Copper and Tanks....

So, I was planning on picking up a 130g tank from Craigslist. It's $100 and a shame to pass up, I think.....


Question I have is I do not know what the tank was used for OR what was used IN it beforehand. Is there a way to get rid of or neutralize copper in a previously owned tank or should I just buy new?

 

There are a few ways, but most are either time consuming and/or expensive.
You can resilicone the entire tank (time consuming). Or you can run heavy amounts of ozone (expensive). Or you can just do massive water changes and not keep copper sensitive creatures till its gone (time consuming). They sell products like cuprizorb that run in filters, but they are not really worth anything IMHO. They depend on the removing it as it leaches into water, and offer no advantage over just doing water changes.
Have them fill the tank before you go and look at it, and bring a copper test kit with you. If it tests positive, then skip on it and wait for something else to come along. Tanks are a dime a dozen, it wont take too long for something else to pop up.

 

Personally I would always prefer a new tank, if possible. My main concern would be leaks rather than copper. If copper was my only concern, I would consider a product like Seachem Cuprisorb, which will suck out any residual copper in the system. But imagine spending money filling a tank with livestock and having it leak/crack.....I like new tanks.

 

Yeah, that's what I thought too.....

I think I'll be visiting the LFS to see how much a 150g will run me.....
I really hate that they're so expensive though!! More than $1-$2 per gallon is NUTS.