Cupramine

[angieg1123]

I am setting up a 30g breeder (36x18x13) for a hospital tank. I had my powder blue tang in a 20g QT tank and he was fine for 2 weeks. (should have treated "just in case") Put him in the 125g reef tank and within a week I noticed ICH. Now I have to try to catch all of the fish in a 125g reef tank...grrrrr!!! I just want to verify I am reading the Cupramine instructions correctly.

Once I fill the tank with SW..I add the 48 drops of Cupramine.

Then in 48 hours I add ANOTHER 48 drops? (without doing a water change)

So there should be a TOTAL of 96 drops of Cupramine in the tank by day 3??

Should I add the fish to the hospital tank on day one or wait untill day 3?

Thanks...
Angie



:headwally:

 

[MrTuskfish]

I've used Cupramine for years on a great many fish. You don't need to treat at the dosage on the bottle and SeaChem tech support has confirmed this. Get a compatible copper test kit; either SeaChem of Salifert. Don't rely on counting drops. If you get the fish in today and need to wait for the test kit; dose at 1/2 the number of drops. Unless fish are looking like they'll die today; raise the Cu slower than the directions. 1st day, about .2ppm---then increase to about .4 over a few days. If the fish are not covered in ich; its a good idea to getting them eating in the QT before treating. If they stop, its a sign that you need to back off the Cu and then very lowly increase it.
BTW, the problem with the tang probably could have been solved with treatment; but 2 weeks is nowhere near long enough to have a new fish in QT. Ich, and other parasites, can take much longer to become visible.

 

[angieg1123]

Thank you. I do usually QT fish for 4 weeks minimum, but he is by far the largest fish I have ever purchased and he was pretty big for the 20g High tank. He was unhappy in the 20g QT tank, but not nearly as unhappy as he is now with ICH ...


I went and purchased the 36" tank just for QT of larger fish. Mare swimming room. Lesson learned.

I do have a copper test kit but it is an off brand (API) and the salifert test kit should be here by friday.

Who would have thought that since starting saltwater in 1997 I would now for the first time experience ICH?

 

[bdroddy]

The API test kit is terrible. I bought that before discussing with Mrtuskfish and him recommending the Salifert kit. Great it is coming by Friday. I did a little slower dosing of the cupramine when I added it to my HT. I took a week to raise it. After 4 weeks, I used cumprisorb to get the copper out. If you use too much carbon your tang will get hole in the head IMO, plus I experienced it with my tang. Also after you remove the copper, I would leave him in the qt for at least 4 more weeks to make sure that stuff doesn't come back. Experienced that too with my tang.

Lastly, test the copper right before the lights go off to make sure the level is right at that time.

 

[snorvich]

Please remember to test daily before lights go out.

 

[CT Reefer]

+1 on the testing before lights out. I didn't, and two weeks into my QT I discovered my copper levels had fallen below the therapeutic level. Had to start over...not fun. Also, I would ditto comments on the API kit. I bought it as a "second opinion" test kit to the Salfert, I found it virtually unusable...waste of money.

Good luck with the tang.

 

[MrTuskfish]

+1 on the testing before lights out. I didn't, and two weeks into my QT I discovered my copper levels had fallen below the therapeutic level. Had to start over...not fun. Also, I would ditto comments on the API kit. I bought it as a "second opinion" test kit to the Salfert, I found it virtually unusable...waste of money.

Good luck with the tang.

It really isn't the quality of the test kit. All copper is not the same and some brands need different test kits. You can never go wrong using a test from the same company that makes what you want to test. So; SeaChem or salifert for Cupramine. I've always used Cupramine and the API test doesn't work with it. However, (someone tell please post if this is wrong) I think the API test does with Coppersafe brand. I'd suggest that anyone using Cupramine check the SeaChem site, especially the FAQ. Cupramine also has great tech support too, very helpful people who are not just trained to support sales.
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Cupramine.html