Old FW tank that had copper sulfate used in it

T

tubsy3

AC Members
Oct 10, 2006
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Hi all,

I have an old tank that my father had used for freshwater fish about a year ago. The tank has been empty and sitting in the basement for almost a year now and I have decided to start up a SW tank. My question is that one time my father had used some kind of copper sulfate medication on the fw fish. Can I still use the tank? Is cutting out the silicone and then sealing it up again with aquarium silicone an option? What about the glass?

I am just seeing what my options are as using this old tank would save me 200$. But then I dont want to kill my live rock which ends up costing the most out of the whole setup...

I was thinking of ordering from tampabaysaltwater since I have seen lots of good things. The LFS here sell LR at liek 6-9$ a pound but they dont seem to have all the life that I see in TBS rock. Is it really worth paying all that shipping to get it from there? Or will I be just as well off with lfs LR?

Thanks in advance!
Chris
 
my first tank was a freshwater tropical set up & i use so much white spot treatments copper based in there it even dyed the silicone blue but before setting up i had the same worry got a lot of mixed opinions about it people saying copper will have soaked into the silicone then it will leak back into the water over time & kill everything others saying well people use tap water in there marine set up`s & there's more copper in tap water than what would be in the silicone so then after that i took further advice was told to really scrub the tank down with water then white vinegar then water a few times then fill tank with treated tap water with a power head for movement & some active carbon that will also soak any copper left after a good scrub run it for a few days then give it a scrub with water once again anyway i did all this & i run that tank without a problem for 6months then i upgraded to a larger tank but im back using it again for a mini reef still no problems but if your worried still run some poly filter in the tank that will tell you if there is any copper in the water thats leaked out of the silicone but if you have scrub the tank down a few times & used white vinegar then you should be fine but yes you could cut the silicone away & use fresh as long as the joints are good the glass wont hold copper on it so just give it a scrub down...
 
Hm, maybe i will try the vinegar wash. What did you mean by run activated carbon in it? I have a whisper filter that you can run with the carbon in the filter pouches. Is that what you mean? Do I need to put alot of carbon in there? Or is what they come with in the pouch already enough?

What is the poly filter you are talking about? Where can I get that?

I really dont want to cut up the silicone because I am afraid I might not do a good job reasealing it and I dotn want to deal with leaks haha.

Also you said you have no problems but do you have inverts in the tank that had copper in it? I want to have a live rock along with fish and shrimps/crabs/and other inverts.
 
i had no problems during the 6months i run it for the tank had live rock,hermit crabs,fishs,fan worms ( feather duster worms ) & my live rock had so much stuff growing on it even the odd mushroom...

active carbon should be put in your filter yes & should be used at 1gram per liter of water within the tank 100liters 100g of active carbon well depending of the brand of your active carbon read the box,tub instructions that should tell you how much to use etc...

poly Filter is like a media you put in a filter & over time it changes colour as it absorbs chemicals its guaranteed to remove Copper based treatments from Salt water also removes Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphates, proteins, metals and insecticides the colour it changes to you compare to a colour on a chart enclosed in the pack & then you will know if there is copper leaking in the water ... try e-bay if your having problems finding polyfilter its a green box..

i would rather get a new tank than cut the silicone & re silicone together be a nightmare year down the line & bang wet floor dead live stock
 
Theres a new product by seachem that soaks up copper & metals instantly you just put the product in your filter & run it say for 24hours then all copper & metals will be removed the product is by seachem called CupriSorb so really copper is no longer a problem when removed the rite way but really white vinegar & a good wash dose the trick
 
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