CP on reef tank

[Deinonych]

Reviving this thread, as I had a recurrence of crypto in my DT despite it going follow for 12 weeks, all fish treated with CP etc. I plan to remove all of my inverts (7 corals, a bunch of snails and two cleaner shrimp), treat with CP for 4 weeks and (hopefully) move the inverts back in after 12 weeks. I plan to leave my skimmer off during treatment.

rog2961 and/or Alberta-newb, what is the current status of your tank(s)? Have you added inverts back into the tank post-treatment? Any other pertinent thoughts to share?

 

[Alberta-newb]

Well I did redose the 90 gal. at 60mg/gal with skimmer off and ambient light only. Despite these measures I noted algae growth within a week. I suspect either the CP is reacting with the LR or substrate or it was of questionable quality. I wasn't confident that the hippo tang was ich free (still had a spot or two) so I removed the rock and substrate to some buckets, did a 60% WC and treated with cupramine for an additional 2 weeks. Another big WC and carbon followed and LR, substrate, a couple of corals, hermits and snails went back in. No issues since but can't really help you in your situation.

I won't be trying CP in a display again (hopefully!) and have since bought quality product through my vet for use in my QT tank.

 

[Deinonych]

OK, thanks. I appreciate the response nonetheless. I know the CP I have on hand is good quality. I guess I'll have to give it a go and see what happens.

 

[rog2961]

Reviving this thread, as I had a recurrence of crypto in my DT despite it going follow for 12 weeks, all fish treated with CP etc. I plan to remove all of my inverts (7 corals, a bunch of snails and two cleaner shrimp), treat with CP for 4 weeks and (hopefully) move the inverts back in after 12 weeks. I plan to leave my skimmer off during treatment.

rog2961 and/or Alberta-newb, what is the current status of your tank(s)? Have you added inverts back into the tank post-treatment? Any other pertinent thoughts to share?

I ran a skimmer and carbon for a week or two and blasted the lights in my DT to remove CP. Once that was done, I transferred all my coral from the small tank into my DT. I lost one small frag that was branching. The polyps turned black and then it just went down hill from there. I have a large (to me) sps colony, it started to RTN on me. I tried saving it by breaking off the portions that were affected, then used superglue on the ends. It appears to have stopped it. I had similar experience as alberta, the coralline algae appeared unaffected. I finally got around to adding some snails after not having any for half a year. They appear to be unaffected.


I'd recommend some caution if you have a very mature tank. Mine is only 6 months old so I'd assume the die off was minimal. I'd imagine in a very mature tank, there would be quite a bit of die off. Also remember CP will cause a false spike in ammonia. I had this happen to me. Turned out to be false as verified by a salifert kit.

 

[Deinonych]

I ran a skimmer and carbon for a week or two and blasted the lights in my DT to remove CP. Once that was done, I transferred all my coral from the small tank into my DT. I lost one small frag that was branching. The polyps turned black and then it just went down hill from there. I have a large (to me) sps colony, it started to RTN on me. I tried saving it by breaking off the portions that were affected, then used superglue on the ends. It appears to have stopped it. I had similar experience as alberta, the coralline algae appeared unaffected. I finally got around to adding some snails after not having any for half a year. They appear to be unaffected.


I'd recommend some caution if you have a very mature tank. Mine is only 6 months old so I'd assume the die off was minimal. I'd imagine in a very mature tank, there would be quite a bit of die off. Also remember CP will cause a false spike in ammonia. I had this happen to me. Turned out to be false as verified by a salifert kit.

Thanks. All of my corals are LPS, save one (a zoa colony). My tank is just shy of a year old, so I'm not too worried about a large die-off. I'll monitor ammonia closely the first few days and dose prime if needed.

My only real concern is the unknown factor of rock and substrate absorption. I will probably dose 70mg/gal to compensate for any absorption. Too bad I don't have a spectrophotometer handy.