Coppersafe - Residual Effects?

[Tom Wood]

I treated my 90 gallon with Coppersafe several weeks ago, and the hygrophila difformis has never recovered. Here's how it looked before we moved:

Here's how it looks now, all the while keeping ferts and CO2 at high levels:

Plants that were added after the Coppersafe treatment are doing much better. Is there a residual left by the Coppersafe that is retarding growth?

Thanks,

TW

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Coppersafe - Residual Effects?

Not likely, copper behaves like iron in water.
It's chelated(generally EDTA), but you can run some carbon and it'll remove it quick.

Might take awhile to recover, but some plants are sensitive to copper, while crypts as a rule are highly rersistent to copper, even up to 5ppm.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Tom Wood]

Re: Coppersafe - Residual Effects?

Could it be the moonlights? I have four of these (3-LED each) pointed up into the hood:

They provide enough light to see colors in the tank. The weird thing is, the difformis is growing larger leaves *behind* the eggcrate. They were added sometime in the middle of dealing with this new water. Hmmm...

TW

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Coppersafe - Residual Effects?

Probably a mix of issues, the water, then the copper.

I do not think the moonlights can do anything.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Tom Wood]

Re: Coppersafe - Residual Effects?

Looks like it might have been the traces. When starting with 100% RO, is the baseline level that much lower than already 'soft' tapwater? I gave the tank a big gulp of Flourish last night, enough to cause a haze, oops, and the h. difformis is already responding.

Reading various recommendations, it looks like a 5ml (1 teaspoon) dose of Flourish per day is closer to what is needed for a high light CO2 injected 90 gallon. I was only dosing two teaspoons a week, the high end recommended by Seachem.

BTW, does that haze after big dosing Flourish mean the traces have precipitated out, and if so are they permanently lost, or does that provide a 'buffer' level?

TW

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Coppersafe - Residual Effects?

There is a definitely a trend that hard water needs more traces.

I use TMG generally, as it is not affected as much.

Regards,
Tom Barr