1 YeaR fisH Probation for New Home Owner

[ChickenTeeth]

Nowadays in all new buildings it is common practice to use water pipes made of copper. These copper pipes can present a serious danger to all aquarium inhabitants.
Newly installed copper pipes do not yet have an insulating layer of Carbonate deposits coating their insides. If particular pipes are not being used and water is being held in them, substantial amounts of copper can be leaked out into the water. Since dissolved copper is highly toxic, it can lead to the poisoning of fish.
A similar danger exists in newly installed hot water boilers or in those where the carbonate coating has recently been removed. For, those who live in apartments or renting, this is especially important when you notice renovations occuring.
If water is allowed to run off for a few minutes before it is used in the aquarium it may be sufficient to flush out the dissolved copper.
Usually within a year a layer of carbonate deposit will form, which prevents any further dissolution of copper in the network.

 

[DeLgAdO]

thats what i do before a tank refill

i let the hose run for about 1-2 minutes on full flow to flush out any bad stuff that may be in the pipes or hose

 

[guppy]

Thanks for the reminder, I seldom think about it but when I was living in an apartment in Tacoma I got lucky a couple of times, I usually use plastic buckets or barrels to do water changes so I can get the dechlor and salt mixed in well and check the ingoing nitrate and ph levels, if I had been filling the tank directly I would have had problems during some renovations, as it was I had to run the water for several minutes to clear the pipes.