110 Gallon reef tank PICS!!/DIARY!!
- Thread starter Mooch28
- Start date
copper kills!
The copper pipes in my house killed everything within 4 hours....
Normally I bring bottled water home from work, but one weekend, about 1.5 yrs ago, I didn't have time to pick it up at work so I thought I would just top off using water from my home RO system ... I figured the water would be ok because it was coming out of the RO unit that we have it set up for drinking water.
Within 30 minutes everything was acting sluggish. By hour 2 the brittle star had started to implode. By hour 4 everything in the tank was dead. It took almost 15 weeks of water changes (75% 2-3 times a week) to get all the copper out of the live rock (the rock had just soaked it up). Even then, there were still trace amounts of copper in the water, but I decided to start the cycle again anyway... it was a long horrible battle. There is NOTHING like working your *** off and setting up a reef tank over a long period of time, only to have it destroyed in a matter of hours.
Beware of copper. Obviously my situation is worst case scenario - everyone's levels of copper will vary - but the point is that copper kills, and even though the variables are all different, copper piping leaches...
macphoto said:
The copper pipes in my house killed everything within 4 hours....
Normally I bring bottled water home from work, but one weekend, about 1.5 yrs ago, I didn't have time to pick it up at work so I thought I would just top off using water from my home RO system ... I figured the water would be ok because it was coming out of the RO unit that we have it set up for drinking water.
Within 30 minutes everything was acting sluggish. By hour 2 the brittle star had started to implode. By hour 4 everything in the tank was dead. It took almost 15 weeks of water changes (75% 2-3 times a week) to get all the copper out of the live rock (the rock had just soaked it up). Even then, there were still trace amounts of copper in the water, but I decided to start the cycle again anyway... it was a long horrible battle. There is NOTHING like working your *** off and setting up a reef tank over a long period of time, only to have it destroyed in a matter of hours.
Beware of copper. Obviously my situation is worst case scenario - everyone's levels of copper will vary - but the point is that copper kills, and even though the variables are all different, copper piping leaches...
yeah just seems kinda backwards if your gonna use RO water but then use copper pipes
thats just me, i wouldnt do it
thats just me, i wouldnt do it
jeez. this sounds bad.
Oh boy.
Thanks guys.
Guys, is their anything i can place or do to clean copper from water??
For example, is their any filter i can place between copper piping and output valve to remove copper before it enters tank??
Oh boy.
Thanks guys.
Guys, is their anything i can place or do to clean copper from water??
For example, is their any filter i can place between copper piping and output valve to remove copper before it enters tank??
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Guys another thing.
I have seen some reefs run on tap water. Now most tap water is run through copper piping around the house.
Do conditioners remove tap copper traces??
Otherwise, how do inverts survive in tap water salt tank??
I have seen some reefs run on tap water. Now most tap water is run through copper piping around the house.
Do conditioners remove tap copper traces??
Otherwise, how do inverts survive in tap water salt tank??
Most don't.. Anyone that is keeping corals etc usually only uses RO/DI water.. Anyone that uses tap water finds out pretty quick that they made a mistake.. Tap water contains elements that are detrimental to your saltwater tank. Chlorine, Phosphate, Nitrate, Fluoride and more are readily detectable in tap water, but your saltwater tank needs pure water to keep your fish and corals healthy.
That being said, I know a lot of people with RO/DI units that use them in their auto top off setup, but the piping going from the unit to the top off container is some sort of plastic tubing, not copper. As said above, the RO/DI unit it self would get rid of anything bad coming into it.
That being said, I know a lot of people with RO/DI units that use them in their auto top off setup, but the piping going from the unit to the top off container is some sort of plastic tubing, not copper. As said above, the RO/DI unit it self would get rid of anything bad coming into it.
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[The Deionization cartridge of a Ro/di (you can add a di canister if you don't have one) will remove all copper ions from the water.
(I'm probably wrong about this but) ALL water must pass through copper pipes at some point. I'm sure lots of great reefers have ro/di's attached to copper pipes.
Sound out if your house has pvc for cold pipes (not drain)]
Do change out the copper pipe from the outlet to pvc, you'll thank yourself
(I'm probably wrong about this but) ALL water must pass through copper pipes at some point. I'm sure lots of great reefers have ro/di's attached to copper pipes.
Sound out if your house has pvc for cold pipes (not drain)]
Do change out the copper pipe from the outlet to pvc, you'll thank yourself
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I use tap (*gasp*), it can be fine depending on your local supply; NO3 and PO4 are undetectable in our water.
Not all houses/buildings use copper pipe, some use steel and even plastic (though plastic is for cold water only). Our building is around thirty-five years old, so the pipes are far from new. The new bits they've installed in our unit are all steel. Old pipes have a buildup inside, whereas new copper pipes without a buildup probably transmit a lot more Cu into the water.
I'm no plumber and could be incorrect, I just see new copper pipe near a reef as a disaster waiting to happen. If the water is going from the copper pipe into the RO unit I wouldn't worry, but if it's for transmitting water to the tank I'd refit with steel or plastic. You can run Cuprasorb from SeaChem if you think there's copper in the water already.
Not all houses/buildings use copper pipe, some use steel and even plastic (though plastic is for cold water only). Our building is around thirty-five years old, so the pipes are far from new. The new bits they've installed in our unit are all steel. Old pipes have a buildup inside, whereas new copper pipes without a buildup probably transmit a lot more Cu into the water.
I'm no plumber and could be incorrect, I just see new copper pipe near a reef as a disaster waiting to happen. If the water is going from the copper pipe into the RO unit I wouldn't worry, but if it's for transmitting water to the tank I'd refit with steel or plastic. You can run Cuprasorb from SeaChem if you think there's copper in the water already.
Blinky said:
Would that completely remove copper??
Also, could it be used on a regular basis to keep copper levels low??
What im thinking is, maybe run Cuprasorb in my 20 gallon mixing tank for a week before adding that water to my sump for water changes. So in other words, id be treating the water before adding it to main tank. Would that work??
Just looking at temporary alternatives.
If the copper pipe is the feed line to the RO water then you are fine. The RO unit will take care of that. But if it is used in the pure water line coming out of the RO unit then you should probably switch that.
