Copper to get rid of algae?

nderouch

I am Superman
Mar 4, 2008
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My wife told me a friend told her that you can put copper pennies (real copper pennies) into the tank to reduce the amount of algae in the tank.

Is this a myth?
 
Copper can help eliminate algae, but it tends to be strongly adsorbed by the plastic & rubber surfaces in the tank and leach beck into the water over time, making it nearly impossible to keep most invertebrates in the tank - ever.

It works, but there are better ways to deal with algae - and I'd not use pennies, there are Cu based solutions that are a better bet for the invert. hater with algae.
 
As the poster above said, copper can be used to controlling algae, but if you do that tank (and filter, and pretty much anything else in the tank) can't be used for any inverts (shrimp, snails, crayfish, crabs, any of 'em) ever again.



So it is true, but not recommended.

As a note, even modern pennies would work, they have a layer of copper on the outside and zinc in the middle. As far as being dissolved in water goes the copper will last for quite some time before it's gone.
 
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