Snails and hermits dying!

[Ninong]

I could cry when I think of the cost of buying more live rock

Will my sump, pump, and hang on be okay to switch, I just added them Sunday?

I was hoping you wouldn't ask that question because I hate to give you the safe answer. All I can suggest is that you go back further up and follow my link to the decontamination process. I copied that from Dr. Ron Shimek on Reef Central. He once managed a marine research lab in Washington state. I'm afraid his professional opinion is that everything might have to be decontaminated. Personally I believe that your problem is confined to your tank and that it would probably be safe to use everything else BUT you might want to go through some sort of a semi-decontamination process with the other equipment, just without the acid.

You're on your own on that one. I would probably ditch the tank and hold onto the rest but that's your call.

P.S. -- Yes, if you just added them this past Sunday, I think you will be OK.

[Ninong]

I didn't notice the Sunday part at first. Yes, I think you will be OK.

[brooke]

I think I'm going to go pull them off now, and throw on a hang on until I can switch everything.

I thought fish keeping was supposed to be relaxing

[brooke]

Well, Ninong, I think I may have found the culprit. In the plethera of chemicals the guy gave me when I bought the tank, I found and almost empty bottle of Fungus Guard by Jungle. Active ingredients are copper sulfate, and potassium decromatd (sp?) Right on the bottle is says "WARNING: Remove snail before treating?"


What the *%&@??

Why do they make this stuff?!?

[Ninong]

Why do they make this stuff?!?

The previous owner used this tank as a freshwater tank. That is a freshwater product to treat fish fungus problems. It isn't even safe for freshwater snails or live plants.

It is always a bad idea to use a tank that was previously used for freshwater as a reef tank because you can never be sure what the previous owner may have used. In this particular case, the glass walls of the tank have adsorbed the copper and will continue to release it over time -- a very long time. This amount of copper is not enough to harm fish and it may not even be enough to harm some other critters besides fish; however, as you have learned, it is more than enough to kill off your snails within a matter of a few days. That's because copper in amounts in the low ppb (parts per billion) is toxic to snails and many other inverts, such as polychaete worms.

[Ninong]

I'm sticking this post in this thread because I will probably archive the thread and I think this warning is important:

It is always risky to purchase a used tank from another person if you intend using it as a reef tank. If the tank was previously used as a reef tank and you have absolute confidence that the tank was never treated with copper, then it would be OK.

Some people who have run fish-only tanks (without even live rock, just dead coral skeletons), have put those tanks up for sale when they decided they wanted to switch to a reef tank because they had used copper in them and knew that they couldn't be used as a reef tank. I'm sure the great majority of them disclosed this fact to potential buyers but what if you are dealing with someone who is less than completely honest?

Never purchase a used tank for a reef tank unless you know for certain that it has never been dosed with copper medications.