Actually, on a previous tank,I treated with cupramine with live rock. It was fine. Just don't add any coral(as you said fowl, but still had to say it), even if you want to try something, for at least 6 months after you test 0 on your copper tests. I found cupramine to be very forgiving for me in the past with this sort of "last resort"treatment. I completely feel your pain..
As for the ich.. As you know, it's a pita.. I tried something that my lfs guy suggested: medicated food along with plenty of vitamins.I have had UV on all of my tanks in the past ten years.. Also water quality and stability had always been excellent.. I tried the hypo,I tried the quarantine, but I never tried the ttm. I just didn't have room, and in this tank/system, I don't have room for a quarantine.. Add to that, because I have a larger tank(180dt(210 gallon), I'd need a larger qt for the fish I have..
So my guy suggested medicated food, as they feed this at the store and run copper also(it's a very good and rare lfs store). Before this, I always had the "10 days" blues. Whenever I added a new fish, it seemed, that at day 10, I would see spots.. Which then would stress me out, because I knew what was coming and the battle, not to mention, it set my ich timer completely back.. Well, on the medicated food mix, when I began feeding,I noticed that, because it was quality frozen food to begin with, of course, they are more aggressively, and fattened up. Not to mention, I haven't seen a spot in over 6 months.. With no quarantine, and I've had quite a few new fish.. But the main thing, is to get them eating! Once I can, and the sooner I can, the better.. And I feed them this mix every day without fail..
The mix now consists of pe mysis, fish frenzy(for the black worms), seachem melafix(for stomach and internal issues), kz immune fish stable(overall health and vigor from experience), nori ground up, garlic(just to make it appetizing and following the melafix instructions), and selcon. I also feed nori at least 3 times a week, and everything(i mean my tusk, my wrasse, my damsel, and even my clown) except my cardinals and Mandarin eats it.. It's actually strange and funny to see all the fish that aren't typical herbs fighting over seaweed.. And on auto dose, I have tiny bits of nls pellets coming 4xa day. But these are mostly for the tangs and FoxFace as they are 2&3mm pellets..
Selcon needs some explanation in this mix for me, because really, this last addition showed the most drastic change for the good.. When I added it to the mix, within a couple days, I began seeing the fish act differently. Eating extremely aggressively, being more attentive, and they just looked "different".. It was in their eyes, they all of a sudden seemed really clear when they looked at me.. And then, they started filling out(all of them).. Now, they are all fat(i believe in a fat fish is a happy fish within reason). I think it was about two weeks in, after adding the selcon, that I saw my last ich spot.. And I haven't seen one since.. And every fish I have put in there, with this mix, they are eating within the first day, or at the latest the very next.. The selcon had the added affect, that it feeds the soft and lps coral, so a win win to me..I know some believe it's snake oil, but It's been a great product in my mix..
But, try some medicated frozen food.. If you address the nutritional needs of the animals from the inside, they are better able to fend off things from the outside.. The mix is very heavy in vitamins and amino acids, not to mention, the raw food elements(starting with a good and appealing base always helps). But I would really, really look into this that address vitamin deficiencies.. It does make a big difference..
