# Copper Pipes



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Hey guys, My red Cherry shrimp is not kicking off as I had expected. I have had most of mine die off. I suspect it may have to deal with copper piping in my house. anyway to rid the copper from my water without dishing out $$$ for an RO unit?


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

I have dealt with the same thing for years. Tried everything in the book, even luggin jugs of RO from the local hardware store. The best thing I can suggest is invest in an RO it will save you money in the long run. I found a nice spectrapure 5 stage slightly used for 120$ off Kijiji. Ever since my shrimps have been breeding and doing amazing, no more losses.

I have an older house (35 yrs) and the pipes are all original, I did test positive for copper from my tap. The only thing you really can do to avoid it is use an RO system or replace all your lines.

I know you asked for solutions other than an RO, but take my word, invest in one. This is coming from someone who lost probably 500-1000$ in shrimp before I gave in and spent 120$ on one to fix all my problems.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

darn, I figured this was my only long term option. I hear Cusorb works but iunno about using it EVERY water change. I may try the jugs for now as I know another member here uses them. but once I go bigger I may need to get an RO unit. I cant add only RO thought right? My tap would still have Cu so I cant mix it.


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

Yes you can't mix it, you would need straight RO remineralized. I use Salty Shrimp GH/KH+ and it works amazing


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## Bwhiskered (Oct 2, 2008)

Kimchi24 said:


> Hey guys, My red Cherry shrimp is not kicking off as I had expected. I have had most of mine die off. I suspect it may have to deal with copper piping in my house. anyway to rid the copper from my water without dishing out $$$ for an RO unit?


Copper plumbing is no problem unless your tap water is acidic which I doubt.
Look at other things like the gravel or food contaminants. I have cherry shrimp surviving and multiplying in most of my tanks and they get 50% tap water changes and no water conditioner.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Bwhiskered said:


> Copper plumbing is no problem unless your tap water is acidic which I doubt.
> Look at other things like the gravel or food contaminants. I have cherry shrimp surviving and multiplying in most of my tanks and they get 50% tap water changes and no water conditioner.


Really. I dont understand the die off then. I feed them Hikari Algae wafers and the substrate is Flourite Black sand. There is a lot of plant life in there and the Tank maintains 70-72F Temps. Honestly, I figured it would be copper but my water is city water from Vaughan (i think) and its not acidic, at least thats what I remember when i took a look at the water FAQs


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## noy (Nov 19, 2012)

Try this stuff

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/CupriSorb.html


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## Canadiancray (Apr 27, 2006)

Maybe before going crazy buying systems and adding chemicals you should actually test your water both from the tap and in the tank.

Based on your posts it all sounds like speculation. No point in wasting time and money trying to fix a problem until you actually know what the problem is!


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Canadiancray said:


> Maybe before going crazy buying systems and adding chemicals you should actually test your water both from the tap and in the tank.
> 
> Based on your posts it all sounds like speculation. No point in wasting time and money trying to fix a problem until you actually know what the problem is!


This is true. Is there a test kit for copper? I only have the master test kit by api

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## Canadiancray (Apr 27, 2006)

Yes there are test kits for copper. You can even get them cheap from pool supply stores.

For an overall test of your water you could also take a sample to a lab and have it analysed. It's not very expensive and you would get a lot of good information. Just make sure you get an organic and inorganic chemical test.

https://www.ontario.ca/document/list-licensed-laboratories


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

From what I understand, copper only dissolves into the water if that water has been standing in the pipes for a long time. If you run the tap for a bit before using the water, there should not be any copper in the water.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

solarz said:


> From what I understand, copper only dissolves into the water if that water has been standing in the pipes for a long time. If you run the tap for a bit before using the water, there should not be any copper in the water.


Yeah, I wasn't doing this and read it in another forum. Also, I have stopped using the hot water pipe. Now I store my water and heat it before water changes. It's been a couple days and no deaths. So that's a good sign. Ill keep this up and see if I get any more deaths. If I do, I may have to take my water to a lab. It's a shame that at my old place i could grow cherry shrimp easily but im having so much difficulty here.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Kimchi24 said:


> Yeah, I wasn't doing this and read it in another forum. Also, I have stopped using the hot water pipe. Now I store my water and heat it before water changes. It's been a couple days and no deaths. So that's a good sign. Ill keep this up and see if I get any more deaths. If I do, I may have to take my water to a lab. It's a shame that at my old place i could grow cherry shrimp easily but im having so much difficulty here.


Hmmm... the hot water could be an issue. I only use cold water for tanks (and drinking, for that matter) because I've always been told that there are bad things in the hot water.

I never bother with heating the water either. Unless you're doing big water changes, the small temperature difference won't matter.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

they are in a 10 gallon for now. I do about 30%-50% water changes. I dont know if that warrants it but If i do a 50% water change, the temp ends up at 66F. Seems awfully cold so I started doing more water changes in less amounts.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Kimchi24 said:


> they are in a 10 gallon for now. I do about 30%-50% water changes. I dont know if that warrants it but If i do a 50% water change, the temp ends up at 66F. Seems awfully cold so I started doing more water changes in less amounts.


Yeah, 50% is too big. Still, cherries are pretty hardy so they can probably withstand a good amount of temp swing.

Honestly, if it's a well planted tank with shrimps only, I wouldn't even bother with water changes.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Hm, Ill probably reduce WC until I get my 40b racks going.


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## qualityshrimpz (Dec 15, 2009)

doesnt big als test the water for free?


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Last time i went in, they used test strips. Not exactly the best method of testing lol

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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

It could be a variety of things causing them to die off. Do you know the GH, pH, and KH?

Other than that, diet could be an issue, male-female ratio, etc. Sometimes they just don't like certain tanks (or at least that's what it feels like). I've had and read similar experiences of shrimp dying off in 1 tank and thriving in the other tank.


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