Quote:
Originally Posted by Timbits
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?
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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.