Copper

[Duke4Life]

Copper, copper, copper! That's exactly what I'm about to hit on now as it seems like there is some on here that are pro copper, then there's others that are totally against/last resort. Have you ever wondered why this may be?

My time today could have been better spent researching the things I have more in depth, instead I decided to take a look at copper and what it does to fish since thats a fairly hot topic on here. After a few hours of reading this and that, I kept finding myself going back to the 1st article I decided to read:

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa165

Now my question is do you use copper?
(curious to see how many do and don't)

Please be careful whenever using copper!

 

[Duke4Life]

I don't.

 

[Humblefish]

I primarily use Chloroquine phosphate nowadays, but still use chelated copper on a few fish I've run into that seem to have a problem with CP. Primarily, any wrasse that is NOT a fairy or flasher.

I honestly don't know what to think about ionic copper i.e. Cupramine. A lot of people seem to have success with it, while others say their fish either starve to death or waste away in it. I don't understand the discrepancy. But for those who have had a bad experience using Cupramine, I recommend giving chelated copper a try before giving up on copper altogether. Coppersafe and Copper Power are two chelated copper products. I used Coppersafe for 20+ years, it worked great for me, and I currently know people/LFS using both Coppersafe & Copper Power that are having good success. I never understood the need for "better" Cupramine in the first place.

I can completely understand some's aversion to using chemical treatments on fish, especially copper. After all, it is a poison in liquid form. And the only reason it works is because most fish can survive longer in it than the parasites. IMO; TTM is the best treatment option for ich (if you have the time), but when battling velvet better get a bottle of copper or Rx for CP. Using copper is a matter of convenience for most people, when you stop to consider the other options and the time they take to implement successfully.

 

[Duke4Life]

I primarily use Chloroquine phosphate nowadays, but still use chelated copper on a few fish I've run into that seem to have a problem with CP. Primarily, any wrasse that is NOT a fairy or flasher.

I honestly don't know what to think about ionic copper i.e. Cupramine. A lot of people seem to have success with it, while others say their fish either starve to death or waste away in it. I don't understand the discrepancy. But for those who have had a bad experience using Cupramine, I recommend giving chelated copper a try before giving up on copper altogether. Coppersafe and Copper Power are two chelated copper products. I used Coppersafe for 20+ years, it worked great for me, and I currently know people/LFS using both Coppersafe & Copper Power that are having good success. I never understood the need for "better" Cupramine in the first place.

I can completely understand some's aversion to using chemical treatments on fish, especially copper. After all, it is a poison in liquid form. And the only reason it works is because most fish can survive longer in it than the parasites. IMO; TTM is the best treatment option for ich (if you have the time), but when battling velvet better get a bottle of copper or Rx for CP. Using copper is a matter of convenience for most people, when you stop to consider the other options and the time they take to implement successfully.

Is the formula they have in there to calculate how much copper needed precisely handy anywhere on here? It does show the formula for both gallons and liters to cover everyone

 

[Humblefish]

Is the formula they have in there to calculate how much copper needed precisely handy anywhere on here? It does show the formula for both gallons and liters to cover everyone

Are we talking about Cupramine? The dosage instructions?

 

[RMS18]

Used copper once, only issue was the appetite suppression, lost 1 fish to that, other fish lost weight. Trying the ttm method now... hopefully I won't have to try anymore methods in the future! Lol

 

[Duke4Life]

Are we talking about Cupramine? The dosage instructions?

You got me on that 1 , just looked up all of those and the instructions are pretty basic. I wonder if a bad response sometimes is due to people using some sort of ammonia reducer.

 

[Humblefish]

You got me on that 1 , just looked up all of those and the instructions are pretty basic. I wonder if a bad response sometimes is due to people using some sort of ammonia reducer.

That's just the thing; Sometimes I'm told, "I treated my fish with copper and they all died", but once you start asking more questions you figure out they made a critical error. Using copper, like QT'ing itself, is more of a learn as you go sorta thing. You can ask all the questions in the world, but sometimes something still gets missed or left out. The good news is every time you do it you will learn something new and get better at it. And become more comfortable/confident with it. I'm sure many of us killed a bunch of corals until we figured out all the little idiosyncrasies to make them thrive. The same holds true for QT, using meds and keeping fish in general.