cupramide. The tank itself had also been exposed. It was perhaps only 10 lbs. or so, but exposure occured. There is definitely a huge risk by using exposed rock, but I proved that at least a successful reef can be had in said conditions.

The funny part is that I had forgotten until well into my stocking process that some of the LR had been exposed to Cu. Ah well, no harm no foul...

Take er easy
Scott T.

mps9506 · 02-16-2005, 07:26 PM

Scott, that was why I ask what type of copper treatment was used.
I had the same experience while experimenting with some live rock at my store.
We treated a tnk with Seachem Cupramine for two weeks that had live rock in it. After the treatment we stopped dosing the tank, added cupramine and activated copper. Within three weeks we had inverts growing out of the live rock.
I'm not a chemist, don't know what the deal is...
I don't think it is a copper sulfate which is the traditional copper used in treating fish, and therefore it stays in solution better.

Again I'm not saying you can throw inverts in the tank if you used the product, I'm just saying the chance is there that your live rock is still useable.

luistwentyone · 02-16-2005, 08:30 PM

YES !

It was exactly Seachem Cupramine Buffered Active Copper.

It definitely did the job, killed the ich.

mps9506 · 02-16-2005, 09:32 PM

run some seachem cuprisorb. I don't know if it will help at all or not.
It's worth a shot.

02-16-2005, 04:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
luistwentyone Midas Blenny Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Chula Vista, CA Posts: 87 View Gallery Karma Komment	Question On Live Rock And Copper Some time ago I had an outbreak of ich in my tank. I wasn't about to take a chance with my prized Clown Trigger, so I treated the tank with copper, thereby killing all of my live rock. Question I have is, I know the live rock absorbes the copper, will it always remain in the rock ? Can I clean the rock of the copper ? FYI, my nephew killed my prized Clown Trigger (he was bout 11 inches) last month, he fed it raw shrimp from Seafood City. Not good. __________________ HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS !!!

02-16-2005, 04:05 PM	#2 (permalink)
Brucey Reef Lobster Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Reading, England Posts: 1,292 View Gallery Karma Komment	Sorry bud . . . . the copper will ALWAYS be in there. You can not clean the rock of the copper. You can only use that LR for FO tanks now . . . . . you can never use it in a reef. The inverts are too susceptible to it. That's why 99% of people with a reef would never treat with copper. The best method is to remove your prized clown trigger and treat him in another tank . . . . . with a machanical filter system Sorry for the bad news Brucey __________________ 160UK Gallon. (192US Gallon). 400Lbs LR. Aquamedic Turboflotor 5000 Shorty skimmer. Arcadia 3Series pendant (3x250W 14,000'K MH & 2x58W 60" actinic) (DIY cooling fan). Tunze 7095 Multicontroller & 2xTunze 6100 Streams. Redsea 100 Aquazone Plus ozonizer and redox computer. Aquamedic Ocean Runner 6500 return. TMC Vectron 30W UV sterilizer. Aquamedic Aquaniveau auto top up system through Deltec 500 kalk stirrer. PurityOnTap RO/DI. Deltec FR509 (ROWAPhos). Aquamedic PH computer controlling KNOP HD Calcium Reactor. Setup Nov 2002 See my tank here http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...&threadid=4486

02-16-2005, 04:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
luistwentyone Midas Blenny Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Chula Vista, CA Posts: 87 View Gallery Karma Komment	Thanks Brucey ! that's pretty much what I thought, but I was hoping there was some magical method. __________________ HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS !!!

02-16-2005, 06:09 PM	#4 (permalink)
Gina Moderator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,826 View Gallery Karma Komment	Brucey is right on. Sorry! Also, sorry to hear about your trigger! __________________ Gina and Mark's 75 Visit Our Sponsors Gina's Cube Gina

02-16-2005, 06:57 PM	#5 (permalink)
mps9506 They misunderestimated me Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wilmington, NC Posts: 7,408 View Gallery Karma Komment	What type of copper medication did you use? __________________ Mike "The Bandwith Bandit" Help Build Reefpedia Premium Membership Available! Support Reef Sanctuary Sponsors

02-16-2005, 07:05 PM	#6 (permalink)
ScottT1980 Reef Lobster Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 1,484 View Gallery Karma Komment	Not that I would ever, ever condone it but my 55 gallon tank had LR in it that had been exposed to cupramide. The tank itself had also been exposed. It was perhaps only 10 lbs. or so, but exposure occured. There is definitely a huge risk by using exposed rock, but I proved that at least a successful reef can be had in said conditions. The funny part is that I had forgotten until well into my stocking process that some of the LR had been exposed to Cu. Ah well, no harm no foul... Take er easy Scott T. __________________ My Tank

02-16-2005, 07:26 PM	#7 (permalink)
mps9506 They misunderestimated me Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wilmington, NC Posts: 7,408 View Gallery Karma Komment	Scott, that was why I ask what type of copper treatment was used. I had the same experience while experimenting with some live rock at my store. We treated a tnk with Seachem Cupramine for two weeks that had live rock in it. After the treatment we stopped dosing the tank, added cupramine and activated copper. Within three weeks we had inverts growing out of the live rock. I'm not a chemist, don't know what the deal is... I don't think it is a copper sulfate which is the traditional copper used in treating fish, and therefore it stays in solution better. Again I'm not saying you can throw inverts in the tank if you used the product, I'm just saying the chance is there that your live rock is still useable. __________________ Mike "The Bandwith Bandit" Help Build Reefpedia Premium Membership Available! Support Reef Sanctuary Sponsors

02-16-2005, 08:30 PM	#8 (permalink)
luistwentyone Midas Blenny Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Chula Vista, CA Posts: 87 View Gallery Karma Komment	YES ! It was exactly Seachem Cupramine Buffered Active Copper. It definitely did the job, killed the ich. __________________ HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS !!!

02-16-2005, 09:32 PM	#9 (permalink)
mps9506 They misunderestimated me Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wilmington, NC Posts: 7,408 View Gallery Karma Komment	run some seachem cuprisorb. I don't know if it will help at all or not. It's worth a shot. __________________ Mike "The Bandwith Bandit" Help Build Reefpedia Premium Membership Available! Support Reef Sanctuary Sponsors

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