Transferring fish from quarantine to main tank.

[frankpayne32]

Hi everyone, I have a group of chromis that I will be transferring from my quarantine to my display in a week or so. I treated the group with cupramine to prophylacticlly treat for ich. Should I perform some sort of dip on the fish to prevent the transfer of copper to my tank? Will just netting the fish out be ok? Just worried about transferring copper to my display full of inverts. Thanks for looking!

Frank

 

[krowleey]

doesn't it say to run carbon after treatment to remove the chemical on the bottle?

 

[frankpayne32]

Indeed it does, but I don't have an inclination to remove it from my quarantine tank which I keep permanently set up. Just looking for advice on the particular question I posed.

 

[RBU1]

Frank.

You really should remove it prior to removing the fish. This serves a couple things.....One you make sure the copper worked by getting the fish back in regular water. Two when you put new fish in the tank you don't want them going in full strenght cupramine.

 

[frankpayne32]

Good to know, I did not realize that. I think you're implying that I should have slowly increase the copper dose to my quarantine tank. I did not, I just put the recommended dosage in by the manufacturer. Is that wrong? Thanks for the input!

 

[RBU1]

Yes it wrong..

I will communicate more later....I am at work.

 

[wooden_reefer]

Hi everyone, I have a group of chromis that I will be transferring from my quarantine to my display in a week or so. I treated the group with cupramine to prophylacticlly treat for ich. Should I perform some sort of dip on the fish to prevent the transfer of copper to my tank? Will just netting the fish out be ok? Just worried about transferring copper to my display full of inverts. Thanks for looking!

Frank

It depends on how you capture and transfer fish.

In general, the tiny amount of water with copper that clings to a fish's body is not important. I almost never use a net to capture fish. I often use a clear bag to corner a fish; then I place the bag with the fish in it into a dark plastic container. The darkness seems to calm a fish. Then I often use my hand, moving very slowly, if I am sure that I am not at risk of spines or venom.

If you are going to include some qt water when you transfer, you should first place the fish in a small holding container and then dilute the holding water many times with DT water.

 

[RBU1]

OK,,,

The directions on the Cupramine bottle state 1 ml per 10.5 gallons wait 48 hours then re-dose. That first dose will get you to .25 the second dose will get you to .5. The later is the range you want to maintain for 4 weeks even thought the cupramine bottle states 14days. When you add copper to a tank it is stressful n the fish and should be done slow. I break my dosage up over the curse of 10 days or more. For example my QT is 125 gallons. My total dosage is 24ml. The first day I add 6ml wait 48 hours make sure everyone is still acting and eating like normal then add another 6ml and repeat testing each day till I get to .5

You never should add fish right to a copper concentration of .5 it could stress them enough to kill them. Hope this helps.

 

[wooden_reefer]

OK,,,

The directions on the Cupramine bottle state 1 ml per 10.5 gallons wait 48 hours then re-dose. That first dose will get you to .25 the second dose will get you to .5. The later is the range you want to maintain for 4 weeks even thought the cupramine bottle states 14days. When you add copper to a tank it is stressful n the fish and should be done slow. I break my dosage up over the curse of 10 days or more. For example my QT is 125 gallons. My total dosage is 24ml. The first day I add 6ml wait 48 hours make sure everyone is still acting and eating like normal then add another 6ml and repeat testing each day till I get to .5

You never should add fish right to a copper concentration of .5 it could stress them enough to kill them. Hope this helps.

I think the op is talking about the other direction of transfer, from QT back to the DT.

 

[RBU1]

I think the op is talking about the other direction of transfer, from QT back to the DT.

I know.....However the process he or she is using is not the prefered method...If he or she followed the prefered method all copper would be removed from the QT prior to placing the fish back in the display.

 

[krowleey]

I know.....However the process he or she is using is not the prefered method...If he or she followed the prefered method all copper would be removed from the QT prior to placing the fish back in the display.

exactly, and that is how one should dose copper treatments

 

[frankpayne32]

Thanks everyone for the input. I should have been more specific I guess. I did not use the exact product Cupramine but used CopperSafe by Mardel. From what I understand they both use the same ingredient, chelated copper sulfate. I followed the directions on the CopperSafe box exactly, it only said to use a certain amount per gallon of tank water. It did not say to slowly increase the dose or for how long to treat. How long would you all recommend that I treat with the copper before removing it via carbon? Thanks again.

 

[frankpayne32]

I have been doing more research and have come across several sources saying that it is a myth that copper can be removed using GAC. I will post this question in the reef chemistry forum as well.

 

[RBU1]

I have been doing more research and have come across several sources saying that it is a myth that copper can be removed using GAC. I will post this question in the reef chemistry forum as well.

I know Cupramine can be removed with carbon. Not sure about the other types.