Transfer out of Cupramine to DT

[bu11itt]

Long story short I've got some fish in QT that are currently undergoing a Cupramine treatment. They will go directly from the QT from the DT (which will be at the end of 13 weeks fallow, the fish have not been in Cu that long).

So the question is, is there a special protocol for going from the Cu in the QT tank to the Cu free DT water? The salinity is the same so will a quick acclimation be sufficient? Or just a rinse or 2 in tank water to ensure no Cu is transferred to the tank be fine?

 

[HumbleFish]

So long as the SG & temp match, you can put them right in. Rinse them or dip them in a little tank water can't hurt. But I doubt enough copper would come off their skin or in the net to make much of a difference.

 

[sleepydoc]

Can't say for sure, but I know Cu is toxic to corals & inverts at far lower concentrations than we use. I would tank some tank water and put it in a 5 gallon bucket, transfer the fish there, then to the DT, trying to minimize the amount of water transferred at each step.

If you have the ability, you can also use activated carbon to get rid of the cupramine in the QT before you transfer; that would eliminate one transfer for the fish.

 

[wooden_reefer]

How long did you actively treat in QT while the DT is fallow? Hopefully eight or more weeks.

Do you have a lot of bioload in QT now versus that remaining in DT?

Have you been ghost feeding the DT in fallow period while the fish is in QT? If a large fraction of the bioload has been taken from DT for 13 weeks, the nitrification bacteria in DT may have been reduced if you have not. If there is large change in bioload in DT for 13 weeks, I would take a small portion of the medium (such as live rock) that does not have much growth on it and recharge with ammonia in a separate container. A matter of judgement call.

You should not introduce copper into the DT, except for the amount clinging to the fish. I do not use a net but by hand (or a tool if the fish can harm me).

 

[bu11itt]

Thanks for the insight everyone. I was planning on doing a rinse or two of the fish prior to introduction to the DT just to make every effort to mitigate any possible Cu contamination. My main concern was if there would be any adverse effects to the fish transferring from the Cu water in QT to the Cu free water of the DT. Also, I try as much as possible to never use a net; I will either always use my hand or Tupperware container to catch/transfer fish, that's just my preference.

As far as the bacterial population is concerned, I have been ghost feeding the tank since fallow. Recently, I have stepped up the feeding regime knowing I was going to be reintroduction a larger bioload than the tank was used to for the 13 weeks fallow trying to build up the amount of bacteria. In addition to this increased feeding, my plan was to slowly reintroduce the fish over the course of a week to a week and half rather than all at once (this has the added benefit of letting the more timid fish reestablish a territory/area). The end of the Cupramine treatment is not until the 20th so I still have 11 days to further attempt to increase the bacterial population.

Concerning the treatment time, I do not have my QT record book with me at work so I am a little fuzzy on the exact dates, but the fish have been in varying levels of Cupramine since the end of January. I was originally planning on doing 4-6 weeks Cupramine treatment then moving the fish to an intermediate, larger holding tank while the DT remained fallow for 12 weeks. The 13 weeks came into play because of external circumstance I did not test the Cu levels in the QT for a while and 3 weeks out from reintroduction to the DT I noticed a possible ich spot on one of my clowns, however there was no indication on any of the other fish or flashing/quick respiration to indicate ich contamination but better safe than sorry so I retested the water in both QT tanks and they were 0.27 and 0.30 Cu. I decided to redose up to around 0.45 keep at that level for 4 weeks. This would only add an extra week to the whole process and frankly I'd rather stare at a fishless DT for one more week than do this all over again.

So thanks for the help and as always any additional information or critique is always welcome.

 

[wooden_reefer]

Natural sea water contains trace of copper, about 0.1 to 0.5 percent the level to treat against ich, several ppb.

But if you use cheleated copper, the actual copper might be more if the cheleating bond is ever broken. Just a thought on this, not experience.