Copper poisoning

[BlennyBabe]

Over the past 10 days or so I have been seeing a decline in the health of my soft corals in my school tank. I thought it was just in response to the nitrates that are around 40 right now. I have been planning a waterchange for about two weeks, but I always seem t get delaed. I was in a car accident three weeks ago and havent been able to do water changes or top off at all. I ahve had help of course, but things just keep comming up to delay this water change. Anyway, my boss feeds the fish on the weekends and said that the corals are in really bad shape. It just occured to me that I pulled a 4 inch piece of insulated copper wire and a metal clip (like the kind that hold on name tags) out of the tank last week. It probably got knocked in accidnetally when my co worker or myself was working above the tank. I didnt think it would be enough to cause any problems, but aparently it is. What can I do , other than this scheduled 100 gallon water change to help slavage my corals? Is there any chemical filter that would help remove any copper?

Also, is there anyone in the central washington area that has a copper test kit? I would be willing to drive a while for it, but finals week, so it cant be too far.

Please help me! I feel so aweful. My boss thinks that Im not doing my job. (it is my fault that the area above the tank wasnt clear of things.) I hate that I didnt catch this sooner. I assumed that the wire was only in the tank for a few hours before I caught it.

[maxvan1]

I think its from not topping off in 3 weeks...

[Paul B]

Copper is easy to remove. Carbon, Polyfilter, or Cuprisorb will remove it very fast. Carbon is the cheapest but I would go with a Polyfilter.
Good luck.
Paul

[BlennyBabe]

The tank has been topped off every day. I monitor the salinity and tell my co worker to top off for me.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Sounds like to me you have a rough boss if you've been in an accident and he blames coral declination on you. I would just test for everything if you don't know what the real cause is. Check all your trace elements, copper, alk, calcium, pH, SG, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. If any of these are off, I would then work from there and find the cause. I hope it was copper because you have found and removed the cause already and now all you will have to do is remove the copper.

[KDodds]

If nitrate is at 40ppm, it's likely PO4 has become elevated as well, probably due to lack of changes, and would be the more likely cause for decline amongst accumulates. Cu could be an issue, but it's doubtful, and without testing you can't even guess that that might be the case. As has already been stated, a full suite of tests is in order before a plan of action can really be determined.

[Travis L. Stevens]

I just saw that you work at a LFS...no wonder why your boss is hard on you about a tank...

[BlennyBabe]

Actually I dont work there currently. Thats just in the summer. I can understand why my boss is mad though. The tank is on display in the science building of central washington university. Its finals week and that means that lot of people will be here over the weekend for graduation and he wants the tanks looking great.

[KDodds]

What an excellent opportunity to actually POST BULLETINS, preferably near the tanks, as to how the tank is being cared for, what's being done, what problems are encountered, how they're being handled, etc. Nothing like taking the opportunities presented to us to educate the masses.

[BlennyBabe]

I am trying to maintain a website dedicated to the tank and I always have my email address posted near the tank. Ill take the time to make up a little something to set near the tank though. Thanks for the suggestion.

[BlennyBabe]

how does this sound for a little announcement to place near the tank?
Why do the corals looks so bad?

A few weeks ago a small piece of copper wire was accidentally knocked into the tank. It was removed a few hours later and we assumed that there were no ill effects from this. In that short amount of time enough copper went into solution to cause some problems. Copper is poisonous to everything, but it especially effects invertebrates. The corals have accumulated some copper in their tissues and are having a reaction to it. We are taking appropriate measures to get the copper removed from the tank, but this is a timely process. It is very difficult to get copper out of the water, and near impossible to remove what the corals have already absorbed. We are doing all we can by changing water and using absorptive resins. Thanks for your concern and we appreciate your patience.
If you have any questions or would like further explanations, please contact Rachel B***** at B*********@cwu.edu.

[KDodds]

It sounds fine, if it is, indeed, the copper.