Copper

[Marty]

I have an odd question but since I'm obsesive compulsive I need to ask. My wife runs a day care and we also have kids who have friends over. If one of them tosses a penny in the tank will that kill my inverts and ruin my tank? It has not happened yet, but I worry.

[wastemanagement]

to put it simply YES

[andybethke]

pennies only have a very small amount of copper coating these days wouldnt it depend more on how long the penny was in the tank?

[Marty]

Yikes. I check my tank every day and that is one thing I really look out for. Thanks guys.

[reef_guru]

in case it happens get a small magnet and attach it to a string, then if it happens again, duct tape and little people work wonders.

[omard]

Yikes Little people and reef tanks do not mix well.

100mph tape and plastic twist ties would be first choice next to a barbed wire fence.

Just a matter of time before one of those little monsters will decide the fish look hungry.

Any coin today contains some copper or brass that will eventually leach into your tank resulting in the disaster you are describing.

Any child entering house should be clearly told about the angry crab in tank that will jump out and bite the finger off anyone approaching it too closely...

[tazzy695]

I have a friend that had somthing similar to this happen to him all bee it was not a penny but a battery a kid droped in the sump it crashed his whole reef killed most inverts and all but one or two corals


make sure your system is closed up enough to keep little hands out for this reason and also the reason that many of the critters and corals we have can be highly toxic if not deadly if they get eaten or into an open cut or with critters the sting

[omard]

Originally Posted by tazzy695

I have a friend that had somthing similar to this happen to him all bee it was not a penny but a battery a kid droped in the sump it crashed his whole reef killed most inverts and all but one or two corals

Ummm, that would be me.

Pager came up missing years ago when my teens were tikes. When everything died out in my then 55 gal freshwater tank, guess what I found when I drained it...

[tazzy695]

yikes never had problems with copper in my fw tanks actualy have dosed it on ocasion to treat illness

[omard]

Originally Posted by tazzy695

yikes never had problems with copper in my fw tanks actualy have dosed it on ocasion to treat illness

Likely the other stuff oozing from corroding batteries that got my tank. (complete wipe out) -