Coppersafe question

[sknoch78]

I have a PBT in quarantine currently. He had mild ich when I recieved him, so I dipped in a Formalin bath and the next day he looked great. Followed up two days later with another bath but now he does not look so hot. Couple days go buy and he looks worse. Today I bought some Coppersafe and dosed the tank he is in. It is a 55g. The directions say 1 tsp for 4 gallons so going slightly on the safe side, I added 12 tsp. Waited a couple of hours and used a Salifert copper test kit and it says the level is over 2. My understanding is that a safe dose is supposed to be around .25. What gives? Has anyone on here used Coppersafe? What was your experience?

Couple of things. The Formalin was done outside the tank. There is nothing in the tank with the exception of a piece of pvc. I had been running a skimmer but took it off line today when I dosed the copper. I am currently running an airstone in the tank. The fish has been eating a sheet of nori soaked in garlic each day.

Any help would be appreciated.

Shawn

 

[Fountainhead]

Are you certain that your Salifert test kit is the one that will properly measure coppersafe. I know the older ones didn't measure cheleated copper, but that apparently the newer ones do. I'd double check to see if the test kit is proper for coppersafe.

I'm using coppersafe right now, sans test kit. I simply added the exact amount per the instructions and do daily water changes, adding the proper amout to the make-up water. Of course, this requires a precise measurement of removed and added water, but so far so good.

 

[pactrop]

I don't really trust any copper test kit especially with cheleats. if you dose it according to the instructions it should work.

Maybe your formalin dip was off.

Good luck, hope you figure it out.

 

[Angela Short]

formalin does nothing for ick I don't think..... I always would use the same test kit as the manufacturer to be safe.

 

[sknoch78]

Unfortunately he did not make it through the night. This is really unfortunate considering we were set up to deal with this. I am not sure what happened with the Coppersafe as I dosed according to the bottle. The Salifert kit is a new one.

As for the Formalin, it was what my lfs recommended and I also read about it in a Reefkeeping article that is located in the ich thread.