Coppersafe vs. Cupramine

[b0bab0ey]

OK, so my recent issues with Ich & Cupramine has me rethinking why exactly did I stop using Coppersafe in the first place. It served me well for 20+ years. Correct any of this if I'm wrong but:

• Dwarf Angels - I don't remember having any issues treating them with Coppersafe.
• Amquel - Apparently it's safe to use Amquel and other ammonia neutralizers in conjunction with chelated copper (Coppersafe) but not ionic copper (Cupramine). I'd say this is a pretty big downside as most of us use bare bottom QTs that sometimes have ammonia issues.
• Absorption - I don't remember having copper absorption issues with Coppersafe. I would dose it in a QT with u/g filtration & crushed coral. My copper levels always stayed consistent until I took it out with carbon. Coppersafe also never contaminated my filter bed or destroyed my biological filtration. Which is supposed to be an upside for using Cupramine.

To be fair about it, I have read that Cupramine is less toxic and thus safer for fish, and is more effective at lower levels than Coppersafe. So, I'm not trying to bash Cupramine as I'm sure it works great for many of you. Just trying to get thoughts/input.

 

[MrTuskfish]

IMO, the biggest advantage of Cupramine is the big gap between "effective on parasites" and "deadly to fish". I always thought all dwarf angels, especially flames, were sensitive to all copper (see LAs comment). Maybe not. I've used Cupramine on several Das, at .35 ppm with no problem, though. I did kill a Flame with copper, but am not 100 % sure it was the Cu----I don't think you ever know for sure what has killed a new fish. But the main reason I use cupramine is imply that it has worked well for years and I know the little quirks of the stuff; like reading Cu test kits. I also really like SeaChem's tech support. If a company doesn't have good T.S.---i don't buy their stuff. Coppersafe is a very reputable product; if it ain't broke, why fix it?