Coppersafe and ick still losing fish...

[Calmwaters]

Long story short. I bought a scopas tang from my lfs that I trusted and added it to DT without QT. Next day it had ick spots I moved all fish to QT tank and started coppersafe on Sunday. Yesterday the tang was dead when I got home I did a water change and dosed coppersafe again this morning my sixline wrasse was dead. No other fish have shown any signs of being sick. Tested copper level with an API liquid kit which is all I have and it tested 1.0 so I added one more dose which brought it up to 2.0. Did I do the right thing? I really don't want to lose more fish.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Getting a proper test kit will help a lot. It will only be effective above 2 ppm (2.25 is the proper minimum). Under that and the ich won’t be controlled and fish can still easily succumb.

 

[Calmwaters]

Getting a proper test kit will help a lot. It will only be effective above 2 ppm (2.25 is the proper minimum). Under that and the ich won’t be controlled and fish can still easily succumb.

I'm going to order a better test today I may not have dosed enough from the beginning I just thought if I followed the bottle instructions then it would be the right amount.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I'm going to order a better test today I may not have dosed enough from the beginning I just thought if I followed the bottle instructions then it would be the right amount.

The bottle instructions will get you close to a proper dose, but only if you know the exact volume of water in the tank, and if the tank doesn’t have any copper absorbing sand or rocks in it. The API test kit is actually pretty accurate, but reading the subtle color changes with the human eye is virtually impossible. When I used a spectrophotometer to read the color, it is pretty accurate. For home use, the Hanna checker is better.

Also, copper takes up to five days to stop a severe infection, maybe your fish were too sick at the start?

Jay

 

[Calmwaters]

The bottle instructions will get you close to a proper dose, but only if you know the exact volume of water in the tank, and if the tank doesn’t have any copper absorbing sand or rocks in it. The API test kit is actually pretty accurate, but reading the subtle color changes with the human eye is virtually impossible. When I used a spectrophotometer to read the color, it is pretty accurate. For home use, the Hanna checker is better.

Also, copper takes up to five days to stop a severe infection, maybe your fish were too sick at the start?

Jay

I would agree with that maybe the tang was too sick but the wrasse and others in the tank are showing no symptoms. It is a QT tank with no sand or anything other than a heater and HOB filter. I am offering the Hanna test today.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I would agree with that maybe the tang was too sick but the wrasse and others in the tank are showing no symptoms. It is a QT tank with no sand or anything other than a heater and HOB filter. I am offering the Hanna test today.

Be sure that you also monitor the ammonia in your treatment tank.
Wrasse are sensitive to high copper, but also low oxygen and high ammonia.
What other fish remain in the tank?

Jay

 

[Calmwaters]

Be sure that you also monitor the ammonia in your treatment tank.
Wrasse are sensitive to high copper, but also low oxygen and high ammonia.
What other fish remain in the tank?

Jay

I have 2 Clownfish, a firefish, an aiptasia eating filefish and a citron goby.

 

[Calmwaters]

I ordered the Hanna Copper test it should be here Tuesday