long-term effects of copper and other metals on small animals...

[kittyhazelton]

Ok, seems my new house is bringing on a whole slew of problems. And I suspect that it has to do with copper in my water.
We aparently live just up the hill from an old copper mine, so there is definitely a high concentration of copper in the area.
I am worried about the long-term health effects this may have on a lot of my animals.
My 135gal reef tank is crashing, have lost many corals and inverts, though the fish seem fine.
I lost my bearded dragon to unknown causes
My fat African bullfrog also mysteriously passed away.

I have at the moment several snakes, a big black and white tegu, a baby red tegu, a leopard gecko, 3 turtles, 5 chinchillas and a Bird for "exotics". The Chinchillas recently had a baby and he's growing and doing incredibly well, so I'm not so worried about them, it's just the more "sensitive" creatures I worry about.
My fear is potential losses/health effects on these guys due to the water supply. Does anyone have any advise on what to look out for, common issues revolving around certain metals in the water/etc? Advice would be great. Cheap fixes are helpful too as I'm a little broke right now due to cut hours.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Sorry hear about your pet losses from your drinking water. I know that it's ok to have a little copper in your water seeing how most pipes are made of copper. But some of the long term effects of drinking water with high copper content are liver and kidney problems. I'm sure there are ways to get around it but a whole new water treatment system for your home is not cheap. You could try a Brita Filter for your sink to help [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]neutralize[/SIZE][/FONT] some of the copper.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/healthywater/factsheets/copper.htm

 

[varanio]

Good point Seth, and for your reef tank did you set up an RO/DI system? If not set it up asap. Corals and inverts need pristine water much more so than fish and live rock.

 

[Brooklynella]

You should be concerned for your (and your families) health as well.
Buy a tap water filter asap. $50 bucks at Lowes/Home Depot is money well spent.
Also, check with your local gov't. If you have "city water" it is their responsibility to check it regularly and make it safe.

 

[Rass]

STOP using the tap water in your salt tank ASAP. Copper is detrimental to salt water inverts, and your live rock/sand as well. A sink based filter may be OK for you and your tougher animals but I would do whatever you can to get a RO/DI unit for your fish and amphibians. Try to find a used one to cut costs, or if you can't do that you can usually get RO/DI water from fish stores. It may not be the most economical but it might get you through until you can afford something else.