Heres a crazy thought....

[Potts050]

Yes, but what about new houses? How long would it take until the build up makes them "safe"?

That really depends on your local water. The more you flush out your plumbing by running(using) water, and the higher your mineral content, the faster it will acumulate.

Your local water utility should be able to offer some guidance on this.

 

[Potts050]

so you're saying water from a newly constructed house will have copper leeched into it and the only way to add water to a tank will be through RO not the convetional ways?

What I'm saying is that new copper pipes will leach more copper than older pipes. Fish sensitivity is increased by lower pH and lower DH. Some fish are more sensitive to copper than others. I believe if memory serves, that catfishes and freshwater rays are among those that are less tolerant.

I read an abstract from a study done in the Netherlands that showed that water that has a higher dissolved organic load will bind the copper ions making them less available to harm the fish. Its ironic that higher quality water with a small amount of disolved copper is more dangerous to fish than aged water with a higher copper content...

 

[Potts050]

Here is another study done on copper toxicity in water of varying quality in Spain..
http://www.aehms.org/pdf/Serrasb_lyon.pdf

From the abstract;
"Differences found in phosphate, nitrite, ammonium, and conductivity between the sites showed a significant correlation to land use. In addition, differences in EC50 from the three studied communities also followed the eutrophy gradient in these three sites. Communities grown in high phosphate concentrations were more tolerant to copper than the ones grown in lower phosphate concentrations. An increase in the tolerance to copper was also observed after phosphorus addition in the sites with low phosphate concentrations."

The study goes on to show that high phosphate levels may encourage the development of dissolved metal complexes that effectively 'knock' the copper ions out of the food web..."(aquatic) communities growing with higher P availability, like T1(test site), may be more tolerant to copper due to the possible formation of polyphosphate bodies that can complex the copper and detoxify the cells (Hall et al., 1989),"

To me this study sugests that a well planted tank that uses fertilizers with phosphates may provide a defence against the toxicity of copper in your water due to new copper plumbing.

 

[duke33]

Very Interesting. Kinda confusing but something to look into futher. People in this parts are hearing about my tanks and coming to me for answers. I'll never be able to quit my day job, but hey, glad to help out a fellow enthusiast.

 

[Absolute Aquariums]

cool thanks potts

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

build your own dehumidifier! Although I dont know the exact construction of a dehumidifier I could make a guess at the concept and components. If you were bored and brave enough to mess with freon, you could replace the copper heat exchanger with an aluminum one. They sell small aluminum heat exchangers for automotive uses and im sure for other uses.

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

Or you could send it to a plater and get it plated in something waterproof. Just a thin layer shouldnt change the heat exchange ability much.

Then you would have 20 liters of clean water you could even use as a drip system for your tank

Heck I might even do this!

 

[Potts050]

Dude, I completely admire your style!
That may just be the way to go. I wonder if aluminum coils might give fish altzheimers?