Do I need a protein skimmer? - How long can copper stay in tank?

[omniphil]

Hello salty folks,

I added coppersafe treatment to the tank and am intrigued by the directions...

I have dosed it to 2 ppm as indicated and it says to turn off protein skimmers and let everything sit for 30 days..
Ok, that's pretty clear.
Then it says to do a water change and then redose. I assume back to 2 ppm. So it sounds like the coppersafe will stay in the tank indefinitely at that point?

I only have salt water fish in the tank, the rocks are not live, but the sand was live a year ago when i bought it.
I have a sump with a marine pure block in it which should has something living in it I assume..
Not sure any of that will be effected by coppersafe.....

I am growing Chaeto (which appears unaffected by the coppersafe) in the sump and that brings me to my next question....
Since turning off the protein skimmer the Nitrates have still been dropping steadily, so now i'm wondering if I should just take the protein skimmer out of the system at this point as the Chaeto is keeping the Nitrate and Phosphates down fine.
(I was at 18.5 ppm nitrates and 0.3 phosphates when I just tested and the nitrates have been going down and phosphates staying the same from last measurement about 2 weeks ago)

 

[Troylee]

It’s gonna be hard to keep the copper levels up with rocks in it and sand.. copper is normally used in a separate tank with nothing but live stock and pvc pieces for the fish to hide. Your rocks and substrate are gonna bind it and release it over time so ever adding corals is out of the question for a really long time if ever now. Sorry.

 

[omniphil]

It’s gonna be hard to keep the copper levels up with rocks in it and sand.. copper is normally used in a separate tank with nothing but live stock and pvc pieces for the fish to hide. Your rocks and substrate are gonna bind it and release it over time so ever adding corals is out of the question for a really long time if ever now. Sorry.

I don't have coral or ever plan on adding them so that's fine with me. Just trying to keep happy fish....

 

[Troylee]

I don't have coral or ever plan on adding them so that's fine with me. Just trying to keep happy fish....

I think you’re gonna find it impossible to keep the copper levels stable with rock and sand thou.. it’s gonna take a lot of time and patience, testing to get good results vs a bare bottom qt tank.. @Jay Hemdal

 

[omniphil]

I think you’re gonna find it impossible to keep the copper levels stable with rock and sand thou.. it’s gonna take a lot of time and patience, testing to get good results vs a bare bottom qt tank.. @Jay Hemdal

I guess i don't care so much about keeping them stable in the 30 days the instructions indicated.... Its more after the water change and then a redose. If it slowly fades away over time I don't think I really care as the 30 day period is over at that point.

I just wasn't sure if it would stay around forever or if it will slowly drop over time which is fine with me...

 

[Troylee]

The water change is to keep ammonia levels down so the fish don’t suffer… yes it will affect the copper concentrations also.. it’s gonna fade fast like I said as your sand and rocks suck it up so keeping it at a therapeutic level is gonna be hard.

 

[omniphil]

The water change is to keep ammonia levels down so the fish don’t suffer… yes it will affect the copper concentrations also.. it’s gonna fade fast like I said as your sand and rocks suck it up so keeping it at a therapeutic level is gonna be hard.

Ok, I can keep checking it every 2 days to keep it at the proper levels....

 

[threebuoys]

The copper will remain in the tank indefinitely. Each water change will reduce the concentration proportionately. Sand or rocks of aragonite or any other type of calcium will have absorbed copper during the treatment period. That's why copper testing may have shown a decrease during the treatment period., but prolonged presence afterwards. After treatment, any copper which was absorbed by the calcium will be slowly released back into the tank, So, that extends the time required to fully eliminate the copper.

 

[Largeangels]

I run mine at 2.0 - 2.5ppm (never below 2.0) and always check frequently with Hanna copper tester. Best copper test kit out there, IMO. Well worth it.