Cupramine Question

NexDog

NexDog

Snail Killer
Premium Member
Not used Cupramine before as I normally use hypo when QTing new arrivals. Anyhow, directions say to dose 1ml then dose another 1ml 48 hours and leave for 2 weeks. During this time should I not change the water? Kind of worried about keeping water quality within acceptable levels without a WC for 2 weeks. Do must people do this twice and if so what is the dosage on weeks 3-4 (as there will be Cupramine in teh system still). Or maybe do a 75% water change and dose 2ml 48 hours apart again?
 
1ml per 10 gallons gives a strength of 0.25 ppm. Another 1ml/10 gallons gives you the 0.5 ppm recommended. They only tell you to wait 48 hours between the half doses so that the fish can adjust. If you have a good bio then you probably don't need water changes, but if you do water changes just add 1ml per 5 gallons of new water. You should also test copper concentration to make sure it stays at 0.5 ppm.

When I change water I dose at full strenght (1ml/5 gallons) since the fish are already in full strength.
 
1ml per 5 gallons. Sounds sensible. I have a copper kit. It's ancient but never used so hopefully it will be okay. If it tests at 0.5ppm after the first 2 doses I guess I'm good.

Thanks for the advice. Feel better now. I'm VERY nervous as this is my first time. After all these years I'm still a copper virgin having been married to hypo for so long. :)
 
Cupramine is a great copper treatment as it is not nearly as harsh as others. There are a few things to keep in mind. DON'T mix any water treatments or other meds with Cupramine as it can make a toxic combination. Many ammonia test kits give false positives as they can't distinguish between the ammonia and Cupramine.
 
Doing the Cupramine right now. Last question: Do I need to do two cycles of 14 days to guarantee I kill Ich or will one suffice?
 
I was told direct from Seachem's support in an email to treat for at least 21 days with Cupramine even though the bottle says 2 weeks.

They recommended three weeks if the fish are OK and only pull them out at two weeks if there are complications arising.
 
Are you treating in a qt tank or display? I took all live rock out of my qt tank because it absorbs some of the copper. I do frequent water changes so I don't get ammonia. Then I add 1ml/5gallons as LargeAngels said.
 
A sane person doesn't treat Cupramine in a display tank. ;)

Cheers Recty. Three weeks it is then.
 
copper

copper

i add the copper slowly into my 10 g qt tank. 3 drops a day, until i have about 10-12 drops. I followed the directions on the bottle before, and the fish started losing its color. I had a regal tang die on me cause of it. I also change the water constantly, just to keep the nitrates down. I test for amonia, everyday. Im currently treating a copperband butterfly and its so sensitive.
 
My Salifert copper test is out of date and not reading any copper so I bought a Red Sea test kit. It shows at 0.3ppm for some reason. Does a skimmer skim Cupramine out? I've turned it off now anyhow as I'm dosing Pimafix.

I have a 50g and dosed 5ml Saturday and 5ml yesterday.

Now I don't know whether to dose more or not trust the test kits. :(
 
Skimmer will take Cupramine out. Red Sea I believe only goes up to 0.4 ppm. Cupramine is affective from 0.3 to 0.8. If you are unsure of the test kit mix up a fresh batch of SW in a 5 gallon bucket. Add 1/2 ml (8 drops) and see what it reads. Should be 0.25. Then add another 1/2 ml (8 drops) and see what the reading is. Should be 0.5 ppm. That should tell you if you can trust the test kit.
 
NexDog said:
My Salifert copper test is out of date and not reading any copper so I bought a Red Sea test kit. It shows at 0.3ppm for some reason. Does a skimmer skim Cupramine out? I've turned it off now anyhow as I'm dosing Pimafix.

I have a 50g and dosed 5ml Saturday and 5ml yesterday.

Now I don't know whether to dose more or not trust the test kits. :(
Click to expand...

Yes, you need to have your skimmer off and make sure you have any carbon removed from your filtration.
 
do be careful with copper test kits, not all of them out there will read correct levels of cu when dosing cupramine. Salifert (not expired) should work well.
 
Thanks guys. Did the test with DT water and the only conclusion I can firmly draw is that the Red Sea copper test kit sucks. :p

Very little difference in colour between half dose and full dose but the colour of the QT test looks around half strength (0.25ppm) so I dosed another 5ml of Cupramine to bring it up. Even if I'm 0.1ppm off I should be between 0.4 and 0.6 so fingers crossed.

I'm going to do 20% water changes (10g) twice a week (Wednesday and Sunday). Do you reckon this will be enough to keep up water quality without a skimmer online?
 
It all depends how much you are feeding... I feed pretty sparingly normally during cupramine treatment as a lot of the time the fish wont eat anyway.

I siphon out the uneaten food after about 30 minutes, that way there isnt any food wasting in the tank.

Anyway, if you're feeding a lot and letting a lot of food sit on the bottom uneaten, you'll probably need larger water changes.
 
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