Copper question

redwinger02 · #1 12/07/2006, 08:33 PM

Ok I have read about using acid to get rid of impurities in rock and other things. My question is I have a 20 gallon tank that I have used copper,malachalite green, and pipzine on as a hospital tank. Would running acid in it for a couple of days release anything that is locked up in the silicone?

Boomer · #2 12/08/2006, 12:33 AM

There is not real need to use an acid. I would wash the tank well in vinegar and then rinse it out. Use a spray bottle full strength and scrub with a brush and then rinse well in FW. Repeat the process again, good to go.

What acid did you have in mind and what strength ?

Randy Holmes-Farley · #3 12/08/2006, 08:16 AM

If the tank has visible deposits on it, then these deposits might have copper in them, and they can be removed with

1. straight vinegar or muriatic (hydrochloric acid) diluted with 10 parts of fresh water. Either of these will remove calcium carbonate deposits.

2. Bleach, maybe diluted with 10 parts of fresh water which will help remove organic deposits.

In both cases, try wiping it down. If no deposits are visible, just a vinegar wipe is likely fine. None of these should hurt the silicone, I believe, if you do not leave them in place too long.

redwinger02 · #4 01/21/2007, 07:41 PM

But what about copper getting into the silicone and leaching back out over time? I used this tank as a hospital tank with cupramine and malachalite green a couple of times and want to set it up as a nano with all sorts of different corals. That is my only concern is if it is possible to ge the copper out of the silicone. Or is that just a falacy?

Boomer · #5 01/21/2007, 11:36 PM

Copper does get bound or binded into the silicon and Malachite Green has no cooper it in. Malachite is just a color name and is also the name applied to the mineral Malachite, due to its color and which is a Copper Oxide. The MG you are talking about and what we use in this hobby is a organic-inorganic green dye. Often people get confused by this.

Malachite
Copper Carbonate Hydroxide
Cu2CO3(OH)2

Malachite Green
4-[(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-phenyl-methyl]-N,N-dimethyl-aniline)
C23H25N2

redwinger02 · #6 01/21/2007, 11:41 PM

but the question is will the copper leach back out into the water column after the vinegar bath?

Boomer · #7 01/22/2007, 12:57 AM

That is the purpose of the vinegar to dissolve any unwanted "salts" and then rinse out the tank with pure water. The rinse will remove them. Can I say 100 % no. Many of the foods you have and even additives have copper. Running GAC or/and Poly-Filters will keep it it check. Poly's turn blue at the slightest trace of copper at any alarming level.

Randy Holmes-Farley · #8 01/22/2007, 08:52 AM

The two ways that appreciable copper will stick in a tank is in calcium carbonate deposits and in organic deposits. Vinegar will dissolve the calcium carbonate. Bleach will rip apart the organics. The small bit of copper that may bind to glass after that treatment (and rinsing) is not enough to be important. Almost none will appreciably soak into or out of silicone.