Cupramine or Coppersafe, which would you use in a QT?

Mr. Brooks

MASVC Member
Like the title says. I have both. I'm about to treat a Blue Tang. I've heard Cupramine is harder to test for copper. Coppersafe makes me nervous, a much higher concentraion is recommended. Which do you prefer? BTW I have a Salifert Copper test kit.
 
I use Cupramine and like it. I haven't used CopperSafe on a marine tank.I believe the Sea chem test works on it.Since iCupramine is chelated and covers a broad dosing range, testing is less critical if you don't have any absorbtive media in the tank.
 
Cupramine is leaps and bounds above any other copper treatment. Its also much better than Hyposalinity, IME.
 
I have only had ich once thank god! but i used coppersafe in my QT tank. and i did not have any problems. My scotts fairy wrasse was the main fish with ich and he stressed out at first but was just fine.

Either one would probably work just fine.
 
I would use neither in QT.

I setup a hospital tank when I need to treat a fish.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14181537#post14181537 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xenon
I would use neither in QT.

I setup a hospital tank when I need to treat a fish.
:D Is that because it's covered under national health inusrance?:confused: :lol:
 
Cupramine is the safer route for using copper. Tangs are pretty sensitive to copper so test your levels regularly.
From what I have read there are 3 kits that give accurate results when testing cupramine, Salifert, Red Sea, and I forget the other one.
 
Hey should I turn the skimmer off? It seems to be skimming some of the Cupramine. The tank was being used as holding tank with live rock. I took the rock out and replaced with bio balls. I'm slightly concerned that the biological hasn't quite caught up yet. So I'm hesitant to turn off the skimmer. What do you think?
 
I don't know.;never ran a quarantine tank with a skimmer. I don't think the skimmer would skim free copper but the Cupramine is chelated (presumably fixed to an organic of some type)which may have an affinity for the air/water interface. I would probably turn it off and provide a substitute form of aeration untill I knew. You could ask on the SeaChem sponsor forum.
 
Here's the answer. Turn the skimmer off. Be usre to provide aeration though.


Powerful protein skimmers can remove Cupramine from the water. Without a test kit to know whether the Cupramine is being removed or not it is a good idea to turn off the protein skimmer. After the first dose the second one should be done 48 hrs later. If ....


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11
 
I am going to jump in here as I seem to have a small blue tang with ich. Problem is he is impossible to catch. I just go near the tank with the net and he is in the rocks. does not matter whats in the hospital tank if the fish is not in there.
 
LOL thanks guys! My QT becomes a hospital tank as soon as a fish shows signs of something. I'd rather not risk throwing a big fish into a little tank with questionable filtration. My QT is a 55 gallon tank, 75 gallon system with bioballs, UV, skimmer and fuge. No sand, no rock. I can do a 100 percent water change with tank water from my 225 reef.
 
Ok but some copper will linger on surfaces in that tank and leach back. If you are concerned about that for future inhabitants such as invertebrates, run some cuprisorb or polypad in the filter for a month or so.
 
Back
Top