Copper in the water?

I have had an algae bloom recently probably my 4th month into my tank. I think i have tracked it down to my light bulbs. But I was asked if I have had copper in my system by my LFS. When I bought a bunch of live rock, and 3 fish from a guy off CL, he had given me a grounding wire to put in the tank taking out any currents from equipment. It is basically a 3 prong wire with only a copper wire (ground) that was put in the water. I've had it in my tank for a while now. Will this introduce copper into the water?

I've attempted to add snails, and a pulsing xenia which quickly died. I was told it was either phosphates, or nitrates. I bought liquid test kits for phos & nitrates. Phos is 0, and nitrates are 20-30ppm (I know that is high). I have attempted to remove as many snails, and such out and the fish are fine. Now I have been seeing red and green algae spots creeping up on my rocks. And I believe my sally lightfoot crab just bit the dust. I thought it was him shedding his skin, but I do not see him now and i just don't want a crashing tank. crap.

 

Yes. You do not want anything made of copper (or any other metal) to come in contact with your tank water. While that may have contributed to the demise of your coral and inverts, I doubt it has anything to do with algae blooms. No algae feeds on copper as far as I know.

 

Exactly. Copper would also kill the algae, if anything. Grounding probes should be titanium.

 

what is your salt level at? low salt will cause those inverts to die. and if what you added to your tank was a ground probe, one that is made to go into the water, they aren't copper, so thats not a problem. another question, did you buy your tank new or used? if it was used and copper was in it that could be a problem.
low salt will also kill coral, even if your salt level is ok, xenia is a funny coral, no one knows why it does well in some tanks and poorly in others.