COPPERSAFE WARNING along with Research on Hanna Instruments High Range Copper Checker

Hanna Instruments · Mar 20, 2018

Might be useful for discussion here.

Use of Copper in Marine Aquaculture and Aquarium Systems
Roy P. E. Yanong
Program in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida/IFAS Extension.

HotRocks · Mar 20, 2018

Hanna Instruments said:
Might be useful for discussion here.

Use of Copper in Marine Aquaculture and Aquarium Systems
Roy P. E. Yanong
Program in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida/IFAS Extension.

It is interesting that you have brought that up, as @Humblefish and I were recently discussing whether or not the tester would accurately read the "copper sulfate pentahydrate". There is a recipe for "home made" copper that is the same as mentioned in the article that I believe @Christoph has a thread about. I think the reason it is not widely used by hobbyists, is because the fact that you have to test such a low narrow range makes it difficult to ensure that you are therapeutic but not to a level of toxicity with current visual testing methods that are available.

Christoph · Mar 20, 2018

Dear all,

the Hanna tester is very likely to use the same "chemistry" also applied in the salifert copper test kit. The Hanna Checker just measures the intensity of the blue coloration using a photometric system.

So this device should be very capeable to disaplay the concentration of copper arising from copper sulfate pentahydrate.

But with any copper products, its best to actually test the testing device first before using it in a real life scenario

.

For instance: The copper sulfate pentahydrate solution mentioned in Humblefishs thread has a concentration of 1000 mg/l copper. If you take one litre of salt water and add 1 ml of the copper sulfate pentahydrate solution, stir well, and afterwards measure this solution with the Hanna Checker the reading should be 1.00 mg/l (or ppm). A tolerance of about 10% (0.9-1.1 mg/l or ppm) would be acceptable. This can also be used to test your Salifert/API copper tests and challange your color vision abilities

All the best,
Christoph

Sashaka · Mar 20, 2018

Just read through full thread. What a great find! I just dosed CopperPower in the DT and I wish I had the Hanna Checker right now! I will be ordering as soon as possible! Can you list the supplies needed to use the Hanna Checker, please. I'd like to order enough of everything needed to test for a full month...plus. Thanks!

To add to this thread: I have always found the API color chart hard to match as the colors between safe and not safe levels are so close. I actually had my LFS call API at my request while I was standing with him to see how accurate the API test kit was when used with CopperPower. API's response was that the API test kit was not designed to check copper levels in the product CopperPower. They elaborated by saying that the API test kit relies on color codes, as do other test kits, and there could be variations between color charts for the different copper test kits, which can mean the API color code chart would provide erroneous data or the difference between safe and unsafe copper levels. Personally, I think that's rich when I can barely tell the difference between safe and unsafe levels on API's color chart without matching it against a sample!

Just thought I should report... API's official response is not to trust it's copper test kit to test levels of copper when using CopperPower.

HotRocks · Mar 20, 2018

Sashaka said:
Just read through full thread. What a great find! I just dosed CopperPower in the DT and I wish I had the Hanna Checker right now! I will be ordering as soon as possible! Can you list the supplies needed to use the Hanna Checker, please. I'd like to order enough of everything needed to test for a full month...plus. Thanks!

To add to this thread: I have always found the API color chart hard to match as the colors between safe and not safe levels are so close. I actually had my LFS call API at my request while I was standing with him to see how accurate the API test kit was when used with CopperPower. API's response was that the API test kit was not designed to check copper levels in the product CopperPower. They elaborated by saying that the API test kit relies on color codes, as do other test kits, and there could be variations between color charts for the different copper test kits, which can mean the API color code chart would provide erroneous data or the difference between safe and unsafe copper levels. Personally, I think that's rich when I can barely tell the difference between safe and unsafe levels on API's color chart without matching it against a sample!

Just thought I should report... API's official response is not to trust it's copper test kit to test levels of copper when using CopperPower.

I ordered the following:
Hi range checker
Cleaning cloths
Cuvette cleaning solution
Spare reagents. (They come in 25 packs). 6 come with the tester
2 spare cuvettes

You can definitely do without the spare cuvettes. I did that only cause I knew I was going to do a bunch of testing.

I do dump, clean, and dry my cuvettes immediately after testing. It's important to keep them very clean and not to leave test solution in them. If you stain the glass or allow it to get dirty it could skew your test.

4FordFamily · Mar 20, 2018

Sashaka said:
Just read through full thread. What a great find! I just dosed CopperPower in the DT and I wish I had the Hanna Checker right now! I will be ordering as soon as possible! Can you list the supplies needed to use the Hanna Checker, please. I'd like to order enough of everything needed to test for a full month...plus. Thanks!

To add to this thread: I have always found the API color chart hard to match as the colors between safe and not safe levels are so close. I actually had my LFS call API at my request while I was standing with him to see how accurate the API test kit was when used with CopperPower. API's response was that the API test kit was not designed to check copper levels in the product CopperPower. They elaborated by saying that the API test kit relies on color codes, as do other test kits, and there could be variations between color charts for the different copper test kits, which can mean the API color code chart would provide erroneous data or the difference between safe and unsafe copper levels. Personally, I think that's rich when I can barely tell the difference between safe and unsafe levels on API's color chart without matching it against a sample!

Just thought I should report... API's official response is not to trust it's copper test kit to test levels of copper when using CopperPower.

That’s interesting, they’re both chelated copper and have the same copper ideal ranges. I’m starting to lose faith in all of these companies! Haha!

Also, did I read correctly that you’re using copper in your DT? Do you have any inverts?

rkpetersen · Mar 20, 2018

4FordFamily said:
One thing I noticed about copper power is there that is no batch number or dates anywhere on the bottle.

Just checked my bottle, it has this:

HotRocks · Mar 20, 2018

rkpetersen said:
Just checked my bottle, it has this:

That's interesting. I have 6 bottles (several 4oz and one 16oz). @4FordFamily has 3 or so 16oz. All of ours combined, none have any batch ID, or expiration like yours!

4FordFamily · Mar 20, 2018

HotRocks said:
That's interesting. I have 6 bottles (several 4oz and one 16oz). @4FordFamily has 3 or so 16oz. All of ours combined, none have any batch ID, or expiration like yours!

They must have added it! It’s a good step in the right direction!

rkpetersen · Mar 20, 2018

It's a 4 oz bottle, got it from Amazon. Seems legit? A recent purchase. Anytime I hear about some potentially useful medication, I like to get some for the shelf, if it's not too pricey. I'd rather have it when I need it than order it and wait (or run out for it and find it out of stock.)

As little as I am likely to use, I still may actually exhaust it by then.

Sashaka · Mar 20, 2018

HotRocks said:
I ordered the following:
Hi range checker
Cleaning cloths
Cuvette cleaning solution
Spare reagents. (They come in 25 packs). 6 come with the tester
2 spare cuvettes

Thank you! This list is exactly what I need to make an order. Much obliged.

Sashaka · Mar 20, 2018

4FordFamily said:
That’s interesting, they’re both chelated copper and have the same copper ideal ranges. I’m starting to lose faith in all of these companies! Haha!

Agreed. Personally, I think they are just covering their butts, though their rationale did make sense. I still use the API copper test kit with CopperPower because it's the only one my LFS sells and so far so good with the test kit. I am looking forward to using the Hanna checker though!

And yes, I have pulled the snails. It's a FOWLR tank, except for some turbos. I have posted in a different thread asking for advice and stating my plans for treating the fish that are still itching. I think I put it in the "What is this?" thread.

4FordFamily · Mar 21, 2018

Sashaka said:
Agreed. Personally, I think they are just covering their butts, though their rationale did make sense. I still use the API copper test kit with CopperPower because it's the only one my LFS sells and so far so good with the test kit. I am looking forward to using the Hanna checker though!

And yes, I have pulled the snails. It's a FOWLR tank, except for some turbos. I have posted in a different thread asking for advice and stating my plans for treating the fish that are still itching. I think I put it in the "What is this?" thread.

This may be helpful to you, then.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-remove-copper-from-dt.326316/

drstardust · Mar 21, 2018

My checker has shipped and is getting here tomorrow! I'm so stoked! I've never been so excited about getting something reefing related that isn't a fish/coral or a new tank altogether

DanielJameS · Mar 21, 2018

Great thread. I’m glad I decided to buy copper power locally as I was about 1 click away from getting coppersafe on Amazon, but didn’t have the time to wait. Relying solely on an API kit I could potentially have a bunch of dead fish right now [emoji15]

HotRocks · Mar 21, 2018

drstardust said:
My checker has shipped and is getting here tomorrow! I'm so stoked! I've never been so excited about getting something reefing related that isn't a fish/coral or a new tank altogether

Good Stuff! I almost posted this am to ask if any of you that had ordered got shipment notifications yet!

puffy127 · Mar 21, 2018

Fortunately my coppersafe seems to be on target (at least I'm not overdosing). Glad you guys are testing out a more precise way to measure therapeutic levels. But until all this mess is sorted out, I'm doing 36-hour TTMs.

Big G · Mar 21, 2018

HotRocks said:
Good Stuff! I almost posted this am to ask if any of you that had ordered got shipment notifications yet!

Yep. Mine's on the way.

HotRocks · Mar 21, 2018

Big G said:
Yep. Mine's on the way.

Good deal, I am excited for you guys to give it whirl, and look forward to seeing what you think!

Huskymaniac · Mar 21, 2018

Just got my checker. Checked first tank and got a reading of 3.56. Started making water to change water to get copper level down. Will post other two tanks in a bit. Dosed 1.5ml per gallon.