RO/DI copper removal?

[reggiepe]

Just a quick question regarding copper.....most all of us have our supply lines in our homes that we supply water to our tanks that are copper. I am assuming that we could get pretty high copper readings from these as we concentrate more and more water in our aquariums via water changes. Is an RO/DI unit enough to remove the copper from the supply water?

[BubbaWPB]

The DI part of the RO/DI is to remove ions such as copper. RO alone doesn't do a great job. As long as your DI resin is good, you should be ok.

[jollopee]

Ya know, I never thought about the copper lines in my house. Will they really leach copper into the water. I wasnt useing a ro/di for the first month or so of keeping my tank. Does this mean I am going to have copper in the tank now. All I was useing before my ro/di unit was tap water with a declorinator mix. I guess Im gonna have to get a copper test kit now.

Todd

[Steven Pro]

Copper pipes can leach some copper when new, but after a while they get coated in hard water deposits and it is less of a risk. Plus, copper is found in the salt mixes we use, the foods we feed, and some of the supplements. It is a necessary element for life. But like all things, it can become deadly when in excessive amounts.

[Ninong]

I guess Im gonna have to get a copper test kit now.

Todd

If you had copper at levels high enough to register on a hobby test kit all your invertebrates would be dead by now. Hobby test kits can only measure copper in the low ppm range. Copper in the low ppb range is harmful and even lethal to many inverts.

[Ninong]

In a test of various salt mixes published in September 2004, Dr. Tim Hovanec did not detect copper because the ICP method he used has a detection limit of 3 ppb. All of the mixes he tested were below that threshold in copper and therefore it was undetectable.

Copper exists in NSW at 0.254 ppb. It can be lethal to many inverts at levels as low as 2-3 ppb. It is not a problem for fish until it reaches the low ppm range.

[jollopee]

Then I suppose I shouldnt worry about it since all my snails and my aneomone are still alive after 3 months?

Todd

[BubbaWPB]

I would just move forward from here, using only RO/DI or natural sea water from now on.

[jollopee]

Most definitely, I knew I should have done it earlier but on a side not I just did my first test of my source water after the filter and I kept getting high readings on phosphate and silica. I went back over everything and I have been doing water changes and topping off for the last month or so without a RO filter in place....made me kind of mad, at least now I know what was causing my diatom outbreak and Im certain that is what was causing it

Todd