Cupramine for Purple Firefish

[Sleepydoc]

History-
I have been using Cupramine to treat fish in quarantine. When talking to the owner of my LFS, she felt Coppersafe was gentler on fish, so I picked up a bottle planning on using that going forward.

My QT was already up and dosed with Cupramine from dealing with a past velvet outbreak. I did a 50% water change and checked the parameters. 1.026, Ammonia & Nitrite were 0. Nitrate was a bit high at 25, but I wasn't worried about that for fish. Cupramine level was approximately 0.25 on the Seachem test. I purchased 2 purple fire fish and a diamond goby and introduced them to the tank after acclimation. The next morning both fire fish were dead. (The goby was happy as a ... goby.) I re-checked the parameters and nothing has changed. After talking with my LFS, I added some activated carbon to filter out the remaining Cupramine and then introduced 2 more purple fire fish. Currently everyone is happy, eating well and appears healthy.

Question-
After reading the thread on questions regarding Coppersafe dosing, I don't feel safe dosing Coppersafe without an accurate test kit. I've ordered a Hanna Cu checker, but it's unclear when those will be available, so now I'm stuck. Should I

A. Dose the tank with Cupramine since I have a test kit for that? The only thing I can think of that would have killed the first two fire fish was the Cupramine, so I'm a bit leery, but as far as I know, Cupramine should be fine with fire fish, right?
B. Dose with Coppersafe - I'm not really comfortable dosing copper without a test kit, but It's unclear when the Hanna checker will be available and there's no one around here that sells the API kit and it doesn't seem terribly accurate, anyway.
C. Just do observational quarantine and as long as they remain healthy, introduce them into the tank. I had a velvet outbreak several months ago that killed off ¾ of my livestock, so this isn't a great option in my mind, either.

 

[blkhwkz]

I have run firefish through Cupramine, Coppersafe (an old bottle I need to test) and currently have one with some other fish in CP. Never had an issue with any of the meds with them.

 

[Humblefish]

I would probably stick with Cupramine + Seachem or Salifert copper test kit, until you get your Hanna checker. Then switch over to Copper Power.

However, @HotRocks can provide pretty accurate dosage info for using Copper Power. Provided nothing in your QT will absorb it.

 

[HotRocks]

I would probably stick with Cupramine + Seachem or Salifert copper test kit, until you get your Hanna checker. Then switch over to Copper Power.

However, @HotRocks can provide pretty accurate dosage info for using Copper Power. Provided nothing in your QT will absorb it.

+1 I agree entirely with cupramine/comparable test kit. Copper safe is just to inconsistent lately.
Or as said above, if you tell me how many gallons your QT is, I can get you close on dosing Copper Power. I wouldn't worry about an overdose with Copper Power. I can also come up with a test (At a low level like .5ppm) for you to check against your seachem kit, to make sure your bottle of copper power seems consistent prior to dosing.
Worst case scenario would be if you had some absorption then you would have to increase Cu level once you have your Hanna and restart the 30 day clock.
I don't know when you ordered your checker but it does seem they are closing the gap on backorders.

Side note: IME Firefish have shown the most resistance to copper overdose. They were always the last ones standing when I was having all my issues. (That was with chelated copper though).

 

[Sleepydoc]

Thanks - I think I will just go ahead and dose Cupramine. Had I read the other thread earlier I would have purchased copper power rather than Coppersafe, but since I already have a full bottle I'll just hold on to it and use it once I have the Hanna Cu Checker. Either way, I think I'm better off using Cupramine with a test kit than anything else without, even with dosing guidance.

Who knows - maybe it was something else that killed the first two fire fish, but the fact that the goby did fine was puzzling.

 

[HotRocks]

Thanks - I think I will just go ahead and dose Cupramine. Had I read the other thread earlier I would have purchased copper power rather than Coppersafe, but since I already have a full bottle I'll just hold on to it and use it once I have the Hanna Cu Checker. Either way, I think I'm better off using Cupramine with a test kit than anything else without, even with dosing guidance.

Who knows - maybe it was something else that killed the first two fire fish, but the fact that the goby did fine was puzzling.

No problem. I think that is your best route too. Just know way to even get close with coppersafe dosages since concentration per bottle is so inconsistent.