Do some aquarium rocks have copper in them

[stopwhiningsadie]

yesterday the realization hit me that the rocks in my aquarium might have copper in them which led to my snails death I don't know what kind of rocks they are my nitrates and ammonia never spiked while they were alive and I took them out when I suspected they were dying so they didnt blast my tank with ammonia

 

[nikm128]

I highly doubt they would unless they're natural rock that was collected from the wild. The industry knows copper is toxic to inverts and plants so it seems unlikely that they would intentionally have something so common that would do harm.

 

[stopwhiningsadie]

I highly doubt they would unless they're natural rock that was collected from the wild. The industry knows copper is toxic to inverts and plants so it seems unlikely that they would intentionally have something so common that would do harm.

I got them from a creekn

 

[nikm128]

In that case it definitely could be a possibility, I would suggest getting some of the river rock or natural looking rock from the pet store

 

[coralbandit]

I got them from a creekn

Where are you located ..
Copper is not an abundant element through out the world .
It is found in various locations though .
I would think you could see it if it was there ..
If you really think you tank has copper you should get a copper test kit , they are harder to read then your average color test but exist .
It goes from pale white to dark yellow if you can imagine ….


Did you get your tank new or used ?
Have you ever used copper meds in the past ?

 

[jake37]

Also be aware that some medicine and plant fertilizer contain traces of copper so if you are concern about copper you should check ingredients of anything you add to the tank.

 

[Sprinkle]

Also be aware that some medicine and plant fertilizer contain traces of copper so if you are concern about copper you should check ingredients of anything you add to the tank.

Tetra's Planta Min does not contain copper in it for example. I used it with shrimp in the tank and no shrimp deaths.

 

[stopwhiningsadie]

Where are you located ..
Copper is not an abundant element through out the world .
It is found in various locations though .
I would think you could see it if it was there ..
If you really think you tank has copper you should get a copper test kit , they are harder to read then your average color test but exist .
It goes from pale white to dark yellow if you can imagine ….


Did you get your tank new or used ?
Have you ever used copper meds in the past ?

I wasn't near home I was at Tennessee when I found them and my tank use to have hermit crabs in it but I cleaned it out 5 months ago before starting a aquarium

 

[stopwhiningsadie]

Tetra's Planta Min does not contain copper in it for example. I used it with shrimp in the tank and no shrimp deaths.

do you recommend that over seachem excel for snails I will be trying mystery snails once I replant

 

[Sprinkle]

do you recommend that over seachem excel for snails I will be trying mystery snails once I replant

I'm not sure you always can check what it contains, although I would recommend Tetra's Planta Min as I'm 100% sure that it is 100% snail and shrimp safe, and it does not contain nitrates and phosphates and it is quite efficient for the plants I have. For example, my Linophila, Java Fern, Anarcharis and Anubias and other plants grow really well. Also, Seachem's Excel is known to melt plants, it probably can have some effects on tank's inhabitants if I'm not mistaken.

 

[stopwhiningsadie]

I'm not sure you always can check what it contains, although I would recommend Tetra's Planta Min as I'm 100% sure that it is 100% snail and shrimp safe, and it does not contain nitrates and phosphates and it is quite efficient for the plants I have. For example, my Linophila, Java Fern, Anarcharis and Anubias and other plants grow really well. Also, Seachem's Excel is known to melt plants, it probably can have some effects on tank's inhabitants if I'm not mistaken.

I didn't even know this product existed thanks I will try it out

 

[tjander]

First off I doubt your rocks could contain enough copper that even if it leached out enough would hurt your snails. Copper is not really soluble in water. Lots of homes have copper pipes and thought I have heard that they can add copper to your water I personally doubt it. Second, most ferts for aquariums have trace amounts of copper. They amount of copper in there if used correctly will not hurt shrimp or snails. Third seachem’s Excel is not a fertilizer but rather a carbon additive flourish is seachem’s liquid fertilizer. I believe all of seachem’s products are invert safe.

 

[stopwhiningsadie]

First off I doubt your rocks could contain enough copper that even if it leached out enough would hurt your snails. Copper is not really soluble in water. Lots of homes have copper pipes and thought I have heard that they can add copper to your water I personally doubt it. Second, most ferts for aquariums have trace amounts of copper. They amount of copper in there if used correctly will not hurt shrimp or snails. Third seachem’s Excel is not a fertilizer but rather a carbon additive flourish is seachem’s liquid fertilizer. I believe all of seachem’s products are invert safe.

I heard that seachem excel irritates fish gills and I buy water from my fish store I think it's called R/O water the last thing I can think of other than old age that killed my snails is the metal planting tools that I use for my plants but they are stainless steel

 

[coralbandit]

RO water may have killed your snails if you don't remineralize it ..
Do you remineralize the RO ?

 

[stopwhiningsadie]

RO water may have killed your snails if you don't remineralize it ..
Do you remineralize the RO ?

no.... are you supposed to do that? how do you do that? I had my last betta for 4 years using that water and never remineralized it I guess it doesn't affect fish or he just had good health

 

[coralbandit]

RO water is stripped and has nothing in it that most forms of live need ..Did you notice their shells get soft/brittle or turn white/whitish ?
Bettas prefer incredibly soft water .You got lucky .If you had a gold fish instead he would not have lasted 1 week likely ..

Do you have fish in your tank now ?

 

[tjander]

I have used excel with shrimp for years... only time I had a problem was when I was over dosing by mistake. Since then no issues. Stainless steel tools are not your problem either.
Question you say your using RO waster, are you remineralize it to adjust the ph and KH and GH that reverse osmosis takes out?

 

[stopwhiningsadie]

RO water is stripped and has nothing in it that most forms of live need ..Did you notice their shells get soft/brittle or turn white/whitish ?
Bettas prefer incredibly soft water .You got lucky .If you had a gold fish instead he would not have lasted 1 week likely ..

Do you have fish in your tank now ?

no their shells looked healthy and they felt very smooth and didnt show any growth defects and yes I have a betta in a 10 gallon right now and he isn't showing any signs of stress I should mention that I stopped using R/O last week because it got pricey and I now use Great Value spring water only 64€ last week I did 50% water change so the spring mixed in with the R/O

 

[coralbandit]

Spring water is totally different the RO.
Possibly the complete opposite as from the 'spring' it has all the earthly things still in it ..
Why don't you use the water from your house ? Do you drink the water from your house ?

 

[stopwhiningsadie]

Spring water is totally different the RO.
Possibly the complete opposite as from the 'spring' it has all the earthly things still in it ..
Why don't you use the water from your house ? Do you drink the water from your house ?

no my fridge has purified water and ice maker so I don't drink tap water and I don't want to use the tap water for the tank because the water bill is high where I live and plus I have a full house

Tetra's Planta Min does not contain copper in it for example. I used it with shrimp in the tank and no shrimp deaths.

what website did you get yours from? It's on amazon but it's only available in the UK I saw it on Ebay for $16 for the 100 ml bottle and Vivapets for $6

 

[Sprinkle]

what website did you get yours from? It's on amazon but it's only available in the UK I saw it on Ebay for $16 for the 100 ml bottle and Vivapets for $6

Amazon.com : Tetra PlantaMin Tetra, 100 ml.- 13141 100 GR : Pet Supplies

Tetra Plantamin 100, 250,500ml,1 L,5 L Aquatic Plant Food Fertiliser | eBay

 

[stopwhiningsadie]

thanks

 

[tjander]

So did I miss it ? Did you ever answer are you / Did re-mineralizing the RO water. Also if you have switched to spring water what is the chemistry of this water, meaning PH, KH, GH. With out this info I don’t think we will solve your issues. If you did answer and I missed it please let me know.

 

[coralbandit]

no.... are you supposed to do that? how do you do that? I had my last betta for 4 years using that water and never remineralized it I guess it doesn't affect fish or he just had good health

So did I miss it ? Did you ever answer are you / Did re-mineralizing the RO water. Also if you have switched to spring water what is the chemistry of this water, meaning PH, KH, GH. With out this info I don’t think we will solve your issues. If you did answer and I missed it please let me know.

You missed it !
It was answered before you asked ..Like one post before you asked ??

 

[tjander]

Thanks... well this mystery is solved then...