Copper sulphate treatment

[Araona]

I am in the UK and can't get hold of copper power or cupramine quickly. I can get hold of copper sulphate powder very easily. Does anyone know if I can just make it up to the same concentration as copper power and use that to treat?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I am in the UK and can't get hold of copper power or cupramine quickly. I can get hold of copper sulphate powder very easily. Does anyone know if I can just make it up to the same concentration as copper power and use that to treat?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I used copper sulfate penthydrate and citric acid for decades. It is VERY tricky to use and causes more toxic reactions in fish than coppersafe or copper power does. It needs to be tested 2x a day with a high precision, low range Hanna meter, and then proportionally re-dosed.

I would urge you to explore other options if at all possible.

That said, here is the instructions that I had written up for doing an ionic copper treatment:

Recipe:

Copper sulfate stock solution

Dissolve 13.6 grams of CuSO4 or 21.3 grams of CuSO4 x 5 H2O into 1000 ml of distilled water.

Add 9.1 grams of citric acid.

Store in dark glass or plastic bottle.

This copper medication has a long history of use in marine aquariums, but also can cause adverse reactions in some species of fish – wrasses, pygmy angelfish and puffers. It should not be used with freshwater fishes. In order to avoid possible adverse reactions, the copper level should be slowly raised to 0.20 ppm over 72 hours. There are other commercial copper medications that have bonded amine (ammonia) formulations that are much safer for use, and these should be used instead (see below).

Calculating dosage:
The target concentration of ionic copper is usually 0.20 ppm. 1 ml of the stock solution will treat 7 gallons of water at that level.

Treating the tank:
Twice a day, the tank is tested with a copper test kit. The Hach Porphyrin method seems to give the most accurate results. The Hanna LR checker can also be used. Simply re-dose the copper stock solution in accordance with the current copper reading: a reading of .15 ppm indicates that a 1/4 dose should be added, etc.

Sharks, rays, mandarin fish, pygmy angelfish, seahorses, and jawfish are among some of the species known to be sensitive to copper levels as low as .15 ppm. Invertebrates have differing sensitivity to copper, but most species cannot tolerate copper ion concentrations above .005 ppm.

At the conclusion of the treatment, the copper concentration can be allowed to drop on its own or you can remove it via chemical filtration or through partial water changes.

Jay

 

[Araona]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I used copper sulfate penthydrate and citric acid for decades. It is VERY tricky to use and causes more toxic reactions in fish than coppersafe or copper power does. It needs to be tested 2x a day with a high precision, low range Hanna meter, and then proportionally re-dosed.

I would urge you to explore other options if at all possible.

That said, here is the instructions that I had written up for doing an ionic copper treatment:

Recipe:

Copper sulfate stock solution

Dissolve 13.6 grams of CuSO4 or 21.3 grams of CuSO4 x 5 H2O into 1000 ml of distilled water.

Add 9.1 grams of citric acid.

Store in dark glass or plastic bottle.

This copper medication has a long history of use in marine aquariums, but also can cause adverse reactions in some species of fish – wrasses, pygmy angelfish and puffers. It should not be used with freshwater fishes. In order to avoid possible adverse reactions, the copper level should be slowly raised to 0.20 ppm over 72 hours. There are other commercial copper medications that have bonded amine (ammonia) formulations that are much safer for use, and these should be used instead (see below).

Calculating dosage:
The target concentration of ionic copper is usually 0.20 ppm. 1 ml of the stock solution will treat 7 gallons of water at that level.

Treating the tank:
Twice a day, the tank is tested with a copper test kit. The Hach Porphyrin method seems to give the most accurate results. The Hanna LR checker can also be used. Simply re-dose the copper stock solution in accordance with the current copper reading: a reading of .15 ppm indicates that a 1/4 dose should be added, etc.

Sharks, rays, mandarin fish, pygmy angelfish, seahorses, and jawfish are among some of the species known to be sensitive to copper levels as low as .15 ppm. Invertebrates have differing sensitivity to copper, but most species cannot tolerate copper ion concentrations above .005 ppm.

At the conclusion of the treatment, the copper concentration can be allowed to drop on its own or you can remove it via chemical filtration or through partial water changes.

Jay

Thank you for your comprehensive reply! I will try and source copper power just good to know in case this fish looks like it's going downhill before I can get some!

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am in the UK and can't get hold of copper power or cupramine quickly. I can get hold of copper sulphate powder very easily. Does anyone know if I can just make it up to the same concentration as copper power and use that to treat?

Copper power should be widely available but if not, Avloclor is believe would work for ich and velvet

 

[Araona]

Copper power should be widely available but if not, Avloclor is believe would work for ich and velvet

Yes I can source it but as its imported from US the quickest I can get it delivered is 2nd August, I'll have a look for that too thanks

 

[Poseidon22]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I used copper sulfate penthydrate and citric acid for decades. It is VERY tricky to use and causes more toxic reactions in fish than coppersafe or copper power does. It needs to be tested 2x a day with a high precision, low range Hanna meter, and then proportionally re-dosed.

I would urge you to explore other options if at all possible.

That said, here is the instructions that I had written up for doing an ionic copper treatment:

Recipe:

Copper sulfate stock solution

Dissolve 13.6 grams of CuSO4 or 21.3 grams of CuSO4 x 5 H2O into 1000 ml of distilled water.

Add 9.1 grams of citric acid.

Store in dark glass or plastic bottle.

This copper medication has a long history of use in marine aquariums, but also can cause adverse reactions in some species of fish – wrasses, pygmy angelfish and puffers. It should not be used with freshwater fishes. In order to avoid possible adverse reactions, the copper level should be slowly raised to 0.20 ppm over 72 hours. There are other commercial copper medications that have bonded amine (ammonia) formulations that are much safer for use, and these should be used instead (see below).

Calculating dosage:
The target concentration of ionic copper is usually 0.20 ppm. 1 ml of the stock solution will treat 7 gallons of water at that level.

Treating the tank:
Twice a day, the tank is tested with a copper test kit. The Hach Porphyrin method seems to give the most accurate results. The Hanna LR checker can also be used. Simply re-dose the copper stock solution in accordance with the current copper reading: a reading of .15 ppm indicates that a 1/4 dose should be added, etc.

Sharks, rays, mandarin fish, pygmy angelfish, seahorses, and jawfish are among some of the species known to be sensitive to copper levels as low as .15 ppm. Invertebrates have differing sensitivity to copper, but most species cannot tolerate copper ion concentrations above .005 ppm.

At the conclusion of the treatment, the copper concentration can be allowed to drop on its own or you can remove it via chemical filtration or through partial water changes.

Jay

Once we have the stock solution of copper sulphate，how to calculate the volume(ml) of stock solution needed to dose into the fish tank?

 

[Poseidon22]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I used copper sulfate penthydrate and citric acid for decades. It is VERY tricky to use and causes more toxic reactions in fish than coppersafe or copper power does. It needs to be tested 2x a day with a high precision, low range Hanna meter, and then proportionally re-dosed.

I would urge you to explore other options if at all possible.

That said, here is the instructions that I had written up for doing an ionic copper treatment:

Recipe:

Copper sulfate stock solution

Dissolve 13.6 grams of CuSO4 or 21.3 grams of CuSO4 x 5 H2O into 1000 ml of distilled water.

Add 9.1 grams of citric acid.

Store in dark glass or plastic bottle.

This copper medication has a long history of use in marine aquariums, but also can cause adverse reactions in some species of fish – wrasses, pygmy angelfish and puffers. It should not be used with freshwater fishes. In order to avoid possible adverse reactions, the copper level should be slowly raised to 0.20 ppm over 72 hours. There are other commercial copper medications that have bonded amine (ammonia) formulations that are much safer for use, and these should be used instead (see below).

Calculating dosage:
The target concentration of ionic copper is usually 0.20 ppm. 1 ml of the stock solution will treat 7 gallons of water at that level.

Treating the tank:
Twice a day, the tank is tested with a copper test kit. The Hach Porphyrin method seems to give the most accurate results. The Hanna LR checker can also be used. Simply re-dose the copper stock solution in accordance with the current copper reading: a reading of .15 ppm indicates that a 1/4 dose should be added, etc.

Sharks, rays, mandarin fish, pygmy angelfish, seahorses, and jawfish are among some of the species known to be sensitive to copper levels as low as .15 ppm. Invertebrates have differing sensitivity to copper, but most species cannot tolerate copper ion concentrations above .005 ppm.

At the conclusion of the treatment, the copper concentration can be allowed to drop on its own or you can remove it via chemical filtration or through partial water changes.

Jay

How to calculate the volume of stock solution of copper sulfate (in ml) needed to drop into the fish tank (100 l) if the desired concentration of copper is 0.20 mg/L ?

 

[Poseidon22]

How to calculate the volume of stock solution of copper sulfate (in ml, when the stock solution is ready) needed to drop into the fish tank (100 l) if the desired concentration of copper is 0.20 mg/L ?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

How to calculate the volume of stock solution of copper sulfate (in ml, when the stock solution is ready) needed to drop into the fish tank (100 l) if the desired concentration of copper is 0.20 mg/L ?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!


Do you really want to use ionic copper? It is a lot rougher on the fish than are amine-chelated copper products like coppersafe and copper power. It also must be tested and partial re-doses done twice a day.

It all depends on your stock solution of course. Here is the recipe that I used to use (20 years ago though!)

Stock solution
100 ml deionized water
0.91 grams citric acid
2.72 gram CuSO4 (anhydrous)
OR
4.26 grams CuSO4 * 5H20 (pentahydrate salt)

Add 1/4 ml per 14 gallons (net tank volume!) twice a day over two days, testing before each dose. The full dose is 1 ml per 14 gallons, but you need to ramp this up slowly. Depending on your tank and the calcium level, you will then be around 0.15 to 0.18 ppm copper. Then, on the third day, calculate a partial dose to get you to 0.20 ppm and no higher than 0.22 ppm

Jay