Cupramine Question

[NexDog]

I'm only feeding brine and mysis and none gets left on the bottom. Some gets caught on the powerhead filters that can be easily cleaned.

Only two of the Royal Grammas are out and about since upping the dose. The rest are buried in holes in the LR. Fingers crossed.

Cheers for all the advice, really appreciated.

 

[Chris27]

You got the Red Sea kit, why not use the bottle of copper that came with it? Paracure is strait up copper sulfate, arguably the best treatment against the parasite...plus you can use amquel or prime without worry of anything turning horribly toxic.

As for a skimmer, it can be used with copper, copper is metal, not an organic solid, so the skimmer won't remove it like it does fish waste and herbal treatments.

Carbon is def. a no-no though, as it will remove metals.

 

[LargeAngels]

Copper sulfate is pretty harsh on fish and many don't tolerate it. That is the advantage of Cupramine. Very affective and tolerated by even "copper" sensitive species.

 

[NexDog]

Once you put Cupramine in teh tank, does it dilute with time? Say I've dosed at the correct amount at the start and then do water changes putting in 2ml per 10g - the Cupramine level can't go down by itself? As the test is a bit difficult to read I'd like to be able to rely on my dosing proceedures.

 

[LargeAngels]

In a standard QT with no rock, sand or protein skimmer Cupramine does not really dilute with time.

 

[NexDog]

it has a bit of rock. Maybe 20 pounds or so. Do you think the levels will keep for at least three weeks?

 

[LargeAngels]

If it is rock that hasn't been exposed to Cupramine before I expect it won't hold for 3 weeks. What I find with Cupramine in a tank with rock/sand is that you will have to add at first until the rock/sand appears to be "saturated" with Cupramine. The rock still absorbs some Cupramine, but at a very low rate after that. Keep in mind that Cupramine's affective range is 0.3-0.8 so although it is a little difficult to read the color charts one doesn't have to be so exact.

 

[NexDog]

Ack, sucks. Fingers crossed then I guess. Thanks for the help as always.

 

[Chris27]

Given that we can't tell what stage the parasite is in with the naked eye, daily testing is important in this case. The copper concentration must be kept at a constant therapeutic level to ensure it breaks the lifecycle of the parasite. Any calcareous material (sand, rock, crushed coral) will absorb the copper, thus dropping the concentration in the water column. Continued addition may be in order in your case, it would be terrible to go through the trouble of QT'ing only to have the parasite live through the treatment.