Cupramine procedure & Questions for Ich ?

[Cambria]

I have a blue hippo tang that looks like she has ich pretty bad and she has been itching herself. Also of one of my two clownfish who seems to itch and will occasionally hang out near the surface of the water. I was thinking about doing the copper method to get rid of the parasites. I was planning to take out all my fish and putting them in a 19 gallon QT that I'll setup by doing a water change on the DT and putting the water taken out into there. I have a filter canister, but what media do I put in it? (I attached a photo of what it looks like) It will be a bare bottom tank with PVC pipes for hiding, a heater, thermometer, and powerhead.
Here are the fish that will be going in:
~Blue Hippo Tang
~Powder Blue Tang
~Flame Angelfish
~2 clownfish
~Green Mandarin
I'm not sure if I should put the Green mandarin in because I heard they are really sensitive to copper and can possible not get ich. So should I keep the green mandarin in the DT? I also heard that clownfish and dwarf angels can be sensitive to copper as well. So would it be okay to build up the copper slowly and they should be fine? And does copper really affect the life span, liver, or kidneys of fish?
I put my planned method and within it are some questions I have. The directions on the Cupramine bottle says to do 16 drops/ 10.5 gallons the first day and wait 48 hours. I was going to do 1 drop/ 2 gallons to slowly build it up so hopefully it won't have dramatic affect on the clownfish and the flame angel.
Procedure:
Day1: Put fish in QT and let them get use to their surroundings.
Day 2: Add 1 drop of Cupramine per 2 gallon to build it up slowly. After 3 hrs, test with Salifert copper test kit.
Day 3 and on...: Each day add 1 drop of Cupramine per 2 gallon and check with test kit daily until it has reached .5 ppm and maintain it there for 5 weeks. Also check salinity, temp., ammonia, and nitrate. What should the salinity be at? How often would I do water changes and what %?
After 5 weeks: Add carbon to bring down copper and do a 20% water change. If the copper is still not 0, how often would I do Water changes and what %?
While this is happening: Let DT run for 9 weeks with no fish. Make sure to feed the inverts.
Then when copper tests 0 in QT and DT ran for 9 weeks, acclimate fish back to DT.

 

[jessemac]

I am going through an ICH treatment right now and am using Cuprmine. I have a manadirn pair who I decided to leave in the QT while I dosed the Cupramine. I dosed at 1/4 the recommended amount the first day, 48 hours later, I dose again at 1/4 the recommended amount and then tested the water with a Saliftert Copper Test kit. Copper measure around the .25 mark. After that I removed the Mandarin pair and put them into and establish refugium that is part of my sump, which is no longer connected to the 90 and is a stand alone system. After the Mandarins were out, I continued to increas the Cupramine.

The Mandarin pair is doing well in the fuge. I have a thread on here and on Michigan reefers with updates as to my experiences thus far. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[scuzy]

You would need to monitor the water parameters as your qt isn't cycle ammonia will be your enemy. Besides that you plan seems to be good. I am gone through the same process recently. But I left dt 12 weeks fallow I mean since you already done 9 what's another 3 weeks to make sure no ich still lives in your dt.

 

[scuzy]

I also do water changes in the qt every three to four days and I replenish the amount of copper that I take out.

 

[Cambria]

I was wondering what you guys put in a filter for the treatment. I have a fluval hooked up to the DT and I was going to take one of the bio-foams and put it in the QT canister and maybe some of the BIOMAX because of the bacteria on them and it suppose to help with the nitrates and ammonia. What do you guys think? Would the BIOMAX affect the copper?

 

[scuzy]

I use ceramic disks for more surface area for bacteria.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I was wondering what you guys put in a filter for the treatment. I have a fluval hooked up to the DT and I was going to take one of the bio-foams and put it in the QT canister and maybe some of the BIOMAX because of the bacteria on them and it suppose to help with the nitrates and ammonia. What do you guys think? Would the BIOMAX affect the copper?

This is the most common way of dealing with ammonia & nitrite in a QT, I assume. It won't help with nitrate; but nitrate doesn't hurt fish anyhow. There's no reason to even test for nitrate in a QT. Do not use any of the ammonia neutralizing products; they can form deadly compound with many types of copper. Biomax will not affect copper; just don't use any carbon.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I use ceramic disks for more surface area for bacteria.

Just about any similar media will work; if its had enough time to seed before its used the QT. I've used AquaClear HOB filters for years, their sponges are huge and will hold plenty of bacteria. Always keep some new media in the flow of your DT system and you'll always have it when you need it.

 

[jessemac]

I have a large box of Bio-balls that I soaked in my sump first, seperate from the QT. I am running a CPR DX8 Protien skimmer (I think that is the model), which has a large area in the return so I put the bio-balls in there.

You will want to monitor your copper levels and get an ammonia test kit, both Seachem and Mardel make the test strip you put into the tank to monitor ammonia.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I have a large box of Bio-balls that I soaked in my sump first, seperate from the QT. I am running a CPR DX8 Protien skimmer (I think that is the model), which has a large area in the return so I put the bio-balls in there.

You will want to monitor your copper levels and get an ammonia test kit, both Seachem and Mardel make the test strip you put into the tank to monitor ammonia.

Many ammonia tests don't work with many types of copper. If using Cupramine, a SeaChem test or a stick-on ammonia alert badge will work.