Copper in old tanks

[VoodooChild]

I know that I'm whining about copper again, but yet another question needs answering. I'm going to store the water for changes in a 20L that I recently disassembled. About a year a ago or so I treated the tank with Maracyn and Rid-Ich. The cu doesn't register in my kits (by the way, to all of those who told me Red Sea kits were crap, I tested them on R.O., and they still registered .05 Cu, so you all were right). I was curious that if there were any trace amounts in there, I plan on taking the whole tank down and scrubbing it out, with regular tap water, could any Cu linger? Thanks again. I'm all copper paranoid now. I can't hold a penny without flinching (j/k).

[SpongeBob]

I wouldn't risk it. Use the old tank as a Q-Tank and but a 35 gallon plastic garbage can for water storage.

[agilis]

If you rinse the aquarium thoroughly, and it is empty, with only glass and the silicone sealant present, there will be no problems at all with copper. There will be none remaining from your medication treatments. You understand that Cu is a trace component in natural seawater, right? It is only when its concentration becomes much higher than normal that inverts are disturbed, and it takes very, very high concentrations to bother most marine fish species.

I wonder why you have this deep concern about copper. There are so many other things to be more cautious about. Soap is a much bigger problem. Some uninformed people use it to clean their aquarium, and small amounts undrer fingernails or on less than thoroughly rinsed hands can kill. So can ammonia based spray cleaners used too near the aquarium. Some hand creams are dangerous. There are a host of potentially hazardous chemicals out there. Don't worry so much about copper.

BTW, the chances that your copper water pipes cause any water quality problems are vanishingly remote. Forget about the copper and get a good night's sleep.

[VoodooChild]

The reason that I worry is because I've done freshwater for a few years, and am familiar with the risks involved in soap, cleaners, etc. The copper thing is new to me. Thanks for the info though, I will just scrub'er out. The only sleep I loose now is whether or not my skimmer is leaking again.