is my LR so much heavy garbage?

jsheffel · 11-01-2006, 07:56 AM

I've been running a 55 for about eight months now that was given to me by a friend whose new wife "couldn't stand the noise it made." When I got it it had about 40 lbs of rock in it and was running on a wet/dry with a Mag 7 for a return. Subsequently that same friend's father decided to get out of the hobby and he gave me another 60 or so lbs of rock. I've been saving to upgrade to a 180 and thought this would all make good base rock and save me many dollars in start up cost.

Here is my problem. The skimmer I got wasn't fitting well in the sump with the Mag 7 so I decided to replumb it for an external pump this weekend. When I broke down the Mag 7 return line I found that some imbicile had used a brass hose barb to connect the Mag 7 to the 1/2" return line

(no wonder the snails I was adding never lived more than a few days and nothing would ever grow on the rock despite the fact that the water always tested out perfect)! If I use poly pads to filter the copper out of the water, will the rock ever be useable for anything other than a fish only tank? I would hate to have to trash $400 - 600 worth of rock, but I definitely want to run the 180 as a reef.

**kevinpo** · 11-01-2006, 10:46 AM

How corroded was the fitting? If it doesn't look too bad your rock should be fine. If it looks very green and parts look like they may have entered the tank buy a quality copper test kit (Salifert, Hatch, or LaMotte) and test your copper levels.

HTH,
Kevin

jsheffel · 11-02-2006, 10:43 AM

I couldn't find any of the test kits you mentioned at my LFS so I ended up with a Dr. Wellfish (I guess that's Aquarium Pharmaceuticals). Do you know the brand Sera (I think it's a german conpany)?

The color change in the test vial was not dramatic, but I'm pretty sure it was above the .25 level (but definitely below the .5 level).

Is that low enough that a month or so with poly pads changed weekly and carbon with a similar change schedule will leave me with reef usable LR?

**kevinpo** · 11-04-2006, 10:00 AM

I personally would never use rock that tested positive for copper but I do not have enough experience with copper exposed live rock and livestock to give you a good answer as to whether it can be done safely or not. Hopefully someone else can give you a better answer.

Regards,
Kevin

11-01-2006, 07:56 AM	#1
jsheffel Tenant Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 85	is my LR so much heavy garbage? I've been running a 55 for about eight months now that was given to me by a friend whose new wife "couldn't stand the noise it made." When I got it it had about 40 lbs of rock in it and was running on a wet/dry with a Mag 7 for a return. Subsequently that same friend's father decided to get out of the hobby and he gave me another 60 or so lbs of rock. I've been saving to upgrade to a 180 and thought this would all make good base rock and save me many dollars in start up cost. Here is my problem. The skimmer I got wasn't fitting well in the sump with the Mag 7 so I decided to replumb it for an external pump this weekend. When I broke down the Mag 7 return line I found that some imbicile had used a brass hose barb to connect the Mag 7 to the 1/2" return line (no wonder the snails I was adding never lived more than a few days and nothing would ever grow on the rock despite the fact that the water always tested out perfect)! If I use poly pads to filter the copper out of the water, will the rock ever be useable for anything other than a fish only tank? I would hate to have to trash $400 - 600 worth of rock, but I definitely want to run the 180 as a reef.

11-01-2006, 10:46 AM	#2
kevinpo Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Spokane Valley WA Posts: 2,462	How corroded was the fitting? If it doesn't look too bad your rock should be fine. If it looks very green and parts look like they may have entered the tank buy a quality copper test kit (Salifert, Hatch, or LaMotte) and test your copper levels. HTH, Kevin __________________ SPSguy On - On

11-04-2006, 10:00 AM	#4
kevinpo Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Spokane Valley WA Posts: 2,462	I personally would never use rock that tested positive for copper but I do not have enough experience with copper exposed live rock and livestock to give you a good answer as to whether it can be done safely or not. Hopefully someone else can give you a better answer. Regards, Kevin __________________ SPSguy On - On

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11-02-2006, 10:43 AM	#3
jsheffel Tenant Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 85	I couldn't find any of the test kits you mentioned at my LFS so I ended up with a Dr. Wellfish (I guess that's Aquarium Pharmaceuticals). Do you know the brand Sera (I think it's a german conpany)? The color change in the test vial was not dramatic, but I'm pretty sure it was above the .25 level (but definitely below the .5 level). Is that low enough that a month or so with poly pads changed weekly and carbon with a similar change schedule will leave me with reef usable LR?

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