Growth on your corals is a good indicator that copper is not a problem. I would not worry about the rocks in this case. Also, if your corals are growing then I think you just need to give it more time. The suggestions on seeding your rocks with crushed coralline from other sources is a good one, I am going to give this a try for my frag pucks.


FragIt Dan

OK so i'm pretty sure the rock i got was in a tank that was treated with copper.

I believe this was 2 years ago and the rock has been out of the tank and dry for a year before i put it in my tank.

I have a starfish, cleaner shrimp, and various CUC that are doing well. The cleaner shrimp has molted twice and has trippled in size. They have been in the tank for 5 months. Corals seem to be doing well too got some good growth, polyps extended. Some seem to be not doing as well as others though, like my zoas - i got good growth in the beginning but then now i think they are slowly melting away and some dont seem to open all the way, only half way. not sure if that is the recent change in lights or could be the copper from the rocks. Maybe there is very little trace amount of copper in the rock so not too detrimental to the health of the animals but big enough to stunt their growth overtime and maybe that is why i dont have any coraline growing.... I think that is why i get good growth when i first introduce the coral but then it growth slows down due to the copper over time.

What do you guys think? I really hate to have to shut the tank down and start over... Tank is pretty full now and all my hard work will go down the drain. :cry:

If i do start over, is everything contaminated now? Do i have to get rid of everything?? OR can i just throw away the rock?

What do you think of my theory "that there may be very little trace amount of copper so when i first add a frag, i get good growth but then it slows down later on?"

OR if copper is a problem, would i not get growth at all right from the beginning and the coral will just die?

I have a paly that started with 1 polyp that has over 100 polyps now that has been in the tank since the beginning... :confused:

+1. Scraping it off the glass works too

IMO, if Cu was your problem you would see problems right from the get go, but in this case there is a good chance I am wrong :). Chronic low levels can bioaccumulate and cause issues with time. It sounds like your symptoms would point towards this, as unlikely as it may seem. You could do some research on Cu LC50's in the marine environment. I actually did some undergraduate work on this exact topic. Have you tested for Cu yet? If it does turn out to be Cu, you would be better off converting the tank to FOWLR. With a great deal if effort you can leach copper out of things like glass and plastic, but the rocks should go to someone with a FOWLR tank with an appropriate warning about the Cu content. I might see if I can dig up some of my stuff on Cu, but that was a few years ago.


FragIt Dan

Hey Dan,

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. Been pretty stressed about this... I haven't tested for Cu yet but I will do that ASAP.

Do you think i can get away with just taking the rock out and adding fresh live rock?

My tank was healthy as can be with sps growing 1" per month and everhthing thriving, but I have near zero coraline algae..and I am extremely happy about it.

I keep my calcium at 420, mag at 1400 and alkalinity at 8. I dose trace element, amino acids and coral food...no coralline.

So the lack of coralline growth is not an indication of the tank being unhealthy. I noticed that some of my rocks have plenty of it and the majority of my rocks are totoka and that does not have a single bit of coralline on it. I guess the type of rock has a big influence.

Great news! Keep your rocks and setup as is... after having done a bit more research I think you are going to be fine, even if copper is the problem, in fact you might want to hope it is the problem as this should fix it... Two media used to remove copper in exactly your situation:

1) CupriSorb by Sea Chem - http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s..._ID=sc-cur0250

2) Poly Filter Pad - http://oceanaquatics.com/store/produ...7/Poly-Filter/

Neither is expensive and both should allow you to keep your rocks and tank setup without disruption. I would test for Cu before and after to see if you can find a 'smoking gun'. Given the possibility of Cu leaching out of your rocks for a while, you might want to run one of those media every couple of weeks for a day or two, depending on how your tank is reacting. I am under the impression one or both of those media may suck out trace and possibly some minor elements as well, so they may in fact have detrimental effects if used chronically. You may want to dose a Trace Supplement after removing the Cu absorbing media as well, or just do a water change and that should replenish your trace elements too.

Were I in your place my treatment plan would be as follows:
1) Maintain your tank as you usually do (i.e. water changes, dosing etc)
2*) Test for Cu
3) run the CupriSorb for a couple of weeks
4) remove the CupriSorb just before you do one of your regular water changes
5) Run CupriSorb for a day or two before each of your water changes for the next few months
* - If any Cu shows up I would test again each time just before and after integrating CupriSorb back into your filtration in step 5 to see what levels your Cu has crept up to. You will be able to gauge how long you will need to keep this up by watching your levels drop with time. i would also record the test results as the trend will tell you how long you should expect to have to keep this up.

If you are doing regular water changes (no more than monthly) I would not worry about dosing Trace elements.

I have some sand out of a LFS that closed down that came from the fish side treated with Cu. I am going to test this method out in an empty tank to see how well it works.

Hey Dan,

I did some research last night and found the exact same products too! Whew! I think im going to try the poly-filter, sounds like a great product that can remove other things as well like phosphates. Id be interested to see your results from your test! Maybe we can both post our results here. Ill keep you posted!

I might still change out my rocks though, I have a feeling that maybe the rock is too saturated with the Cu, thats why im not getting any coraline on it. and maybe even if i can remove the Cu with those products, the rock is still too damaged to be able have coraline grow on it.....
What do you think?

I would follow the steps I outlined, and if after several weeks you are still getting Cu showing up I might change them out. I think right now it is a big cost and disruption to your tank. You will need to change them all out at the same time, so I would be trying this as a LAST resort. I really think those products are promising, even for your rocks.


FragIt Dan