# How long does copper take to kill snails/shrimp?



## hissien (Jul 7, 2011)

Okay I have had a snail for two weeks and he is still alive and well, he is grazing on a leaf right now.

But...... I got 10 ghost shrimp yesterday and I believe 7 have died. The bodies were intact and my betta shows no interest in even the smallest ones. The rasboras do not either.

The temperature is a steady 80 degrees nitrates ammonia and nitrites are good. There is no chlorine or chloromines. 

I am stumped. I have a 115 year old house that's piping is questionable at best but I don't know if it is copper or if it was changed. 

Would any sizable amount of copper that could kill shrimp kill a snail? And they haven't died all at once but slowly, they turn pale, flail about for awhile and die. The pH is neutral as well. Any thoughts?


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Snails are inverts.. I think all inverts are intolerant of copper. It could be what's killing them, I think they'd be more tolerant than shrimp for sure.


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## hissien (Jul 7, 2011)

But would they die slowly or all at once? Because a few are alive and the snail is fine.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

The copper might as well and have been the problem, all invertebrates are intolerant of copper, which is usually why they seem to suddenly die when ich medications are introduc into the tank as most contain copper. They can both survive with a small, diluted amount of copper as my fertilizer for the plants (seachem flourish) contains a very minimal amount of copper, my invertibrates don't seem to be effected in any noticeable amounts 

While all invertebrates are intolerant of copper some do better than others, as you've found snails and shrimp are a good example. While shrimp would suddenly perish, snails might do a bit better off in the conditions.

There a even a few more examples in the home Aquarium, Plecos and Corydoras. While both are intolerant of salt as they are scaleless,Plecos tolerate it much better, and Corydoras almost die at a higher amount.

Yes, they would all die at once. At any sign of an unreasonable, unprefered amount of any substance will effect the live specimens within the tank negatively and can easily cause a mass death. Usually effecting the weaker first. Your other shrimp will most likely perish too unless the amount of copper is diluted


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## hissien (Jul 7, 2011)

Now the only question is.......

How to remove it? A simple way would be to do a 100 percent water change with RO water. But seeing as that is expensive and more importantly would throw of the balance of my tank. 

Would a carbon filter help? How sure are we that this is copper? I really hope it isn't because shrimp are so interesting and I don't want to kill anymore or my snail timothy.......


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=75841
quick search- seems pretty difficult to remove D:


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Seachem's Cuprisorp is an effective copper sensitive resin, that commonly works towards eliminating copper


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## hissien (Jul 7, 2011)

The shrimp are basically doomed but will timothy(snail) die too? He's been around for two weeks so far.....


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

depends on the snail's ability to withstand these kinds of conditions. Most will handle it better than shrimp, yet they will still die due to the long term effect it has on all types of invertebrates


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Yes, you already said you lost several.. So I'm guessing it'll get him soon :/


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## hissien (Jul 7, 2011)

several shrimp not snails, I had loaches and they killed my other one. But thank you all for the help I will try to find those chemicals to remove the copper. 

Just to be clear this IS a copper issue right? I don't want to add anything unless I have too....


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

This hasn't been mentioned but it could help a lot. I know that copper leaches in the water MUCH more when you use warm/hot water from your tap.. I believe our water heater adds copper to the water as well. If you have this problem, just fill a large tub with ice cold water, and let it sit until it reaches room temperature, or heat until it is the same temp as your tank water.


From a shrimp website:
"Most important in water is ensuring that chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals are removed with dechlorinators prior to adding to the tank. With their increased sensitivity to heavy metals shrimp are more susceptible to leached ions from hot water systems in which water contact with copper pipes is longer. It is highly recommended not to use any hot tap water when performing water changes."
http://www.planetinverts.com/aquatic_invertebrates.html


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## hissien (Jul 7, 2011)

Thank you!!! Another may have died but two I know for a fact are alive. if they live for a week I will rule out copper as the cause.


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