Ugggg what now?

Ok for anyone that knows my tank. It's cycling or coming to the end of cycling. My parameters as of today are.

PH 8.2
Amm 0ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
SG 1.024
Copper 0

I've been trying to get a couple snails in there to clean the diatoms. I acclimate the snails for over 8 hours but as soon as they get dropped in the tank they look really lazy and then crawl a short distance and die. WTF is happening?

 

Ok I think I MAY know what the damn problem is!!!! I have a couple brass connectors in the system!!! I didn't know that these would be a problem. I just read a thread that said that brass could leak copper into the system,

It's still strange though that I get no reading on my copper test. Well actually that's not true. The lowest my copper test goes down to is .05mg/l so I guess that it could be anywhere between 0 and .5 mg/l. Can anyone tell me if the brass connectors could be a problem.

 

You know what my next question is.... If there is copper in the system how do I get it out. Can I just do water changes or do I have to start over?

 

Im not sure if copper can be an issue if it were a fishonly tank! Please correct me if im wrong someone!! But it can definately be an issue in a reef tank.
I read a thread some time back about fishes and other livestock were dying off in a members tank, and the params were great, the issue was a electrical discharge in the tank! To eliminate, you would need a probe. What are the conditions of your equipment??

 

Ok I have a tang in there and he is doing great. I used him to cycle my tank. He's really healthy looking. The problem is that when I try to put snails or starfish in there they die very very fast. I know that copper doesn't affect fish too much, but it does affect inverts so maybe this is the problem. Someone please comment I'm going insane.

If there is a trace amount of copper in there can I just do water changes or are the rocks and sand contaminated. I don't know if I can go thru another system restart.

 

Copper will kill snails, But your Copper readings above state 0

J

 

dead snails!!!

I have still been unable to get any snails to live in my tank. I have just given up on putting any inverts in my tank. The same problem happens in my tank when I place any snails in the water. I have changed out my pump and the current in my tank is only 9 volts in stead of 120 volts. I have a gounding wire in my sump and I recently about a month ago placed some Seachem CupriSorb in the sump. My copper is zero! I'm unsure of why inverts wont live in my tank. My fish are just fine! The cuprisorb just last week stared to change color and I think that maybe there is some heavy metal in my rock or maybe even my water though I use an RO/DI filter.

 

Your tank isn't fully cycled, that may be the problem. Nitrites at 0.25 means you are not cycled. You will be finished your cycle when your nitrates and nitrites read zero. You cycled a tank with a tang? I would have cycled it with nothing but Liverock as it seems inhumane to put any creature through those standards.

You aren't supposed to add anything and that includes the cleanup crew till the cycle is fully finished!
Metal is not supposed to be placed in a saltwater tank unless it's titanium.

 

Is your stystem grounded, I agree with one of the above posters, it could be one of your equipment sending small electrical discharges into your tank. I beleive the person who was having the problem before said it was comming from a Pump he was using.
CHubbs

 

I agree with Nemo, your tank is not yet cycled if you still have a diatom bloom. Wait till it goes away and then you may or may not get another algae bloom (green), I did and waited till it cleared up before putting anything into my tank.
I had no problems when I put my clean-up crew in and I would sit it out until the tank has finished cycling.