I started a tank in my college dorm. Cycled the tank, acclimated the fish, everything. 5 of my 7 corydoras (all that was in the 10 gal) died. I immediately removed them once I realized there was a problem. Two of them died in the toxic waters and 3 of them died in my SAFE 20 gal at my house; 2 of them survived :) I would like to start up the 10 gal for my brother in his room at the house with same water in the 20 gal. I discovered that the pipes in my dorm are copper pipes and the water was full of copper and poisoned all my fish. Therefore, they all died from copper poisoning :( My question is how should I clean the tank? I removed the gravel and got all new gravel (obviously removed all the water). but the filters, are they safe to use if I change out the cartridge. What about the ornaments; they aren‘t very big and have a sealant on them. I just don‘t want to end up poisoning other hopeless fish. Thanks for your help
Get some tapsafe it will kill the chlorine and coper in the water
Use Seachem Prime or Kordon Nova Aqua Plus water conditioners to detoxify heavy metals in the water.
Interesting conclusion. Copper waterpipes are standard in much of europe and yet we don't get copper poisoning. I got copper pipes in my house and I'm breeding 2 species of shrimp and we all know how sensitive those are to copper. Anyway, if it was copper poisoning yes you'd need to replace filter media and recycle the tank
