Safety of Copper Pipes?

I just replumbed my entire house with copper, and I have some left over. I
am thinking about building a DIY filter for my aquarium, just for fun. Any
thoughts on the safety of using copper in an aquaria environment? I figure
it safe for us to drink, it should be safe in the tank or pond for that
matter.

Any thoughts?

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

Not sure about its safety for fish. But your criteria "I figure it safe for
us to drink, it should be safe in the tank or pond for that matter." is not
sound. Chlorinated water is safe for us to drink but deadly to fish :-(

Ken Russell

"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...
| I just replumbed my entire house with copper, and I have some left over. I
| am thinking about building a DIY filter for my aquarium, just for fun. Any
| thoughts on the safety of using copper in an aquaria environment? I figure
| it safe for us to drink, it should be safe in the tank or pond for that
| matter.
|
| Any thoughts?
|
| BV.
| www.iheartmypond.com
|
|


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If you have plants in your aquarium, the copper will either stunt them or
kill them eventually. Stick with plastic or stainless steel.

Dean

"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...
I just replumbed my entire house with copper, and I have some left over. I
am thinking about building a DIY filter for my aquarium, just for fun. Any
thoughts on the safety of using copper in an aquaria environment? I figure
it safe for us to drink, it should be safe in the tank or pond for that
matter.

Any thoughts?

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

Copper will oxidize, though slowly, and the oxide will enter the water. It
is very toxic once it reaches a certain concentration. When I started with
aquaria about 30 years ago, the only cure for many of the parasites was to
put copper pennies in the water, and when the fish started to roll, do a
major water change. If it almost killed the fish, it probably killed the
parasites.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...
I just replumbed my entire house with copper, and I have some left over. I
am thinking about building a DIY filter for my aquarium, just for fun. Any
thoughts on the safety of using copper in an aquaria environment? I figure
it safe for us to drink, it should be safe in the tank or pond for that
matter.

Any thoughts?

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

"Ken Russell" wrote in message
u...
Not sure about its safety for fish. But your criteria "I figure it safe
for
us to drink, it should be safe in the tank or pond for that matter." is
not
sound. Chlorinated water is safe for us to drink but deadly to fish :-(
snip

That's true, but I can treat for that, and the treatments are readily
available. I have never seen DeCopper anywhere. LOL.

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

"RichToyBox" wrote in message
news:lIVVb.264673$xy6.1336469@attbi_s02...
Copper will oxidize, though slowly, and the oxide will enter the water.
It
is very toxic once it reaches a certain concentration. When I started
with
aquaria about 30 years ago, the only cure for many of the parasites was to
put copper pennies in the water, and when the fish started to roll, do a
major water change. If it almost killed the fish, it probably killed the
parasites.
snip

So is it safe to assume the water 'standing' in normal household pipes is
not a problem because it is changed so often? Back to the drawing board I
guess.

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

If your PH is 7.0 it will leech and be dissolved into the water column and
build up and affect your fish. If your PH is 7.0 it will precipitate out
and not affect anything. I know this from treating acid mine drainage.

Sam

P.S. Most dechlorinators now a days are also heavy metal removers.


"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...
I just replumbed my entire house with copper, and I have some left over. I
am thinking about building a DIY filter for my aquarium, just for fun. Any
thoughts on the safety of using copper in an aquaria environment? I figure
it safe for us to drink, it should be safe in the tank or pond for that
matter.

Any thoughts?

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
If your PH is 7.0 it will leech and be dissolved into the water column
and
build up and affect your fish. If your PH is 7.0 it will precipitate out
and not affect anything. I know this from treating acid mine drainage.

Sam

P.S. Most dechlorinators now a days are also heavy metal removers.
snip

Sam...I'll take your word for it, but I think I'll go with PVC. It's cheap.

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

Yeah but then we'll never know. =)

"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...

"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
If your PH is 7.0 it will leech and be dissolved into the water column
and
build up and affect your fish. If your PH is 7.0 it will precipitate
out
and not affect anything. I know this from treating acid mine drainage.

Sam

P.S. Most dechlorinators now a days are also heavy metal removers.
snip

Sam...I'll take your word for it, but I think I'll go with PVC. It's
cheap.

BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
Yeah but then we'll never know. =)
snip

LOL.

BV.