Adrienne Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Copper Pipes in the house. Is there any downside to using the water? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 There can be if sediment is disturbed. Club members had their kitchen done up and the next time he did a water change it killed the fish. I think some marine fish are sensitive to copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 most houses have copper hot water pipes. isnt normally a problem with most fish. invertibrates in general are sensitive to copper so if you have any you might need to find an alternative source. If you are worried then several products are availible that 'detoxify heavy metals'. proper pH is one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 I am pretty sure most dechlorination products get rid of heavy metals.. But I would also think that copper pipes would only be a problem if they water had been sitting in them for a long period, I would be inclined to flush the water out of the tap/hose for a while before using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 First rule of having a happy healthy tank: Stop looking for things to stress over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 In the first few weeks of use of copper in a plumbing system the copper forms an amalgum with iron and becomes a lot more resistant to corrosion. Corrosion is a problem in acid water supplies and that is why the water supply authorities go to a lot of trouble to keep the water slightly alkaline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted August 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 First rule of having a happy healthy tank: Stop looking for things to stress over. lol Ira - this question was not for me personally. I don't need to stress over any of my tanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Club members had their kitchen done up and the next time he did a water change it killed the fish. Fresh or saltwater? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Copper is the reason I don't use hot water from the tap haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 It is highly unlikely that you would get toxic levals of copper from your taps. Our house has the original hot water cylinder from when the house was built in 1945. Copper is very toxic to humans and snails would crawl out of the tank before the fish died. All the taps would leak if there was a problem as the first sign is dezincafication of the brass taps where the zinc is corroded and leaves a honeycomb of copper because zinc is more reactive than copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 First rule of having a happy healthy tank: Stop looking for things to stress over. :lol: So true! Learn about water quality, cycling, species requirements and we should be mostly sorted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Breakaway it was a freshwater tropical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 I'd blame the use of flux used for the brazing of the pipes more for the deaths than copper... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Copper pipe is pretty expensive and most pipework (particularly alterations) would be done in plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 bonding agents used for the plastic joining? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 There isn't any. It is a joint that fits into the pipe and is kept in place by a clamped metal ring. The solvent used on PVC pipes is MEK (methyl-ethyl-ketone). It is a lot easier to use a flexible pipe with clamped joints when doing alterations in an existing building than to sil-flos copper pipes, and a lot cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redracer77 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 It is highly unlikely that you would get toxic levals of copper from your taps. Our house has the original hot water cylinder from when the house was built in 1945. Copper is very toxic to humans and snails would crawl out of the tank before the fish died. I agree, the amount would be un-measurable. I have a small copper washer in the filter of one my tanks to kill snails, fish are fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 I have a small copper washer in the filter of one my tanks to kill snails, fish are fine. interesting idea, does it work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 That used to be the way to control whitespot and velvet that grandad used. The snails leave the water when the copper gets to the right strength. A bit like grandad's butcher that used to watch a spud float when determining if the brine was the right strength for the bacon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted August 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 Thank you all for the feedback on this. Its one more thing to discount and has increased my knowledge further as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 Copper is a very effective treatment for some diseases (particularly velvet). The disadvantage is that some fish find copper very toxic (Nothobranchius sp. for instance). It is used by some breeders to control velvet but today is usually used in the chelated form where citric acid is added to a copper sulphate solution to make it less toxic. It also makes it less effective but them's the breaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redracer77 Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 interesting idea, does it work? There seems to be less small/baby snails, it's only been in there a month or so. Regular water changes keep the levels very low so doesn't effect the fish. It's only in my guppy tank didn't want to risk the others untill I can be sure it is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 It will only go into solution in acid water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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