Too much copper?
- Thread starter Wycco
- Start date
Odds are you add copper everytime you change water. Say for argument that the tab weighs a gram. That means each tab would contain .5 mg of copper. Dissolved in a liter of water this would give a concentration of .0005 ppm. In a liter. That amount of copper is a non-issue.
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0.5mg in one litre if dissolved would be 0.5ppm not 0.0005ppm. Copper is lethal to inverts, algae and sensitive fish at levels of 5-9.8μg/L or 0.05-0.098mg/L or ppm. 0.5ppm is 10 times greater than the lethal amount, I wouldn't risk it, even if you have a large system.
http://eyeonpebblemine.org/wp-content/uploads/woody_copper_effects.pdf
When treating saltwater fish for ich, you can use copper treatments, but only in a QT with no inverts, in this case you increase copper concentrations to 0.3ppm, this will be OK for short periods with hardy fish. All ornaments in the QT will absorb copper and will leach it out overtime, and can be deadly to invertebrates. So once a tank is treated for copper, only fish can be kept in it even if copper in the water is removed. Using activated carbon will remove copper but there is no guarantee it will get it all.
