what are all the downsides to treating Display tank with copper?
- Thread starter rdefino
- Start date
Fish_wiz2
Mangroves are kool.
If it is a reef then expect total destruction, not only does it kill corals and inverts but can stain tanks, rocks, sand which will be unusable in the future. also the QT tank doesn't have to be that big, as long as the fish will fit you'll be fine but remember not too small now 
Stuart60611
New member
Not if you leave the display fallow with no fish for 6-8 weeks. Without fish, ich dies after this period.
limitdown
New member
If it's a fish-only tank, then you can treat the display directly. I have treated my 250g FO system quite a few times with copper directly. It did not weaken my aerobic biofiltration, but it did weaken my sulfur denitrator a bit.
When I finished treatment, I did a big water change and ran carbon and Cuprisorb.
When I finished treatment, I did a big water change and ran carbon and Cuprisorb.
Stuart60611
New member
I would not treat the display with live rock with copper treatment. It will cause a massive ammonia spike from all the die off from your rock which will likely kill every fish in your tank. Moreover, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to properly maintain copper levels in a tank with a lot of rock and substrate because they absorb the copper which then is later released in the water causing massive copper fluctuations both up and down. This will result in killing all of your fish and/or making the treatment ineffective. Also, you definitely do not want to run your skimmer when dosing copper. Also, be sure you do not put any ammonia remover in the system (prime, amiquel, etc) witnin 48 hours of dosing copper.
limitdown
New member
Treating displays with copper is a topic that has been debated heavily. From my experience treating my 250g FO system 3 (maybe 4) times with copper, I have not had any ammonia spikes, nor have I had issues with maintaining copper concentration levels despite heavy skimming. I keep a small sack of Cuprisorb in the sump to pick up any residual copper that might float around after treatment is done.
If I were to set up a quarantine tank big enough to treat all of my fish, then it would need to also be a 250g system with almost every piece of the same equipment, so I might as well just treat my existing system. I just keep a separate small QT for new incoming fish.
I have 200 pounds of sand in the display and coral skeletons for decoration. I've never had live rock so that may be an area that you could see some die off. For biofiltration I have 50+ liters of ceramic rings in the sump. The ceramic rings have never been affected by copper, they continue to process ammonia and nitrites as they always do. Many people actually use "seasoned" ceramic rings and live rock in their QT for biofiltration while treating with copper.
After the treatment is done, I do a big 50% water change and run carbon and cuprisorb. I always run carbon anyway since my tank is an FO so I don't need to worry about the carbon removing beneficial trace elements that corals need.
I highly recommend using Seachem's Cupramine, their copper test kit and also their Cuprisorb.
I keep my skimmer running while treating with Cupramine. Seachem also recommends it.
http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs...mine.html#faq11
Q: I am treating my 90 Gallon tank with Cupramine. I've removed the activited charcoal and carbon and I turned off the UV and the Ozonizer. Shoud I turn off my Protein Skimmer?
A: It is perfectly acceptable and recommended to leave your skimmer on during treatment.
If you're concurrently treating with Prazi-Pro for flukes, then you will need to shut off the skimmer.
You will also need to turn off the UV sterilizer with both Cupramine and Prazi-Pro.
If I were to set up a quarantine tank big enough to treat all of my fish, then it would need to also be a 250g system with almost every piece of the same equipment, so I might as well just treat my existing system. I just keep a separate small QT for new incoming fish.
I have 200 pounds of sand in the display and coral skeletons for decoration. I've never had live rock so that may be an area that you could see some die off. For biofiltration I have 50+ liters of ceramic rings in the sump. The ceramic rings have never been affected by copper, they continue to process ammonia and nitrites as they always do. Many people actually use "seasoned" ceramic rings and live rock in their QT for biofiltration while treating with copper.
After the treatment is done, I do a big 50% water change and run carbon and cuprisorb. I always run carbon anyway since my tank is an FO so I don't need to worry about the carbon removing beneficial trace elements that corals need.
I highly recommend using Seachem's Cupramine, their copper test kit and also their Cuprisorb.
I keep my skimmer running while treating with Cupramine. Seachem also recommends it.
http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs...mine.html#faq11
Q: I am treating my 90 Gallon tank with Cupramine. I've removed the activited charcoal and carbon and I turned off the UV and the Ozonizer. Shoud I turn off my Protein Skimmer?
A: It is perfectly acceptable and recommended to leave your skimmer on during treatment.
If you're concurrently treating with Prazi-Pro for flukes, then you will need to shut off the skimmer.
You will also need to turn off the UV sterilizer with both Cupramine and Prazi-Pro.
I would definitely remove all the LR from the tank when treating. But I would have to leave the LS in. This is a FO tank.
My outbreak of ich (if it is ich) is very small. My tang shows signs of it.
I just got done doing hyposalinity for 8 weeks. I remove the Lr and drop to 1.08-1.09. I'm so bummed that didn't work!
Thanks
My outbreak of ich (if it is ich) is very small. My tang shows signs of it.
I just got done doing hyposalinity for 8 weeks. I remove the Lr and drop to 1.08-1.09. I'm so bummed that didn't work!
Thanks
Hookup
New member
It might not be ICK you are fighting. The only two proven methods of killing ICK are Copper and Hyposalinity. If you were able to keep your salinity in the 1.008 - 1.009 range for the 8 week duration, then you have definitely killed of any ICK.
Reference: http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/marineich.html
Reference: http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/marineich.html
Hookup
New member
A) - I'm no expert. I was just quoting what I've read online and posted the reference link (haha)
B) - how were you measuring your sailinity? If it wasn't an accurate method (swing arms are horrible) you might not have achieved the salinity target you were shooting for. I would strongly recommend re-doing this process if you still think it is ICK with a refractometer (sp) and daily salinity tests for the full 8 weeks.
C) - maybe a photo, though I wouldn't be any help, and I'm not sure this is the place to post Disease ID requests, but I'm sure there is one on-line here.
D) - I am also fighting ICK. I am using high-quality water and prayers. The ick is very minimal so i'm hoping to strengthen the fish through the disease using lots of meaty/fatty foods and some faunamarin health formula food.
http://www.faunamarin.de/eng/ultrahealth.php
B) - how were you measuring your sailinity? If it wasn't an accurate method (swing arms are horrible) you might not have achieved the salinity target you were shooting for. I would strongly recommend re-doing this process if you still think it is ICK with a refractometer (sp) and daily salinity tests for the full 8 weeks.
C) - maybe a photo, though I wouldn't be any help, and I'm not sure this is the place to post Disease ID requests, but I'm sure there is one on-line here.
D) - I am also fighting ICK. I am using high-quality water and prayers. The ick is very minimal so i'm hoping to strengthen the fish through the disease using lots of meaty/fatty foods and some faunamarin health formula food.
http://www.faunamarin.de/eng/ultrahealth.php
lesleybird
New member
Hi, I have been reading a long thread on another site with a fish expert and they were talking about good results using Quinine Sulfate in the display for treating ich with fairly good results.....They say it will kill snails so you have to remove them but will not harm hermits and one person said it did not kill the feather dusters on the rocks but it did kill the ich in his display and 6 months later still no ich. It was in a thread with Bob Fenner. This med will not permanently make it so the medication is always in your tank leaching into and out of the rocks like copper. The said you can get it at Nationalfishpharm.com or http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/symptoms.html Will go and check to see if these links are correct. I think they said to turn the bright tank lights off and remove any carbon and turn off the skimmer during treatment. I hope you don't have any corals in the tank. The Quinine Sulfate is also use to treat malaria in humans. Another form of this drug that is nearly the same hydroxyquinine sulfate is used to treat autoimmune diseases like Lupus and Sjogren's in humans....I have the Sjogren's so I am getting ready to start taking some of this medication myself. It is suppose to help to modulate the immune system in autoimmune diseases. The Quinine Sulfate would be safer to use than copper if you must treat the display tank. You can run carbon and turn on the lights an maybe use some of those pads that absorb medications for a month or two after treatment you may be able to put the snails back as the medication breaks down with bright lights and is filtered out with carbon and the like. Lesley
Last edited:
limitdown
New member
I've had experience with strains of ich that were resistant to hyposalinity, even down to 1.008 for 4wks. I ended up dumping Cupramine into the tank to treat it.
If you've never dealt w/ ich before, make sure to also read up on Lymphocystis and search for pics on it. Lymph is a virus that has no known cure and you just have to keep up your water quality and nutrition. It's usually not lethal, but it's quite annoying.
If your fish have a film of shiny stuff on them, you might be dealing with velvet (amyloodinium). Velvet is much more contagious and deadly than ich. The only proven treatment for velvet is copper.
If your fish are twitching, then they might have flukes. Prazi-Pro by Hikari (Prazi-Pro) works really well.
Sometimes your fish could have some of all of the above at the same time. I had a sailfin tang that had ich, velvet and flukes at the same time. I treated with Cupramine (4wks) and Prazi-Pro (2wks) and he's still alive after 1.5yrs.
If you've never dealt w/ ich before, make sure to also read up on Lymphocystis and search for pics on it. Lymph is a virus that has no known cure and you just have to keep up your water quality and nutrition. It's usually not lethal, but it's quite annoying.
If your fish have a film of shiny stuff on them, you might be dealing with velvet (amyloodinium). Velvet is much more contagious and deadly than ich. The only proven treatment for velvet is copper.
If your fish are twitching, then they might have flukes. Prazi-Pro by Hikari (Prazi-Pro) works really well.
Sometimes your fish could have some of all of the above at the same time. I had a sailfin tang that had ich, velvet and flukes at the same time. I treated with Cupramine (4wks) and Prazi-Pro (2wks) and he's still alive after 1.5yrs.
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