Rinsing OK for empty tank that had previous cupramine treatment?

Delphinus · #1 10-16-2010, 03:34 AM

If I rinsed it out thoroughly, can I use a tank that's had a cupramine treatment in it, to store RO/DI in it temporarily? I need me some temporary holding tanks and I'm looking at my 30g hospital tank very thoughtfully at the moment..

randy123 · #2 10-16-2010, 03:45 AM

I think rinsing should be okay...if it were me, I would maybe use some "prime" etc in the rinse water and maybe let it soak for an hour...

daniella3d · #3 10-16-2010, 05:40 AM

Good idea as Prime is said to detoxify heavy metal. Better be safe than sorry!

Quote:

Originally Posted by randy123

I think rinsing should be okay...if it were me, I would maybe use some "prime" etc in the rinse water and maybe let it soak for an hour...

#4 10-16-2010, 06:41 AM

If it were me I would strip all silicone and reseal as the copper would have been absorbed by the silicone and then it will leach into the water again killing any inverts in the tank. The same way it would from rack that was in a tank that was treated with coppermine.

Bill

Aquattro · #5 10-16-2010, 06:56 AM

Tony, I'd try real hard to find something else. Maybe go buy some cheap garbage cans...

MitchM · #6 10-16-2010, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquattro

.... Maybe go buy some cheap garbage cans...

...or not.

I'd go find something else too.

Mitch

lastlight · #7 10-16-2010, 07:32 AM

I have a bunch of pails Tony but I'm sure you can find something better and likely have a bunch of pails too.

shrimpchips · #8 10-16-2010, 10:15 AM

If you can find the really big bags they use at fish markets, you can line the tank with them instead (I'd double up if possible).

Delphinus · #9 10-16-2010, 04:09 PM

I thought the whole idea of cupramine was that it wasn't supposed to leave a copper residue.

Anyhow thanks for the comments. In case anyone's interested, I didn't use the tank in the end anyhow, had enough storage capacity without it for what I needed and had two empty tanks still in the queue ahead of this one so I was worried for nothing.

And, well, it's only water. I was just going to start dumping it down the drain if I needed more than 2 containers, I just didn't want to waste any if it was avoidable to do so.

Lance · #10 10-16-2010, 04:18 PM

Tony, apparently the copper in Cupramine is non-leaching. When I had the Ich/Marine Velvet breakout I had the fish in a spare tank that was lent to me. I read up on Cupramine and it is supposedly safe. This tank has since been used with no problems. I can't remember where I found the info, but it made me rest easier as I didn't want to ruin the tank for future use.