question about cupramine

Nina51

biggliest cofveve champ
Premium Member
i have a 10g qt with a yellow eye kole tang with a few spots of which i believe is ich. added the first dose on tuesday. tested, got .15 result. did a 5g water change wednesday (had a bit of ammonia), added 8 drops, still tested .15.

added the second full dose yesterday (thursday). added some prime to keep the ammonia at bay. tested the water tonight, i'm still getting only .15 and i need to get it to .5. i have no idea how many drops i should add at a time to 10g to raise the reading.

i'm using the seachem copper test. any help would be much appreciated. obviously, i don't want to overdose but .15 isn't gonna be much help!
 
What test kit brand are you using?

I used Seachem's back when I did copper. It was generally hard to read until after .3ppm IME.
 
I would recommend testing putting drops in a separate container and doing tests, and then comparing to the .5ppm test solution before trying anymore with the fish.
 
do you mean putting a little tank water in a separate container, adding drops, and then testing? i thought about that but wouldn't it make a difference in the amount of water?

for instance, if i put a cup of tank water in an empty butter container and add drops till i get to .5, how would that compare to adding enough drops into 10g of water to get the same result?

hope that question makes sense. i hate being math-challenged!!
 
Do you know anyone nearby (or LFS) who could double check the Cu level for you? Using a different test kit in case yours is faulty. Cupramine is notoriously difficult to read using either Seachem or Salifert copper test kit. I usually have to hand it over to my wife for a second opinion. ;)
 
I don't think you can use cupramine and prime together. They can be deadly on the fish when combined!
Also is there any sand or rock in the qt that can be absorbing the copper?
 
Thats is true, do not use prime or any other water conditioner to neutralize ammonia. Does this will turn cupramine copper to the more lethal form of copper to fish. What test kit are you using? If you using a regular test kit for ammonia, you could be just testing the side effect of cuppramine. I suggest getting the seachem ammonia detector. The one that sticks on the inside of the tank.
 
WTH??? why is there no warning or did i miss the fine print somewhere????

i'm using the seachem test kit.

there are no other reefers anywhere near me and the lfs is an hour away.

no sand. the only rock is a tiny piece that i rubber band some nori to for him. i'll dig through my stuff and find a clip instead.

i'm using the ammonia alert badge. not sure if it makes any difference but i only used a few drops of prime.

thanks for all the help! i have 30g of saltwater already mixed up. guess you know what i'll be doing in a few minutes! the tang is out swimming and wanting FOOD.
 
screw it. i'm heading to walmart to pick up a second 10g and i'm gonna start tank transfer tomorrow morning. i'm done guessing!
 
screw it. i'm heading to walmart to pick up a second 10g and i'm gonna start tank transfer tomorrow morning. i'm done guessing!


Exceptional idea :) I did hypo for years, then changed to copper for a bit... Lost too many fish. Once I started TTM I never lost a fish. A little extra labor involved but worth it for sanity purposes.
 
And I assume you will be getting spare equipment also? Heater, extra airstones (throw them out each time), air tubing?
 
yeppers, all of the above.

i get up every day, alarm set for 4:30 am. guess i'll set it for 4 am to give me a little extra time till this is done. let's see...i'll be going to bed at 6:30 pm. LOL
 
WTH??? why is there no warning or did i miss the fine print somewhere????

i'm using the seachem test kit.

there are no other reefers anywhere near me and the lfs is an hour away.

no sand. the only rock is a tiny piece that i rubber band some nori to for him. i'll dig through my stuff and find a clip instead.

i'm using the ammonia alert badge. not sure if it makes any difference but i only used a few drops of prime.

thanks for all the help! i have 30g of saltwater already mixed up. guess you know what i'll be doing in a few minutes! the tang is out swimming and wanting FOOD.

Good luck. I think on the website or on the bottle it says to not use in conjunction with other medications. I saw that warning, but I ignored it anyway. I learned a hard lesson. As an fyi, the cupramine will cause the ammonia badge to give a false reading and report presence of ammonia.
 
the cupramine and the copper test are put away. i have a second tank all set up and will do my first TT tomorrow morning. i did see the warning about other "medications" but i don't consider prime a medication. they need to be clearer. from everybody else i have seen post that has made this mistake, it's obviously something that is pretty common.
 
did my first tt this morning, went flawlessly. tang has a piece of pvc to hide in but he's swimming out in the open. :)
 
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