copper level treatment

[duke6188]

What level copper should i do .2 or .15 and ill tell you all the fish that are going to be in teh rubber maid are blue tang yellow tang 4 damsels 2 clowns blenny royal somthing purple and yellow guy dwarf lion and cow fish

 

[Hattie B]

it depends on the type you buy.

which ever you buy follow the directions carfully.

I have used Seachem Cupramine before, which is very user friendly and even did well on scaleless fish.

 

[duke6188]

Im using seacure it says get it to .15 then put it at the level u want

 

[arizona tech]

if that is the directions then i would go .15-.20 is that chelated copper?

 

[pactrop]

Is it just me or do all copper test kits look like they are made by a toy company? How accurate do you think they are?

 

[lynn53]

Is there a information number on the product that you can call. If you do copper and the level's aren't high enough....you won't kill the ick. If the level's are a tad too high..you'll kill your fish. Remember depending on the size of tank, you'll pretty much have to do a total water change every 24 hours, as the ammonia level's get high super fast with no cycled water or bacteria in it.

 

[duke6188]

its cycled water straight from their old tank and the filter has bacteria already since it was theirs also

 

[lynn53]

That doesn't work for copper, as the copper kills ALL bacteria (good and bad) so now your good bacteria in your cyled water is dead... and the filter will absorb some of the copper, which you don't want to happen. Basically when I do copper it's a totally bare tank with some pvc for them to hide in (and won't absorb copper) and a air pump.

 

[duke6188]

yeah ours is a bare tank and some places for them to hide in
i bought start up bacteria last night as well to help get it started

 

[lynn53]

I know the LFS keep selling that stuff ...but the copper kills bacteria, so you don't want to add it. It will just die and pollect the tank....and then your ammonia will kill the fish unless you do water changes every 24 hrs or so depending on size of tank and amount of fish.

 

[lynn53]

Thats alot of fish for a ten gallon....check your ammonia levels morning and night.

 

[jgoodrich71]

I usually stay out of the disease forum because I get slammed for using copper, but I started out in this hobby long ago when copper was the cure for parasites. I have always relied on copper, and with careful application, it is very effective. I ran a LFS with a permanently set up hospital tank that I always kept copper in. It never had high ammonia or nitrites. It was an established system that ran for years like that. How do you explain you statement that copper kills ALL bacteria (good and bad), if I could run that system for so long with copper?

And to the thread starter, you may want to reconsider copper for your lion and cowfish, they do not do well with copper.

 

[lynn53]

I very seldom ever check this forum as well...and never usually post either.
Gosh, You have me thinking. Are you dosing theraputic amounts or "the cure" amount. My LFS has told me...that it kills inverts and bacteria. Thats why you never use it in a tank, only a hospital tank. I never questioned it. Maybe it can be used in established system. Can you send some info or reads my way that support this.
thanks

 

[jgoodrich71]

I can't send you any info, as it was just something I did. I would never recommend copper in a system that someone would ever think of putting inverts in. When I started we ran copper in every system. There were old systems in the back (out of public view)that were used as hospital systems. When I took it over I pretty much stopped putting copper in all the systems and would only keep it at 0.25 ppm in the hospital. Things eventually got to the point were I would no longer use the hospital. All that was back there were some mean damsels and dottybacks that somebody asked us to take off their hands. They were huge, but the color was poor when they brought them to us, so I used them just to keep that system cycled.

I know my methods are now considered archane, but they work for me.

 

[duke6188]

there are 2 seperate tanks a 30 gallon rubbermaid and a 10 gallon both with a .2 copper level so far the cow looks good ive read of people doing fine with cowfish and copper and some saying it killed theirs both of my levels are .15 not .2 and the puffer and lion fish i was told o watch also but seem to be doing fine thusfar will keep updates througout this month as the copper will be in there for 2 weeks then a water change on teh qt tanks bigger then normal then slowly add them back to the main tank i should let the main tank sit fallow for a month right it only has starfish and crabs and a cleaner shrimp in it right now

 

[lynn53]

Well best of luck to you, keep us posted!
cheers

 

[jgoodrich71]

I have sucesfully treated lions and cowfish with copper before, but just realize you are taking a greater chance with them. I recommend at least 2 weeks, long if possible. The longer you let your tank fallow, the better.