What can I do short of getting an R/o unit or buying bottled water different then what I already do?
My local water is High in Copper, I personally haven't seen the numbers yet. But I've talked to all my local LFS about the water and they all have issues more or less with copper levels. I switched from using stresscoat to using Aquasafe as it's suppose to remove heavy metals including copper from my water. I keep an array of inverts in more then a few of my tanks, but the one I'm most worried about is my 20Gal w/ Tiger shrimp in it, as well as most of my harder to keep plants. I know many plants need some copper? Are their any species that really soak it up to help? or are their other options for treatments I can use that are safe for my shrimp? So far I've only lost one shrimp I'm aware of. But I fear I've lost a few more. My water perameters otherwise are good. Nitrites = 0, Ammonia = 0, Nitrates = 5-10. I've avoided dosing my flourish for fear the copper in it though minor may add to the issue. I've also considered going back to tetras Florapride and seeing how well they do on this. I know the hard core planted tankers usually stick to the dry ferts.. But I'm looking for cheap and easy as they say.
Any suggestions or imput would be welcomed, as I've never had this problem before. I also wanted to upgrade my 20 but am afraid to atm as I want to upgrade my stock as well. But if this is going to be a uphill fight.. I may back-off on my planted system until we move into a house and can afford an R/o unit.
My local water is High in Copper, I personally haven't seen the numbers yet. But I've talked to all my local LFS about the water and they all have issues more or less with copper levels. I switched from using stresscoat to using Aquasafe as it's suppose to remove heavy metals including copper from my water. I keep an array of inverts in more then a few of my tanks, but the one I'm most worried about is my 20Gal w/ Tiger shrimp in it, as well as most of my harder to keep plants. I know many plants need some copper? Are their any species that really soak it up to help? or are their other options for treatments I can use that are safe for my shrimp? So far I've only lost one shrimp I'm aware of. But I fear I've lost a few more. My water perameters otherwise are good. Nitrites = 0, Ammonia = 0, Nitrates = 5-10. I've avoided dosing my flourish for fear the copper in it though minor may add to the issue. I've also considered going back to tetras Florapride and seeing how well they do on this. I know the hard core planted tankers usually stick to the dry ferts.. But I'm looking for cheap and easy as they say.
Any suggestions or imput would be welcomed, as I've never had this problem before. I also wanted to upgrade my 20 but am afraid to atm as I want to upgrade my stock as well. But if this is going to be a uphill fight.. I may back-off on my planted system until we move into a house and can afford an R/o unit.
